HaMaayan / The Torah Spring Shlomo Katz Parashat Miketz Volume V Number 10 (195) 28 Kislev 5751 / 4th Chanuka Light December 15, 1990 Parasha Overview The years of surplus and famine which G-d brought to Egypt were not only G-d's way of bringing Bnei Yisrael down to Egypt, but also the beginning of their redemption. Chazal teach that, while in Egypt, the Jews were dragged down to the penultimate level of spiritual depravity, and had not Hashem redeemed from there, they would have been lost. This, despite the fact that the Jews in Egypt were under the special influence of the "Shechinah" (G-d's protection) and not under the control of the "Sar Mitzrayim" (the angel to whom G-d delegates day-to-day control of Egypt). Imagine how much worse the Jews' lot would have been had they been fully integrated into Egypt! To prevent this, Hashem ordained that seven years of surplus precede Bnei Yisrael's arrival in Egypt. During those seven years and the years of the famine which followed, the control of the Sar Mitzrayim was suspended, and Hashem personally ruled over Egypt. Thus, when Bnei Yisrael arrived there, they did not settle-in under the Egyptians and their guardian angel, but under the Shechinah and its agent, Yosef. [Torat Moshe ("Alshich"), B'reishit 41:33] .................................... Many answers have been given to the Bet Yosef's famous question: If the Chashmonaim found enough oil to burn for one day, and it lasted an additional seven days, why does Chanuka have eight days? The actual miracle lasted only seven days! (In fact, one book, entitled Ner L'Meah collects 100 such answers.) The following answer is given by R'Avraham Yitzchak HaKohen Kook: There is a Torah prohibition on building models of the Bet Ha Mikdash or any of its utensils [except in certain circumstances]. The sages who established Chanuka could not give it only seven days because the Chanuka Menorah would then have seven branches - the "Shamash" being optional - and might violate the prohibition of being too similar to the Temple Menorah. However, notes R'Kook, there is an objection to this answer. Why can't we make Chanuka Menorahs that have seven branches but do not violate the above-mentioned prohibition because they do not have all of the decorations that the original Menorah had? (See Sh'mot 25:31-40.) Megilat Ta'anit (a work from the period of the Mishnah) concludes its account of the Chanuka story by saying: Why did they make Chanuka for eight days? Because when the members of the family of Chasmonaim entered the Temple they held iron spits (or spears) in their hands. This statement, writes R' Kook, has defied most attempts at explanation. Its meaning, he says, is as follows: [Editors note: There is a dispute in the Talmud whether the seven branched Menorah in the Temple must be made out of gold. One view says that it must, for the Torah says that the Menorah was gold. The other view says that the Torah's intention is not to require that the Menorah be made of gold, but only to say that the intricate design which the Torah describes is to be used only if the Menorah is made of gold. However, the Menorah may be make of another material, and if it is, it may be plain and unadorned.) The Halacha follows the view that the Menorah need not be made out of gold, and may be unadorned. This is evident from the passage in Megilat Ta'anit which teaches that the Menorah the Chashmonaim lit consisted of seven spits stuck in the ground with cups of oil at their tips. [The "official" Temple Menorah was "Tamei" (ritually impure) because of its earlier contact with the Greeks.] These spits were certainly not made of gold. Furthermore, they were very likely straight pieces of metal and did not have the Menorah decorations on them. The statement of the Megilat Ta'anit is now clear. Since the Menorah can be of any material, any seven-branched Menorah would violate the above-mentioned prohibition of the Torah. Therefore, Chanukah must have eight, not seven days. (Mitzvat Ra'ayah, O.C. 670:1) .................................... In past weeks we have examined some issues that are at the foundation of Torah study. This week and next, we summarize the six major periods into which the last 2,000 years of Torah study are traditionally divided. (When this overview is completed we will IY"H return to examine in depth many