FOR THE SAGA OF THE OIL, SEE https://sites.google.com/nyu.edu/biblethemes/chanukah-from-vayishlach
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THIS PAGE SHOULD ONLY HAVE CHANUKAH MATERIAL which is NOT about the OIL SAGA, which is now on its own page.
Compare to that page https://sites.google.com/nyu.edu/biblethemes/chanukah
and delete as appropriate.
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STONES & OIL, and Yaakov's Ladder-dream
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YAKOV’S SPECIAL CONNECTION WITH STONES: CHANUKA OIL AND PILLOW ROCKS
Yakov runs away from Esav; on the way he stops to go to sleep, putting some stones under his head. He has an awe-inspiring dream, wakes up, and makes the stone into a monument. Basically he says “if the dream-promises come true, this will be a holy place and this stone will be a monument”.
i. Why the stress on the stone which was his pillow?
ii. Why the conditional “If”? Why shouldn’t he make a monument now?
We'll draw a parallel between Yakov's experience and Hanukkah:
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The relevant passage implies (depends on the translation/interpretation) that he took several stones to put under his head, but it says clearly later on that only one was under his head when he awoke. According to Tradition (as pointed out in Rashi based on Midrash) God made a miracle and had the stones join into one.
We could interpret this as follows: Yakov wakens from sleep, and is still under the infuence of his incredible dream. He could not be sure that the dream was accurate, and from God, and that's why he uses the "if" terminology. However, then he realizes that the stones under his head are now one stone! (And he then used it as the basis of the memorial he erected at that spot. And interestingly, Yakov annoints the stone with oil.)
This unified stone was a clear sign that something special had occurred, that it was indeed holy ground, and therefore Yakov gave credence to the dream. (Appropriately it was the stones around and under his head - where the prophetic dream was occuring - which became unified.) So the unification of the stones didn't itself have special significance, and it wasn't needed fo ranything, but the very fact of the miracle was important - and even that was only as indication of the significance of an entirely different event, the dreaming at night.
In a similar manner: some people living at the time of the events we commemorate at Hannukah were not sure that the military victory was indeed a divine miracle: then as today, incredible military victories by the Jewish State could be laid at the door of naturalistic causes. Then there was the miracle of the oil. Actually, it was not a very signifcant miracle since according to Jewish Law, other oil could have been used, so the miraculous oil was not strictly necessary. Some Traditional sources therefore teach that one of the reasons that God made the miracle of the oil was not for the oil itself but rather to indicate that the re-dedication of the Temple had come about via a miracle, ie the whole process including the military victory was one of divine intervention. And so the oil became the great symbol of the holiday, the focus of the commemoration of the miracle of the great military victory, even though the war was in itself a ‘greater’ miracle, and the oil miracle wasn't necessary, like the stones unifying under Yaakov's head. He understands that the miracle of the stone is not in itself necessarily the intended divine message but rather it was meant to indicate that the DREAM was a divine event: he therefore stipulates that if the events foretold in the dream come true, so that it was indeed a message from God, then since the stone indicated that this indeed had been a divine event, the stone would then become the focus of the commemoration of the ‘greater’ miracle of the dream, by being the basis of the memorial he erected at that spot.
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May we be blessed to realize the existence of divine guidance all about us, and to mark it appropriately.
Detailed Process Correspondences:
Stage
Physical Process
Spiritual Parallel
Textual Source
Growing
Olive tree needs rocky terrain
Growth through challenges
Midrash Tanchuma, Ki Tavo
Ripening
Color change from green to black
Transformation through time
Zohar on ripening process
Harvesting
Careful timing and selection
Readiness for elevation
Masechet Menachot guidelines
Initial Crushing
Breaking olive structure
Breaking ego boundaries
Maharal on crushing process
First Separation
Oil rises naturally
Higher soul emerging
Sfat Emet on separation
Filtering
Removing sediment
Purifying thoughts
Ramchal on refinement
Final Clarification
Complete purity
Spiritual clarity
Temple service requirements
Specific Stage Analysis:
A. Growing Process:
Olive trees thrive in poor soil
Take years to produce fruit
Live for centuries Spiritual Parallel:
Growth through difficulty
Patience in spiritual development
Enduring wisdom tradition
B. Crushing Process:
Multiple stages of pressing
Different grades of oil emerge
First press most valued Spiritual Parallel:
Levels of understanding
Gradations of wisdom
Highest insights require most effort
Temple Service Correspondences:
Three grades of oil (Menachot 86a):
First for Menorah (highest spiritual illumination)
Second for Meal Offerings (service)
Third for regular use (mundane elevation)
Detailed Process Correspondences:
Stage
Physical Process
Spiritual Parallel
Textual Source
Growing
Olive tree needs rocky terrain
Growth through challenges
Midrash Tanchuma, Ki Tavo
Ripening
Color change from green to black
Transformation through time
Zohar on ripening process
Harvesting
Careful timing and selection
Readiness for elevation
Masechet Menachot guidelines
Initial Crushing
Breaking olive structure
Breaking ego boundaries
Maharal on crushing process
First Separation
Oil rises naturally
Higher soul emerging
Sfat Emet on separation
Filtering
Removing sediment
Purifying thoughts
Ramchal on refinement
Final Clarification
Complete purity
Spiritual clarity
Temple service requirements
Specific Stage Analysis:
A. Growing Process:
Olive trees thrive in poor soil
Take years to produce fruit
Live for centuries Spiritual Parallel:
Growth through difficulty
Patience in spiritual development
Enduring wisdom tradition
B. Crushing Process:
Multiple stages of pressing
Different grades of oil emerge
First press most valued Spiritual Parallel:
Levels of understanding
Gradations of wisdom
Highest insights require most effort
Temple Service Correspondences:
Three grades of oil (Menachot 86a):
First for Menorah (highest spiritual illumination)
Second for Meal Offerings (service)
Third for regular use (mundane elevation)
Common Patterns in Sacred Transmission:
Objects maintain connection to higher realms
Transmission requires worthy vessels (both physical and human)
Sacred objects often hidden/protected during spiritual decline
Revelation occurs at times of spiritual elevation
Physical-Spiritual Integration:
Process mirrors spiritual development
Physical properties reflect spiritual qualities
Time and space constraints apply differently to sacred objects
Contemporary Applications:
Understanding preservation of tradition
Personal spiritual development paths
Community transmission of wisdom
From Batei Midrashot (ed. Wertheimer):
"Midrash Alpha Beita":
Describes sacred objects from Adam passing through generations
Includes specific mention of vessels containing primordial light
Details how each patriarch received and transmitted sacred items
"Midrash Konen":
Lists sacred objects preserved from Creation
Describes special vessels used by Adam in Garden of Eden
Traces their path through Noah's ark
Patterns in Sacred Object Transmission:
Common Elements:
Objects often connected to light/illumination
Transmission through worthy individuals
Protection during catastrophic events
Hidden/revealed cycles
Verification Methods:
Special marks or signs
Divine confirmation
Miraculous properties
From Otzar HaMidrashim:
Sacred vessels passing from Adam to Seth
Seth to Noah transmission
Special emphasis on preservation through flood
From Sefer HaBahir:
Discusses vessels of light
Describes transmission patterns
Connects physical objects to spiritual forces
From Talmudic Sources:
Horayot 13b on oil properties
Shabbat 23a on light qualities
Menachot on oil preparation
WARNING: Only read the article below re the 'pachim ktanim' ("small containers") if you love medrash, never quite understood this, are into a bit of chasidus/mystical stuff, and have an appreciation for the cleverness of sophisticated conspiracy theories.....
