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December 20, 1992

Annual Y.U. Hanukkah Dinner (1992)

Chanukah Prayer Yeshiva University
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Annual Hannukah Dinner: Greetings (1985)

Yesterday, synagogues throughout the world read a special passage in honor of Hanukkah. It comes from the prophet Zechariah, who, 2,400 years ago, returned to the Land of Israel from exile in Babylon and there encouraged his despondent brethren and inspired them to continue rebuilding the Holy Temple. In this haftarah, Zechariah has a vision of two of the leaders of our people who are shown a marvelous stone – even roshah – a headstone, a chief or excellent stone, a symbol of strength and endurance by virtue of which the Temple will be rebuilt, the Land rehabilitated, and the People redeemed. Now, this stone, according to the prophet, had a remarkable feature: it had shiv'ah einayim al even achat – seven eyes on one stone. And when the people behold it, they will cry out, chen chen lah – “beautiful, beautiful!” What do these seven eyes mean? Two interpretations: one is that the Lord will watch over it with seven eyes – that is, He will protect it lovingly, cherish it, and care for it. The other interpretation is that it has seven facets – a multi-faceted gem. I mention all this because I believe that Yeshiva University is, for the Jewish and American communities – and especially the American Jewish community – an even roshah, a most precious gem. Truly, there is only one YU. There is no other institution quite like it in the range of its academic offerings, research, community service, and unique commitments. And as we draw to the close of the first century of our existence, our even roshah sparkles ever more brightly. We have, over the last several years, experienced the hashgachah pratit of God’s shiv'ah einayim – the special care and providence of His watchful eyes over us. Just five years ago we were at the brink of despair, teetering on the edge of insolvency. Even our annual Hanukkah Dinner had become so depleted, listless, and lifeless that I seriously considered doing away with it. But – in response to the strenuous labor, incredible generosity, and wise l…
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Y.U. Hanukkah Dinner (1988)

The festival of Hanukkah, but recently concluded, is centered about the מנורה – celebrating the victory of the Israelites over the oppressive Greek‑Syrians. The origin of the מנורה goes back to Moses, who was commanded by God to construct it. I want to share with you a rather strange legend about the מנורה: Moses had difficulty with the divine instruction to construct the מנורה in the Tabernacle – משה נתקשה במעשה המנורה עד שהראה לו הקב"ה מנורה של אש... What did the Sages mean to teach us with this comment? What made them attribute to Moses difficulties which even a beginner would not have, so clear and explicit are the Biblical instructions? I believe that one major problem perturbed them: מנורה yields mixed signals; is symbol two apparently conflicting values — beauty/spirituality. The very loving attention Torah showered on details ornamentation מנורה is sufficient evidence its status as work unblemished art. In course time, generations Jews came to revere מנורה as Jewish symbol of beauty. At same time, pure flame of מנורה made of מנורה itself the ultimate symbol spirituality/רוח. Thus, Zechariah envisions a מנורה, exclaims, כי לא בחיל ולא בכח כי אח .ברוחי אמר ה״צ. Now, these two values suggested by the מנוחה, beauty and spirit, da not at all seem compatible. Beauty is external, it speaks to appearances. Spirit is inwardness, it reflects essence, not appearance. Beauty is enchanting, spirit is enduring. Beauty thrives in revelation — artist seeks exposure; spirit shuns public scrutiny and flourishes only in concealment, in the closed chambers of the heart, shy and shame-faced. In course history, symbols expanded: not only beauty but all worldly knowledge; & spirit=sacred, Jewish teaching. And these two as well — considered incompatible, irreconci1eable. Yet the מנורה implies both; hence difficulty experienced by Sages/Moses. How indeed construct this center-piece for the Temple when it in and of itself is a contradiction? Hence, the מנוחה required the direct…
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Yeshiva University 70th Annual Hanukkah Dinner (1994)

I have often wondered: Why is there such an elaborate festival of Hanukkah to commemorate the re-dedication Temple in Jerusalem, yet nothing to celebrate its original construction? Why eight full days for rebuilding and not a single day for the original building by King Solomon? I suggest that the answer is this: re-doing is far more arduous than doing; it elicits less inspiration, there is no drama, almost no thrill, and a painful absence of applauding audiences and cheering crowds. The Rabbis of the Talmud put it succinctly: קשה עתיקא מחדתא — the old is more difficult than the new.But it is precisely because it is so much more thankless, because it appears so much less rewarding, that it is considered as or more important, and hence more praiseworthy, than the original doing. Because the Macabbean effort at rededicating the Temple was less dramatic and impressive than Solomon's initial construction that we remember Hanukkah annually to the accompaniment of candles and song, prayer and pomp.That is, at core, the message of renewal, although it is also called by a variety of other names, all of which essentially boil down to the same thing —reinventing, recreating, remaking, restoring, reprioritizing, rebuilding.Voltaire (in his Philosophical Dictionary) partially recognized the truth of this idea when he wrote:Men who are occupied with the restoration of health to other men, by the joint exercise of skill and humanity, are above all the great of the earth. They even partake of divinity, since to preserve and renew is almost as noble as to create.Although I thank Monsieur Voltaire on behalf of our Albert Einstein College of Medicine for his accolade for physicians, I say that he was only "partially right" because it holds true not only for medicine but, as well, for a host of other disciplines which help mankind in its quest for renewal. Moreover, it is not only "almost as noble as to create" but, I submit, more noble.That is what Hanukkah teaches us: to recognize …
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