Rabbi Moshe Taub
Chanukah, 2021
The days of din that commence with Elul do not culminate on Yom Kippur or even Hoshana Rabbah; rather, they continue until the final days of Chanukah, when we still have the potential to change our din. Before we explain this incredible mesorah, a brief introduction to the “days” of judgment is in order, derived largely from Rav Yaakov Kamenetsky.1
There is something mysterious about our yemei din. For thousands of years, from nesinas haTorah through the Anshei K’nesses Hagedolah’s writing of our siddur, there was never any explicit mention of even Rosh Hashanah itself being a day of judgment. It was only in the Mishnah and the Gemara that this became clear.
There are other days of din that even Chazal are silent about. Several years ago, I was speaking in my shul and mentioned in passing the notion that Hoshana Rabbah is the final day of din following Yom Kippur. Someone asked why Chazal chose not to explicitly inform us of this important, even imperative fact anywhere in Gemara or Midrash, instead leaving it for later sefarim to share with us.
I replied that I recall that Rav Kalman Epstein asked this question to Rav Yaakov Kamenetsky. Mentioning many of the points raised above, he explained that certain mysteries were reserved for tzaddikim and the keepers of our secrets. In later generations, the hamon am (general public) would need some of these secrets due to their own shortcomings and need for growth and a deeper connection to the Ribbono shel Olam.
Initially, even Rosh Hashanah was publicly reserved only as a day to be mamlich Hashem, without a focus on it being a yom din, thereby allowing us to attain a good din lishmah, without even knowing we were being carefully watched or judged. However, Chazal soon saw that spiritually weakened masses would be better able to be mamlich Hashem if they also understood the deeper truth of the day—that it is the Yom Ha’din.
As for Hoshana Rabbah, Rav Yaakov explained that we find many gezeiros Chazal that until their day were not needed. Chazal saw a yeridas ha’doros and sought to fix it with these new decrees. A similar thing happened as it related to the secret of Hoshana Rabbah. There was a concern that the weight of this being the final day of din would eclipse our necessary simchas ha’chag, and therefore only the greatest tzaddikim, whose joyous attitude would not be shaken by din, were let in on this secret. Sadly, continued Rav Yaakov, due to our further yeridah, our Chachamim realized that even something as weighty as a yom din would no longer counter our joy, and so they let it be known the true value of Hoshana Rabbah as well.
Chanukah shares a similar secret. Many Chassidishe sefarim teach us a remarkable revelation: the final din of Rosh Hashanah goes through many phases. It begins during Elul, culminating on Yom Kippur, when the din is sealed. These papers can still potentially be modified with sincere repentance and action. This continues through Hoshana Rabbah, when the sealed din is delivered, as it were. But this is not the end of the road. Rather, our din continues and can still be changed through the days of Chanukah, terminating on the last day, known as Zos Chanukah.2 While some sefarim mention the kisvei Arizal as the source for this secret, in truth, it is not found in the Arizal’s writings, but rather, similar to what Rav Yaakov writes regarding Hoshana Rabbah, “this matter was passed down among the fearful members of the keepers of secrets, one man [generation] to the next [generation].”3
Indeed, although the bikkurim may be brought until Sukkos, they may still be brought until Chanukah with the caveat that “meivi v’eino korei”—one brings [the bikkurim] but does not recite [the special verses]. Many see this as an allusion to this secret, in that we, too, may only speak publicly about our ability to gain atonement through Sukkos, but after, while we can still repent and atone through Chanukah, “eino korei,” we do not (in the past, “we did not”) speak about it.
Others add that notwithstanding this being a long-held secret, many allusions and hints to this fact are scattered throughout divrei Chazal.4 In fact, we find such allusions mentioned by those outside the camp of Chassidus. Rav Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld, a student of the K’sav Sofer, is quoted as teaching the following remez to Chanukah being the finality to the yemei din: The Gemara teaches that a borrower has ninety days to prove a loan document fictitious or pay up.5 Upon failure to prove this within that time period, the beis din will then demand that the creditor take assets away from the borrower. So, too, explains Rav Yosef Chaim, there are ninety days from Rosh Hashanah until Zos Chanukah, and we, too, have that same time to prove the verdict wrong!
Others explain the designation of this last day of Chanukah by the title “V’Zos Chanukah” as an allusion to the verse “B’zos yechupar avon Yaakov— Through this will the iniquity of Jacob be atoned.”6 In other words, on the day of zos, we will have a last opportunity to repent.7
Another verse that speaks to this theme and also hints to just how secretive this day is comes from Tehillim: “U’chesil lo yavin es zos—And the fool does not understand this,”8 as hinting to the yetzer hara (often referred to as or called a kesil) being oblivious to the power of this day, thereby allowing us to accomplish much spiritual gain. (Perhaps, at times, the fool is us: we let days of Chanukah go by without significant improvement and change.)