And now which sceptic can resist seeing what this is about :)!
So click below at your own risk (like the T of K).OliveOyl vs Brutus through the ages
(ok, maybe popeye also)
Click on the arrowhead on the right to see this mini-article
The Olive wreath also known as kotinos [katonti?] was the prize for the winner at the ancient Olympic Games. It was a branch of the wild olive tree[2] that grew at Olympia.
RITUAL: The branches of the sacred wild-olive tree near the temple of Zeus were cut by a boy whose parents were both alive with a pair of golden scissors. Then he took them to the temple of Hera and placed them on a gold-ivory table. The judges of the Olympic Games would then make from them wreaths to crown the winners of the Games.
Owl standing on a 'pach katan" an amphora (container for fluid), all surrounded by a wreath of olive leaves.
Greek silver tetradrachm from Athens, ca. 200-150 BCE.Roman Emperors wore Laurel Wreaths: a symbol of triumph.
worn as a chaplet around the head, or as a garland around the neck.The symbol of the laurel wreath traces back to Greek mythology. Apollo is represented wearing a laurel wreath on his head, and wreaths made of a wild olive-tree were awarded to victors in athletic competitions, including the ancient Olympics.
All the above was in preparation for the article immediately below (and now you know the reason for the color scheme of this section.)
click on the arrowhead -->
The English article below is an elaboration and extension of the following ideas (Hebrew):
Some sources
פך שמן קטן אחד שהיה חתום בחותמו של הכהן הגדול נמצא בבית המקדש אותו טמאו היוונים ולזכר נס זה אנו חוגגים את חג החנוכה. פרשנים רבים חִברו בין פך שמן זה ובין הפכים הקטנים שיעקב חזר לעבר השני של נחל יבוק כדי להביאם:
לפי מסורת שבעל-פה, הסביר רבי מאיר הורוביץ מדז'יקוב ה"אמרי נעם" [ מועדים על חנוכה, עמודים 100-130] שענף הזית שהביאה היונה לנֹח, הפך לשמן זית זך. השמן נמסר לבנו הבכור של נח - שֵׁם. לפי המסורת שֵׁם הוא מלכיצדק – הכהן לאל עליון שנתן לאברהם פך שמן כמתנה. אברהם הוריש את פך השמן ליצחק שהעביר אותו ליעקב אותו יצק על האבן אשר שם מצבה אחרי החלום על ה"סולם מוצב ארצה וראשו מגיע השמימה" (בראשית כ"ח,12) - וחזר הכד ונתמלא. הוא שמר על השמן הזה וכאשר חזר לארץ ישראל עם נשותיו וילדיו במעבר נחל יבוק שב לצד השני כדי לקחת את פך השמן. יעקב חשב שלא ראוי שיישאר השמן שעבר מדור לדור בעבר הירדן המזרחי, אלא רצה שיהיה אתו וימשיך לעבור מדור לדור.
בשובו הלך לבית – אל, שם השתמש בפך השמן - יצק וקידש את המקום והקריב קרבן ל-ה'. פך השמן הגיע ללוי ולעמרם, אביו של משה רבינו. אחר כך לאהרן הכהן ולשרשרת של כהנים הגדולים של בית המקדש. בשמן זה נמשחו המשכן וכליו והמזבח וכן המלכים ועוד. רוח נבואה הביאה את יעקב להטמין את פך השמן במקום שבו עתיד לקום המקדש, כדי שבבוא היום ימצאו אותו החשמונאים. שֶמֶן המנורה עתיד לשוב ולהאיר את העולם עם בוא המשיח.
החיד"א – הרב חיים יוסף דוד אזולאי פירש באופן דומה. הוא כתב בקשר לפכים בספרו "דברים אחדים" (דרוש ל"ב לשבת חנוכה):
"ועוד כתב הרב "ברכת שמואל" (רבי ברוך בער לייבוביץ, ראש ישיבת קמניץ) משֵם הרב "שפתי כהן" על התורה (רבי מרדכי הכהן): אותו שמן שיצק יעקב על האבן אשר שם מראשותיו נתגלה לו אותו הפך, וראה יעקב כל הניסים שנעשו בפך זה, שנמשחו בו כלי המקדש ומשכן, ובו נמשחו כל מלכים... ופשוט בעיני, שגם אותו הפך נתגלה לבני חשמונאי שהיה חתום בחותמו של כהן גדול והוא
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(יש היגיון וטעם בחיבור בין פך השמן לפכים הקטנים שכן משמעות המילה פַּךְ היא כד קטן, כלי קטן לנוזלים וברבים פכים. מי שכותב פח – טעות בידו.)