of the subjects mentioned below.) (1) The Tannaim are the sages of the Mishnah who flourished >from approximately 50 B.C.E. to 200 C.E. The word "Tanna" means "reviewed" and is thus Aramaic for "Shanah," the root of "Mishnah." The first Tannaim were the disciples of Hillel and Shammai, and the last were R' Yehuda HaNasi (commonly known as "Rebbe" or "Rabbenu HaKadosh," the compiler of the Mishnah) and his sons. Other well- known Tannaim were R' Akiva and R' Meir. The five generations before Hillel's death (i.e. the period beginning approximately 230 B.C.E.) are also among the sages of the Mishnah, although they have their own name: "Zugot" ("pairs"). That name refers to the fact that Jewry, in that time, was led by a pair of sages, one of whom was president of the Sanhedrin and the other, chief justice. The era of the Zugot and Tannaim is distinct from the periods which came before it in two ways: Earlier, there had been no "Machloket" (as was explained in previous weeks), while in the time of the Zugot we find that first Halachic dispute (see Chagigah 16a-b). Also, suggests R' Sherira Gaon, before the time of the Tannaim the primary focus of Torah study was on elucidating the scriptural source for each Halacha (using the G-d-given "13 Midot"), while the primary concern of the Tannaim was to clarify the details and scope of the Halachot themselves. Besides the Mishnah, the Tannaim composed several Midrashim including the Kabbalistic tomes, Sefer HaZohar and Sefer HaBahir, an the historical work, Seder Olam. (2) The Amoraim are the sages of the Gemara. Their first generation includes the students of Rebbe, such as R' Chiya, Rav, Levi, and Abba (the father of the Amorah, Shmuel), while among the last Amoraim were Rav Ashi (died 427), Mar bar R' Ashi (d. 468) and Ravina II (d. 475). Other Amoraim include R' Huna, R' Yochanan, Reish Lakish, Abbaye, and Rava. (Altogether, the names of 1,812 Amoraim are known to us.) The word "Amora" literally means "spokesman," and in our context it refers to those sages who taught ("spoke") the teachings of the Tannaim to future generations. As we see in the Gemara, the primary work of the Amoraim, their goal was to identify the Tanna who taught each Mishnah, and to demonstrate both the sources of the Halachot which the Tananaim had passed down to the Amoraim, and the roots of each Machloket found in the Mishna. Besides our Gemara - the Talmud Bavli - the Amoraim composed the Talmud Yerushalmi, and numerous Midrashim (e.g. Midrash Rabbah) and collections of "Beraitot," such as the Tosefta. (3) The Savoraim are the sages who lived between 475 and 589, approximately the first century after the Amoraim. Of all of the Torah scholars in history, these - men such as R' Simona and R' Ravai of Rov - are probably the least known, but it is to these four or five generations that we may attribute the present form of the Talmud. Although the Gemara was the product of the lectures and teachings of the Amoraim, the Savoraim gave it its final arrangement. Additionally, they inserted many definitions and clarifications into the Talmud (see e.g. Sanhedrin 43a and Rabbenu Chananel there), although they did not add new Halachic decisions. (See Iggeret R' Sherira Gaon.) (4) The Geonim flourished in Bavel (Babylon) from 589 to 1038. Although the title "Geonim" is generally applied to all of the sages of that period, it strictly refers only to the heads of the Yeshivot, each of whom was called "Gaon" (e.g. Rav Saadiah Gaon, Rav Sherira Gaon, Rav Hai Gaon). [Note: This should not be confused with the modern usage of "Gaon" in the sense of "genius." Thus, the Vilna Gaon (1720-97) and the Rogatchover Gaon (died 1936) were not "Geonim" but were "Acharonim" (see below).] Because of their proximity to the Amoraim in both time and place, the primary focus of the Geonim was not in understanding the Talmud, which was an open book to them, but in deriving practical Halacha from it. (R' Yitzchak HaLevi, Dorot HaRishonim). R' Hai (939-1038; "Gaon" >from 998 or 1004) is usually considered to be the last "Chief Rabbi" of all of Jewry. ................................................................. Posted by Alan Broder, ajb@grebyn.com Shlomo Katz can not receive EMAIL, however I will pass on any comment forwarded to me, or alternately, send your comments care of yehuda@gwuvm.bitnet