The grandson of the B’nei Yissaschar, the B’nei Binyamin (quoted above), brings another verse, as heard from his grandfather: “Zos chanukas haMizbeiach—This is the dedication of the Altar,”9 meaning that until the day of zos (Chanukah), we can still atone.
However, the question remains: Why is this so? What is so special about Chanukah, which did not even exist in the times of Tanach, that makes it so unique as to have the culmination of kapparah happen during its waning moments?
The Kedushas Levi10 suggests that Rosh Hashanah and Chanukah have something very exclusive in common. Whereas all other Yamim Tovim take place when the moon is at its strength (or on its way), only Chanukah and Rosh Hashanah are holy days also when the moon is at its weakest, as Chanukah, too, takes place on the first of a month. Indeed, some observe that “Rosh Hashanah” has the same gematria as “Mattisyahu,” alluding, perhaps, to this connection.
But it is the Aruch Hashulchan11 who illuminates the Rosh Hashanah- Chanukah connection even more. He observes that due to the assaults of the Syrian-Greeks, as recorded in Sefer Hamacabim, we were unable to celebrate properly (i.e., unable to bring the korbanei ha’chag) the Sukkos and Shemini Atzeres prior to the miracle of Chanukah. For this reason, explains the Aruch Hashulchan, Chanukah is eight days and not seven, as the other holidays are, so as to recall the seven days of Sukkos and the one day of Shemini Atzeres for which we fought to regain in full.12
Indeed, the Shibolei Haleket explains that it is for this reason that we see so many Sukkos-Chanukah connections in Chazal (e.g., Beis Shammai says that we go down in candles each night l’zecher the korbanos ha’chag). Based on this, I wonder if we can suggest that Hashem therefore granted them an extension of din, a respite, until the end of that war, and retained it until today. B’chasdei Hashem, I then saw that the late Klausenberger Rebbe13 makes this same connection. As the paytan writes (in a piyut for a second Shabbos Chanukah): “On Sukkos, all the enemies came to destroy, and on Chanukah they returned home.”
Let us conclude with two ideas. Rabbi Aryeh Pinchas Strickoff, in his astounding series of sefarim on the Yamim Tovim, brings the following amazing insight in the name of Rav Moshe Wolfson. Parshiyos Nitzavim, Vayeilech, and Haazinu are all read around the time of the Yamim Noraim.
- Vayeilech has thirty pesukim, alluding perhaps to the thirty days of Elul.
- Nitzavim contains forty pesukim, perhaps hinting to the forty days from Elul through Yom Kippur.
- Haazinu has fifty-two pesukim, perhaps suggesting the fifty-two days from Elul through Hoshana Rabbah.
- When one adds these together, we get a total of 122, the exact number of days from Elul through Zos Chanukah.
Rav Wolfson concluded this idea by pointing out that the next parashah is called V’zos Haberachah, hinting to the idea that Zos Chanukah is where we can find berachah and atonement.
Finally, an allusion of my own:
We know that in U’nesaneh Tokef, the tefillah that best represents our fear and awe of the yemei hadin, on top of the words teshuvah, tefillah, and tzedakah are found (in most machzorim) the words tzom (fasting), kol (voice or prayer), and mammon (money), respectively. It has been pointed out by many that each of these three words equal the value of 136, and together they equal 408, which is the value of the term used for Aharon when he was to enter the Mishkan on Yom Kippur. And that term? “B’zos yavo Aharon.” The word zos also equals 408. Perhaps this is also an allusion, a hint, said on Yom Kippur to the true end of our din: Zos Chanukah!
NOTES
1 Emes L’Yaakov al HaTorah, Vayikra 23:24.
2 See Likutei Maharil (a student of the Noam Elimelech) D’rush L’Chanukah, p. 53; B’nei Yissaschar, Chodesh Kislev; Imrei Noam, Behaalosecha, among others.
3 See L’Dofkei B’Teshuvah 746; Shaar Yissaschar (from the Munkatcher Rebbe), Kislev 4:4.
4 See Pardes Eliezer, Chanukah; Inside Chanukah, p. 76.
5 Bava Kama 112b.
6 Yeshayahu 27:9.
7 B’nei Binyamin, as brought in Pardes Yosef, p. 545.
8 Tehillim 92:7.
9 Bamidbar 7:84.
10 Derushim L’Chanukah.
11 Aruch Hashulchan, siman 670:5.
12 See She’iltos D’Rav Achai Gaon 27, who posits the same.
13 Shu”t Divrei Yatziv 283.
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