לאחר שהעביר יעקב את אשתו וילדיו לעבר הירדן המערבי - לארץ כנען, עבר שוב לצד השני של מעבר יבוק כדי למצוא את הכד שלו וחפצים אחרים שנשארו שם. כתוב "ויוותר יעקב לבדו" (בראשית ל"ב,25) אך אסור לאדם לצאת יחידי בלילה ככתוב "המהלך בדרך יחידי הרי זה מתחייב בנפשו". לכן יש פירוש: "אל תקרֵי (תקרא) "לְבַדּוֹ" אלא "לְכַדּוֹ". (אך גם אם נאמר הכוונה היא שיעקב הלך כדי להביא את הכד שלו, הרי שהוא היה לבדו – וסיכן עצמו במסירות נפש. התנהגות זו מורה על חשיבות הפכים הקטנים עבורו.)
רש"י פירש (לפי הכתוב בחולין דף צ"א, עמוד א'): "שכח פכים קטנים וחזר עליהן". "פַּכִּים קטנים" – הם חפצים בעלי ערך מועט.
שאלה למחשבה: מה החשיבות ב"פכים קטנים" שבגינם שב יעקב לבדו לעבר הירדן המזרחי והשאיר את בני משפחתו לבדם?
...אהרון הכהן…ובו הדליקו ח' ימים לצרכם
הרב דוד הרצברג ז"ל כתב:
לפי מסורת שבעל-פה, מסביר ה"אמרי נעם" [1] , שענף הזית שהביאה היונה לנח, הפך לשמן זית זך. השמן נמסר לבנו הבכור של נח, שֵׁם. לפי המסורת שֵׁם הוא מלכיצדק – הכהן לאל עליון שנתן לאברהם כד שמן כמנחה. אברהם הוריש את כד השמן ליצחק שהעביר אותו ליעקב. לפי המקורות, יעקב שכח כדים קטנים בזמן חציית נהר היבוק ושב לאחוריו להביא אותם ("ויותר יעקב" - שכח פכים קטנים וחזר עליהם, חולין צא). באחד הכדים היה השמן מתיבת נח. רוח נבואה הביאה את יעקב להטמין את כד השמן במקום שבו עתיד לקום המקדש, כדי שבבוא היום ימצאו אותו החשמונאים. שמן המנורה, אם כן, מקושר ליונה – סמל השלום והוא עתיד לשוב ולהאיר את העולם עם בוא המשיח [2].
אם כן, "אמרי נעם" רואה בשמן המנורה שמן עתיק, ששרד שנים רבות ומקורו באבות הרוחניים של העם היהודי.
. רש"י בראשית פרק לב פסוק כה- ויותר יעקב - שכח פכים קטנים וחזר עליהם.
ג. תלמוד בבלי מסכת חולין דף צא עמוד א: ויותר יעקב לבדו - אמר רבי אלעזר: שנשתייר על פכין קטנים, מכאן לצדיקים שחביב עליהם ממונם יותר מגופם וכל כך למה, לפי שאין פושטין ידיהן בגזל.
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AR: שייר. לועזית: retention 1. בביטוח: סכום ההתחייבות שמשאיר אצלו מבטח מכל סיכון שנטל.
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GoogleTranslation:
This miracle we celebrate Chanukah. Many commentators linked this jug of oil to the small jugs that Jacob returned to the other side of Nahal Yavuk to bring them:
According to oral tradition, Rabbi Meir Horowitz of Dzhikov explained the "Emery Noam" [Deadlines for Chanukah, pages 100-130] that the olive branch brought by the dove to Noah became a virgin olive oil. The oil was delivered to Noah - Shem's eldest son. According to tradition, there is Melchizedek - the priest of the Supreme God who gave Abraham pitcher oil as a gift. Abraham bequeathed the oil jug to Isaac who passed it on to Jacob after ratifying the blessing and sending him to Lavan. Yakov poured it on the stone which, after the dream, was placed on the "ladder set to earth and his head comes to heaven" (Genesis 18:12). He kept this oil and when he returned to the Land of Israel with his wives and children on the river crossing, he returned to the other side to take the oil jug, and Jacob did not think that the oil he had passed from generation to generation in the East Jordan, but wanted him to go with him and continue from generation to generation.
On his return, he went to Bethel, where he used the oil can - poured and consecrated the place and made an offering to G-d. The oil can reached Levi and Amram, Moshe Rabbeinu's father. Then Aaron the Priest and a chain of the high priests of the Temple. In this oil the tabernacle and its vessels and the altar, as well as the kings and more, were anointed. A prophetic spirit led Jacob to put the oil jar in the place where the temple was to be erected, so that when the day came, the Hasmoneans would find it. The lamp of the lamp is to illuminate the world again with the coming of Christ.
Hejah - Rabbi Chaim Yosef David Azulai interpreted similarly. He wrote about jugs in his book "Some Things" (required for Shabbat Hanukkah):
"And another rabbi wrote" Brachat Shmuel "(Rabbi Baruch Ber Leibowitz, head of the Kamnitz Yeshiva) from the name of Rabbi" Sheftei Cohen "on the Torah (Rabbi Mordechai HaCohen): the same oil that Yaakov poured on the stone which his head revealed to him, and Yaakov saw all the miracles Made in this mouth, in which the vessels of the Temple and the tabernacle were anointed, in which all the kings were anointed ... and simply to me, which also became revealed to the Hasmonean son who was sealed with the seal of a high priest and he
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(There is logic and reason in connecting the oil jug to the small jugs, since the word "jug" means a small jug, a small tool for liquids and many jugs. Whoever writes tin can make a mistake.)
After Jacob moved his wife and children toward the western Jordan - to the land of Canaan, he moved again to the other side of the Yabuk crossing to find his urn and other objects that remained there. It is written, "And Ya'akov will leave alone" (Genesis 25:25), but one must not go out alone at night as it is written "the walk in an individual way, it is in his soul." Therefore, it means: "Do not go" (read) "but" catch up ". (But even if the intention is to say that Jacob went to get his jug, he was alone - and risked himself with devotion. This behavior indicates the importance of the small jugs for him.)
Rashi interpreted (as it is written in Holin page XVI, page A): "Forget small jugs and repeat them". "Small jugs" - are of little value.
Question for thought: What is the significance of the "small jugs" for which Jacob returned alone to the East Jordan and left his family alone?
... Aharon the Cohen ... where the eight days lit up their needs
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My Elaboration and extension
Noah sent out a dove which returned with an olive branch.
According to Tradition, Noah made oil from tthe olives and put it into a flask which was passed down the generations. The question is to whom did he entrust it? To his eldest son? Or was there a rivalry about receving it just as there was rivalry about everything else in the chumash?
Who was eldest? His sons are listed as "Shem, Cham and Yafet" but Rashi brings passages indicating that Yafet was oldest!
And we know that according to Tradition, the ancient Greeks were from Yafet. So isn't it interesting that the ancient Greeks considered olive oil very special , a gift from the gods, and had many rituals connected to it, and legends about an original tree from which it was taken [see more sources about this further below]?
Jewish traditions even state that the Tree of Knowledge was an olive tree. And where was THAT during the flood? Maybe it was the only part of the world not flooded and that's why the bird returned with it - Ararat is in the general region of Eden - and Noah understood that this was NOT an indication that the waters had receeded?!
There are two ancient ritual-fruit, processed into higher-level symbolic foods: wine from grapes and oil from olives, and also bread from grain. They are done only by humans, as part of the process of "la'asot", raising everything to a higher level.
The first thing Noah did after the flood was plant a vine and then when it produced fruit he got drunk. Maybe it was related to a ritual of after-the-flood use of wine and oil to renew the world, and the human activitiy of raising the physical to a more purified level.
Maybe the story about Cham (and Cnaan) is about trying to steal the flask from him when he was drunk, and there is a conneciton to the Tree of Knowledge in that sense. And so maybe Shem and Yefet joined up to get it from Noah to keep it from being stolen by Cham. And then Noah reacted when we awoke and heard what had happened, and seems to have preferred Shem, but also gives permission to Yefet to be in Shem's tents!
Chanuka and the oil:
The Greeks are from Yefet and they claimed it too (because of the beauty aspect, and also the Greeks had long used olive oil in their religious ceremonies); and maybe they claimed the har habayit too, יַפְתְּ אֱלֹ-ים לְיֶפֶת, וְיִשְׁכֹּן בְּאָהֳלֵי-שֵׁם.
And so the miracle of chanukah was that the Greeks didn't get har habayit, nor the flask of oil from Noacht.And the joy and celebration was when the Jews found it and realized the Greeks hadn't found it; and maybe the oil lasted 8 days because it was that special oil, and in fact it wasn't at all burned (like the sneh), it could have lasted forever, but they didn't need it anymore after 8 days when the new oil was ready and so it went out (or it was used as a ner tamid) and they used the new oil.
So all the 8 days were miraculous because they were all illuminated by the miraculous oil, not that the miracle was that ordinary oil lasted so long (and therefore this is an answer to the famous question of why all 8 days were celebrated).
So maybe Shem received the oil flask but Yefet claimed it and utilizing the blessing permission of Noah "yishkon be'oholei Shem" he came to the bet hamikdash to take it and the miracle of chanukah was that it was not taken, and was found by the Jews after they defeated the Greeks, and THIS is what chanukah is about?
Esav came back much later, in the guise of the Romans who carried off the essentials from the Bet Hamikdash, and the huge procession carrying the menorah, memorialized forever by the engraving on the arch of Titus - Brutus killed Caesar, did he end up with OliveOyl?
Shem according to chazal was Malkitzedek (meaning: 'my king, righteousness'); he is described in the chumash as giving a brocho to Avrahm, which is understood Traditionally as passing the mesorah to Avram, recognizing him as the one who stood out from among his (Shem's) descendants, to be tasked now with continuing the chain. So Shem/MalkiTzedek takes out bread and wine as part of the ceremony. What else fits with that? Olive oil! So this can be a hidden reference to the transmission of the olive oil for the mashiach to descend from Avrahm!
Why was this the appropriate criteria for deciding that Avram was the right one? Because he understands that Avram mounted the war due to his awareness of the significance for the geula and moshiach of the rescue of Dovid Hamekh's great grandfather Lot. See the commentary on parshas Lech Lecha [INSERT LINK HERE]. And so he knows Avram will also understand the sginificance of the oil. Indeed, due to the oil, rescuing Malkitzedek was of paramount imortance, along with rescing Lot.
Ma'avak yaakov and (the 'sar' of) esav:
Who does Avraham give the oil to? Sarah makes sure Yishmael is exiled and God tells him that his descent will be counted via Yitschok. In recent history however, Yishmael is firecly attracted to the makom hamikdash (and his strenght was in oil, though of a different type). But then to which of Yitschok's two sons should he pass it on to?
Maybe the oil was originally intended for Esav:
וַיֶּאֱהַב יִצְחָק אֶת-עֵשָׂו, כִּי-צַיִד בְּפִיו
וַתָּבֹא אֵלָיו הַיּוֹנָה לְעֵת עֶרֶב, וְהִנֵּה עֲלֵה-זַיִת טָרָף בְּפִיהָ
and that's what Yaakov meant to purchase as his bechora, and then that was what the 'ma'avak' was about.
Maybe it was given to Yaakov when he got the brocho (and he was supposed to be the man of tents, but he was in the fields like Esav and later built a house, so maybe Esav could also be oholei shem) and when he returned Esav came with his army to fight for it, but it was arranged that the fight would be a "maavak" at the higher level.
As a descendant of shem, esav had a claim on it (especially from the aspect of it being an artifact of Nature) and that was the reason for the ma'avak.
So Yaakov made a deal with the sar shel Esav - let me go across the river with my family and take them to safety, to get them out of the way of the fight, that is what the pasuk means in the story before it, sending the divided 'machanot',.
That's what the pasuk means in implying that he went to sleep first, and then woke and took his family across - what happened was that the sar of esav came in the intial sleep state and Yaakov wakes and tells the sar shel esav "I'll leave the pachim of oil here, and then I'll come back and we'll have the ma'avak, and whoever wins gets it". This explains why Yaakov comes back - to engage in the ma'avak - he went back not because he forgot the pachim, but beause he needed to be back there to get the pachim, but to get them he had to fight for its ownership. and so that's why chazal talk of him going back for pachim ktanim .
[ADVANCED: See the sources in the photo insert on this page. Perhaps the sar of esav accuses yakov of stealing oil, since he used some to consecrate the monument after the ladder dream, and that is what the struggle was technically about, and Yakov is defening himself from accusations fo gezel and see the reference to the talmudic discussion of "nishtayer" to perhaps explain the terms used re Yakov's reason for going back, ie it wasn't that he 'forgot' them, but rather that there was a dispute due to 'missing/remaining' amount of oil!. And it was a "pikadon". ALso: Yakov claimed that the oil would regenerate, so it wasn't really missing, maybe just as his hip regenerated unaturally quickly, healed lareadybefore meeting Esav, so this meant the oil also was back to full by the time Esav meets him. This was due to Yakov/Yosroel's acceptance of the mitzvah for all geenrations to come, so we have a part in this.
[In some esav countries shchitah is being outlawed, nonkosher meat will problably have the gid in it. Yakov gives esav the excuse of "udfokum hatzon" ie preventing animal suffering etc, and so this is esav's excuse now.]Eventually Yaakov won and became Yisrael, earning the right to have the oil for moshiach, to be used after a long 'night of struggle' through the ages, with much physical wounding in the process, for which Yaakov prepared the way by observing the mitzva of the gid hanasheh as the 'price' or process (ie Yishmael and Esav both had bris, so what distinguished Yaakov? The mitzvah of gid hanasheh.)
[See talmudic sources included in photo below re the discussion of gid hansheh mentioning the pachimktanim and the reason for going back - "shenishtayer" - which is usually understood as meaning "forgotten" as per Rashi, but perhaps one can interpret it as in the way the word is used in the continuation of the gemara discussion. If we say that Yakov had used someof theoil in annointing the matzevah when the stones united under his head, then the Sar of Esav accused him of stealing that amount of oil, since it was a pikadon place din his trust, not to use, so Yakov calls HIM maybe a thief that he is afraid to stay in daylight, all reflections fo the argument with Lovon, as preparation for having tarayag mitzvot to be protected in the encounter with Esav, for which Yaakov then takes the gid hanasheh as PRIZE, not as sign of his defeat! ]
the ner tamid;
the chanuka oil which burned 8 days
the sneh;
perhaps Moshe Rabenu received the oil at that event, with his being chosen as the approriate one to receiv eit given his reaction to the sneh ("asurah nah ve'ereh et hamareh hagadol hazeh, lamah lo yiv'ar hasneh!" "Vayar H ki sar lir'ot"!..
http://vitaminim.org/1/index.php/topic,36685.msg123990.html#msg123990
פכים קטנים של יעקב אבינו ופך קטן של חנוכה / עדנה ויג.
« ב- : דצמבר 07, 2018, 12:51:37 PM »
Yitschok gives brocho of "shmanei haaretz" to BOTH Yaakov & Esav but in slightly different (reversed) versions. If we interpret this as a reference to the olive oil, then BOTH have a right to it - that's why even though Yaakov had already ratified his giving the brocho to Yaakov ("gam baruch yihyeh") they still had to fight for it.
Rashi there at the brocho to esav and to yaakov:s "shmaniei haaretz" means inheriting a land whose prduce and fields etc are "fat", and Rashi says this is "italia shel yavan"! (There is much discussion about which lands are meant by this etc, see below)
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Shem was younger than Yafet, see rashi who quotes psukim to show this.
So was there rivalry between them?! Maybe that's why Greeks came for the oil in the bet hamikdash!
Yaft elokim leyefet veyishkon beoholei shem.
Why was Shem given preference? Or is it indeed preference? Or maybe yefet had a different version of this statement, or diff interpretation?!
[why was specifically cnaan cursed?!]
Is there a conneciotn that now the land of cnaan would be given to descendants of shem?
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yakov and Man were westling for the pach hashemen 'pachim ktanim', Y went to evcuate his family from war zone, left the pachim there in agremeent wiht Man, and returned to fight over who gets it, esav says it is his inheritance, part of the 'sadeh', Y wins and thereby retroactively gets all brochos including harnessing powers of nature (Einstein etc?!).
Chanuka time the Yafet greeks wanted their inheritance from Noach, the oil, it was part of beauty etc, annointing with oil (what role did olive oil play in ancient statues)? Shem was was youngr son not older, see eg rashi, and so the conflict at the time of chanuka was like the earlier struggle between yakov & esav. The Greeks did start science, study of ature, and beauty etc, but didn't tie it to spiritual deelopment. (mayb eis like mafsik belimudo idea)
oil is pressed olives, purified, is task of yisrael but could have been task of esav in diff way, or yafet; oil dripping from head can be decadent, greek style. but if greeks are as they sould have been and jews as they should have been, would not have been conflict. (the syrian greeks were not like Alexander, famous story with cohen gadol. And the jews at the time wer enot up to par.)......
sibling rivalry in breishis has to includ sons of Noah. Theyfought over the oil. Yakov/esav both of shem. Mitzrayim/Canaan are chom but not clea rif they wer epar tof it.
yAfet yishkon beoholei shem, ie in B Hamikdash, Koresh was form Yfet! So the greeks came in bayis sheni, wanted the oil for their form of worship and aesthetics, phil science etc, not morality spirituality?
pLato saw us as only shadows, Torah sees us as divine image, par to fhte cosmc process, what we do here is how the upper relams develop. The shadow manipulate the upper relam.
10 commandments broken bec we didnt have vessels for even first aleph of anochi, and 10 were written in stone but also divine (both sides), but by breaking them, knowing we didnt have the vessels, we now needed 613
vessels, oil, woman and elisha, need vessels thne oil flows, conneciton to yakov.
Yakov goes back for oil.
Yefet comes to B Hamikdash for it.
Yosef in mitzraiyim, and ivri from canaan. Is there an conneciotn to the oil.
What is the oil why so important? Oil is infinite light, flame is light in the worls, we have ot bring the infinite light into the world. At least tha tis how we understand misison, myaybe yefet understands differenlt.
Esav's brocho was “mishmanei haaretz, umital hashamayim?”. (But tal is from bottom up?)
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Yosef & Yehuda re chanuka:
The biggest miracle of the oil was that they found it to begin with. Yosef gives brocho to Biyamen )before revealing himself), saying “elokim yocnicho bni” yochnecho = has chen = chanuka. Yosef was thereby revealing the future, the location of the cruz hashemen, would it be in Yehyda or binyanin, so y reveals that it is in binyamin,
When yosef was missing binyamin kept the fire burning (AR: is this a reference to the ner tomid?)
yosef & yehuda were figthing over binyamin = fighting over kodshei kodshim, in whose chelek it would be. Mei Hashiloach: who needs the k kodshim the most, a tzadik or BT?Yosef was tzadik, yehuda was BT, he did techuva. Y said it's for tazadikim, Yehuda said for BT (bec for them, holy is not enough, only holy of holies is enough).
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AR ideas re chanukah etc:
· Sneh burned but was not consumed, like chanukah oil.
· tie it to oil of noah, and ner tamid, and mon, and the flame symbolizes that , when light flame one from the other it is not dimished, M"R to yehoshua, Tradition not change the torah even if it is transmitted over thousasds of years.
· zohar on sneh puts it in context of Bil'am vs M"R: Bilaam as great as MR but his power from darakness, MR from light (and he was chesed): and the sneh was to reassure BY that they will not be consumed:
Maybe because bilam was advisor of pharoah when M"R was there? Maybe that is relate to midrash of MR choosing glowing coal, light that burns rather than light that doesnt, deliberately to confuse Bilaam to think he was not dangeorus to the Bilam/Paraoh plan. MR was cas tinto the river bec it is water which is not afraid of fire. And water is from ealrier creation. MR expmelified chesed (maybe idea of flock of sheep, good shepherd?). So sneh is fire is feraful but MR could approach nevertheless, conquered his fear bec he is from water, earlier-creaiton-inspired, so he wasnt made tomeh by the 49 levels of tumah in mtzrayim. And the flood aftermath was to reassure humanity it would continue and oil of yonah was the carrier of the continuity like Tradition, but it was divide dinto different naitons three sons of noah, MR from Shem but Greeks form Yafet, fighting over that oil, bilaam fighting MR and MR gets the light at the sneh, and sheh symbolizes not being consumed by the fire. So we see fire and realize if it doesnt consume the sneh then it means we also can be not consumed by any earthly fire, the oil will last even though it is feeding the menorah-flame, that is ner tamid, ie the traidotn continues, the Jewish people continue after any cataclysm (Flood). And descnedants of Avraham chesed, and Tradition via MR chesed is the idea that the Values are chesed etc, not those of the Yafet Greeks like beauty and truthc(Ahron teaches that Truth is not a value, but rather shalom is). So MR and Ahron are chesed, anovoh & sholom (brisi sholom was to Ahron's descnedant Pinchas), and together thet represent overcoming jealousy.
· sneh = heh on both sides of sin nun = nes.
[From Sh Carlebach video: oil is the secret rozo and flame is outer open light; greeks defiled oil means destroyed our inner light]
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Homer claimed in his writings that the ancient olive tree growing in Athens was already 10,000 years old. He also stated that destroying an olive tree was prohibited and any such action would be viewed as capital punishment by the Greek court.
In 775 BC Olympia, Greece, at the site of the ancient Olympic stadium, athletes trained and competed in their respective sports with the winners triumphantly acclaimed and crowned with a wreath made of olive twigs.
The Greeks began olive cultivation in 700 BC. The sacred lamp that was used in ancient Greek culture for lighting dark rooms at night was fueled by olive oil. Aged olive oil was also used in sacred anointing rituals of the church at weddings and at baptisms, a ritual still continued today.
Solon an Athenian reformer and poet, in his economic reforms encouraged the cultivation of olives and prohibited any other produce to be exported.
Since 566 BC, the famous Panathenaic Games were held every four years in Athens, ancient Greece, celebrating the honour of the goddess Athena. During the games, religious festivals, ceremonies, cultural events and competitions were held. For the winners, the prize consisted of an amphora filled with olive oil produced by olives from the sacred olive fields of Attica.
Herodotus wrote in 500 BC, that the growing and exporting of olives and olive oil were so sacred that only virgins and eunuchs were allowed to cultivate olive trees.
The first documented plantings of olive trees predate the discovered Mycenae olive fossils by about 1100 years and are believed to have occurred on the island of Crete by the Minoan civilization.
The ancient Greeks mastered the art of pressing the precious oil from the fruit of the olive tree. Archaeological studies prove that Greece has been producing high quality olive oil for more than 4000 years.
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Homer, the immortal Greek poet, called olive oil liquid gold
GREEK MYTHOLOGY
According to myth, Poseidon and Athena competed against each other for the Kingdom of Attica. Poseidon, “God of seas”, struck his trident to the ground and a well of salt water was formed granting the Greeks with a means of trade and water which however was non potable. Athena on the other hand a “Goddess of wisdom and justice” gave them the olive tree and with it its many beneficial properties. Poseidon who probably foresaw the outcome was outraged and challenged Athena but Zeus intervened ordering the formation of a divine tribunal of Olympian deities. Cecrops the mythical king sided with the Goddess and on accepting her gifts, Athena became the patron deity of the Athenians who in her honour named the new city after her. Displeased by the outcome the God of seas tried to set fire to the tree using a thunderbolt. To his dismay he realised the next morning that the tree had re-grown.
Introduction: Yakov runs away from Esav, and says “if the dream promises come true this will be a holy place and this stone will be a monument”.
· Why the stress on the stone which was his pillow?
· Why the conditional “If”? Why shouldn’t he make a monument?
We know that he took several stones to put under his head, and that since it says clearly later on that only one was under his head when he awoke, according to Tradition, God made a miracle and had all the stones join into one.
My interpretation of the story: Yakov could not be sure that the dream was accurate and from God, but the unified stone was a sign that something special had occurred, that it was indeed holy ground, and therefore Yakov gave credence to the dream (appropriately it was the stone under his head while he dreamed which became unified.)
Introduction: In a similar manner: some people living at the time of the events we commemorate at Hannuka were not sure that the military victory was indeed a divine miracle: then as today, incredible military victories by the Jewish State could be laid at the door of naturalistic causes. We are taught that this was one of the reasons that God made the miracle of the oil: to indicate that the rededication of the Temple had come about via a miracle, that the whole process was one of divine intervention. And so the oil became the great symbol of the holiday, the focus of the commemoration of the miracle of the great military victory,
even though the war was in itself a ‘greater’ miracle.
My interpretation: Yakov understands that the miracle of the stone is not in itself consequential but rather was meant to indicate that the dream was a divine event: he therefore stipulates that IF the events foretold in the dream come true, so that it was indeed a message from God, then since the stone – like the oil -indicated that this indeed had been a divine event, it would then become the focus of the commemoration of the ‘greater’ miracle of the dream.
some advanced reading re the Talmudic SOURCE re "pachin ktanim":
The context from the discussions in the gmoro to the left can perhaps provide an alternate meaning than the one usually given (eg in Rashi) for the word "נשתייר".
ie it refers to the amount of liquid in the container (a little bit was missing) rather than to to the reason it was left there (that is was forgotten).
[And that the containers were a 'pikadon' held by Yaakov, and the connection to the monument from the stones which united into one etc.]
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The Romans (Esav), destroyed/inherited/continued Greek(Yafet) civilization and hegemony.
Titus was so proud of conquering the bet hamikdash that he established this arch. Why was he particularly proud of capturing the menorah?! (partly because it was a symbol on Jewish coins of the time, but why was THAT so?)
MESH the below:
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My new vort: Chanukah: Yisroel/Esav:
My old vort showed why Y 'went back', to wrestle. But I wanted to connect it to what chazal say about pachim ktanim and the oil. So:
oil is pressed olives, purified, is task of yisrael but could have been task of esav in diff way, or yafet; oil drippig from head can be decadent, greek style. but if greeks are as they sould have been and jews as they should have been, would not have been conflict. (the syrian greeks were not like Alexander, famous story with cohen gadol. And the jews at the time wer enot up to par.)......
sibling rivalry in breishis has to includ sons of Noah. Theyfought over the oil. Yakov/esav both of shem. Mitzrayim/Canaan are chom but not clea rif they wer epar tof it.
yAfet yishkon beoholei shem, ie in B Hamikdash, Koresh was form Yfet! So the greeks came in bayis sheni, wanted the oil for their form of worship and aesthetics, phil science etc, not morality spirituality?
pLato saw us as only shadows, Torah sees us as divine image, par to fhte cosmc process, what we do here is how the upper relams develop. The shadow manipulate the upper relam.
10 commandments broken bec we didnt have vessels for even first aleph of anochi, and 10 were written in stone but also divine (both sides), but by breaking them, knowing we didnt have the vessels, we now needed 613
vessels, oil, woman and elisha, need vessels thne oil flows, conneciton to yakov.
Yakov goes back for oil.
Yefet comes to B Hamikdash for it.
Yosef in mitzraiyim, and ivri from canaan. Is there an conneciotn to the oil.
What is the oil why so important? Oil is infinite light, flame is light in the worls, we have ot bring the infinite light into the world. At least tha tis how we understand misison, myaybe yefet understands differenlt.
Esav's brocho was “mishmanei haaretz, umital hashamayim?”. (But tal is from bottom up?)
.....
Yosef & Yehuda re chanuka:
The biggest miracle of the oil was that they found it to begin with. Yosef gives brocho to Biyamen )before revealing himself), saying “elokim yocnicho bni” yochnecho = has chen = chanuka. Yosef was thereby revealing the future, the location of the cruz hashemen, would it be in Yehyda or binyanin, so y reveals that it is in binyamin,
When yosef was missing binyamin kept the fire burning (AR: is this a reference to the ner tomid?)
yosef & yehuda were figthing over binyamin = fighting over kodshei kodshim, in whose chelek it would be. Mei Hashiloach: who needs the k kodshim the most, a tzadik or BT?Yosef was tzadik, yehuda was BT, he did techuva. Y said it's for tazadikim, Yehuda said for BT (bec for them, holy is not enough, only holy of holies is enough).
.............
AR ideas re chanukah etc:
· Sneh burned but was not consumed, like chanukah oil.
· tie it to oil of noah, and ner tamid, and mon, and the flame symbolizes that , when light flame one from the other it is not dimished, M"R to yehoshua, Tradition not change the torah even if it is transmitted over thousasds of years.
· zohar on sneh puts it in context of Bil'am vs M"R: Bilaam as great as MR but his power from darkness, MR from light (and he was chesed): and the sneh was to reassure BY that they will not be consumed:
AR: maybe because bilam was advisor of pharoah when M"R was there? Maybe that is relate to midrash of MR choosing glowing coal, light that burns rather than light that doesnt, deliberately to confuse Bilaam to think he was not dangeorus to the Bilam/Paraoh plan. MR was cas tinto the river bec it is water which is not afraid of fire. And water is from ealrier creation. MR expmelified chesed (maybe idea of flock of sheep, good shepherd?). So sneh is fire is feraful but MR could approach nevertheless, conquered his fear bec he is from water, earlier-creaiton-inspired, so he wasnt made tomeh by the 49 levels of tumah in mtzrayim. And the flood aftermath was to reassure humanity it would continue and oil of yonah was the carrier of the continuity like Tradition, but it was divide dinto different naitons three sons of noah, MR from Shem but Greeks form Yafet, fighting over that oil, bilaam fighting MR and MR gets the light at the sneh, and sheh symbolizes not being consumed by the fire. So we see fire and realize if it doesnt consume the sneh then it means we also can be not consumed by any earthly fire, the oil will last even though it is feeding the menorah-flame, that is ner tamid, ie the traidotn continues, the Jewish people continue after any cataclysm (Flood). And descnedants of Avraham chesed, and Tradition via MR chesed is the idea that the Values are chesed etc, not those of the Yafet Greeks like beauty and truthc(Ahron teaches that Truth is not a value, but rather shalom is). So MR and Ahron are chesed, anovoh & sholom (brisi sholom was to Ahron's descnedant Pinchas), and together thet represent overcoming jealousy.
· sneh = heh on both sides of sin nun = nes.
[From Sh Carlebach video: oil is the secret rozo and flame is outer open light; greeks defiled oil means destroyed our inner light]
….................
Several central themes we'll follow throughout the weeks are "True Heroism & Karma", "Self Transcendance" and "Cosmic struggles: Divine set-ups". For examples, click on those titles in the "Accordions" below:
Just as in the first parsha God sets up Adam & Eve with irresistible temptation, this week's hero, Yakov, is set up by God.
Yakov is born into an impossible situation of rivalry with his twin brother Esav (as we saw last week: instigated by God, via revelation to Yakov's mother Rivka), and then by having two wives (a situation he did not seek), and also with his father-in-law Lavan.
According to some sources, not only are there reincarnations, but groups of people who engaged in some struggle are reincarnated in the same historical period in order to settle the matter, and can go through similar struggles in various eras until it is resolved. Also, that each one of us contains elements of all the archetype ancestors and so we all participate in these struggles in some way.
A type of example is the fraternal struggles between the first siblings, Kayin and Hevel (Cain & Abel), and then between Yitschak and Yishmael and then Yakov and Esav and Yosef and his brothers... reaching some resolution with Yosef's conciliatory attitude to his brothers, and peaking with his two sons Efraim and Menasheh, and concluding in perfection with the relationship of Moses and Ahron.
But of course we all go through this struggle in some way as well.
A hero acts bravely. However, if a hero could see the personal toll, the negative consequances to themselves, some would be deterred. For example, seeing that their courage in saving some lives by an extreme act of self-scrifice leads to their own life as a quadriplegic, neglected, suffering... or acting as a spy for one's country, at great self sacrifice, being captured and tortured and pretend to go over to the other side, and in order not to reveal secrets one undergoes shame at home for being a traitor when the reverse is true, so that forever one's name is reviled....would a hero seeing what they will have to undergo still have the resolve to act? But that is the price of true heroism - one must be willing to take extreme action and pay the extreme consequences.
Abraham was asked by God to take extreme action, and then was rewarded with a next request to do yet more, and then more. Similarly with Isaac. Jacob realized that his life would be extreme sacrifice, but was willing to take this upon himself.
Below we'll see how his actions - taken with correct intention, led to great 'karmic retribution', the neccesary concomittant to the actions taken to "fix the world", which he was willing to undergo, and to move then to the next challenge and its necessarily personally-disastrous but cosmically-repairing consequences.
We are introduced to Yakov as “a simple man, a man of the tent” (to sit in the tent = to study Torah).
However we see his life unfolding in the opposite way - he had to be a liar and cheat all his life: to connive against his brother at the behest of his mother ( who was following God’s message to her to ensure that the blessings would go to him not Esav), and to deal in kind with his cheating father-in-law Lavan.
Such divinely-mandated self-transcendence is a pattern throughout the Torah. For examples relating to the other Biblical figures, click on the "Self-Transcendence" 'collapsible' :
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How the Great Biblical Heroes transcended themselves:
Abraham (Avraham), Isaac (Yitschak), Jacob (Yakov), Moses (Moshe Rabbenu), Ahron HaCohen. Pinchas (Phineas), Dovid HaMelech (King David)Rather than acting on our instincts or simply repressing them, we can act as higher beings by channeling our instincts towards the good. This is however the lower end of high-level action. At the highest levels we are perhaps challenged to totally overcome our nature for higher purposes.
Avraham’s culture was known for hospitality to travelers; Avraham was the symbol of chesed, not simply waiting for guests to arrive, but actually running out to them to offer water. He was asked therefore to do the complete opposite, to cast his wife Hagar and son Ishmael in to the desert without water, an act that must have humiliated him to all neighboring peoples. He longed for a son and the elder son has a privileged place in that society, and instead he cast him out.
He was given a son to continue his heritage and was expected to kill him. He was campaigning to bring people close to God, away from paganism, and was asked to perform the abomination of child sacrifice. He wanted to be a man of chesed, reaching out to others, and instead he had to wage wars against them. He wanted to be close to God, and was asked for the ultimate self-sacrifice: to do the act (bringing Isaac to be sacrificed) after which there is no record of communication between him and God.
Yitschak: was the brother who was favored over the other, Yishmael, who was cast out, with an eternal enmity of Yishmael’s family to Yitschak as a result, through no fault of Yitschak himself. He wanted nothing better than to enfranchise his own son Esav, to ensure that Esav felt close, and wanted to give him the blessings to strengthen him in his way. Right before being told about his decision to give the blessings to Esav we are told that he was blind - indeed he could see the positive in Esav, and blind himself to the negative, his strength was this blindness, the love for the one who was so different than him. But circumstances arranged by God forced him to cause Esav the ultimate anguish and alienation, and to see his two sons locked in eternal enmity as a result, just as with him and his brother - and was made to recognize and accept that indeed the blessing was meant to go to Yakov not Esav, against all that he had hoped for, and the sibling enmity he had thrust on him as a child was now a legacy for his sons as well.
Yakov was “a simple man, a man of the tent” (to sit in the tent = to study Torah). He had to be a liar and cheat, and as soon as that happened he became a man not of tents but in fields (even more than Esav!) sleeping in the wilds at night (on the way to and from Charan, and for many years while working for Lavan). And after he had to connive against his brother at the behest of his mother, who was following God’s message to her to ensure that the blessings would go to Yakov not Esav), he then had to deal with the cheating Lavan.
Moshe was the most humble of men, and was asked to be a powerful leader. He wanted nothing better than to give honor to his older brother, but was asked, even forced, to assume the role of his brother’s leader and authority. He wanted nothing more than to enter into the Land, towards which he had faithfully led the Jewish People for 40 years, and was denied this, he had to accept dying just before his people would enter.
Ahron wanted to be a man of Truth but found that to bring peace between his fellows he had to lie constantly (see midrash on how he resolved disputes)
Pinchas was a man of peace called to act with violence.
King David perhaps similarly - wanted to be a shepherd composing psalms to God and singing them with his harp, but was chosen by God via the prophet to be a warrior & leader; wanted to build a Temple to God but was not prermitted to due to the blood he had shed - at God's behest!