The Guest's Own Lamp: Rising to Receive from One's Rebbe

1“A guest is obligated in the Chanukah lamp.” My holy ancestor, zt"l, explains in his sefer Toldos Adam that these words hint at a lesson in avodas Hashem, the service of Hashem.¹ Our avodah is a kind of lamp, as the verse says, “A mitzvah is a lamp, and Torah is light.”² In such service, a disciple is like a “guest,” for he is not yet settled in it. Even so, he must not rely on his Rebbe's service alone. He too is obligated in the Chanukah lamp himself: he must serve and raise himself up on his own in Torah and avodah. His Rebbe should be only a help and a support to him: once he has done his own work, he can receive help from his Rebbe. This is like what the Yid HaKadosh, zt"l, another of my holy ancestors, taught on the verse “You shall surely help along with him,” said of helping with a donkey that has fallen under its load.³ The law is that if the owner says, “Since the mitzvah is upon you, load it yourself,” the passerby is exempt from loading it alone. He is obligated only when the owner helps him.⁴ So it is with a disciple and his Rebbe: a Rebbe helps his disciple only when the disciple also does his own work. Those are the holy words of the Toldos Adam.

2This lets us understand what Chazal said: “A person is obligated to greet his Rebbe on the festival and on Shabbos.”⁵ But why are these times in particular suited to greeting one's Rebbe? The answer lies in a law of the Mishnah. Even an am ha'aretz, an unlearned man who is not trusted about tithes, is afraid to lie on Shabbos, and so on Shabbos he is believed about maaser, the tithe.⁶ This shows that the special power of Shabbos and Yom Tov can bestow the holiness of the day upon a person. It can even remove from him the kelipos, the husks of impurity, and everything external, so that the trait of falsehood leaves him and only the trait of truth remains. On these days, then, a person's mind becomes clear and clean. That is why he is obligated to greet his Rebbe on them, for then his Rebbe can influence him for good. He must come to his Rebbe and receive holy influence in Torah and avodah.

3So it is with the days of Chanukah as well. Chazal said of them: “They established them and made them festive days with Hallel and thanksgiving.”⁷ Why the word keva'um, “they established them”? The meaning is that a lasting quality lies hidden in these days. Chazal set it into their holiness, so that the days would be able to influence the hearts of Israel and light them up to thank and praise Hashem. This time is therefore especially suited for a person to raise himself up in Torah and avodah. And so it is fitting to stay close to one's Rebbe during these days. For, as we saw with the guest's Chanukah lamp, it is when a person raises himself up on his own that he can receive influence from his Rebbe in his avodah.

4This is what Chazal meant by “A guest is obligated in the Chanukah lamp.” They were hinting that the days of Chanukah are a time suited to being with one's Rebbe, to rise in Torah and avodah. [The Chiddushei Maharatza asks on this Gemara: what is new in saying that a guest is obligated? How is he different from the rest of Israel? The Ran writes that a guest is obligated even though he has no house, so that we should not think the law of the Chanukah lamp is like the law of mezuzah, from which anyone without a house is exempt.⁸ But the Torah is expounded in four ways: pshat, the plain meaning; remez, allusion; drush, homiletic exposition; and sod, the hidden meaning. The inner meaning hints that the light of Chanukah will shine upon a guest when he is with his Rebbe. And he too must light and help bring this about, as we saw in the Toldos Adam.] Perhaps this is also Rashi's intent when he explains achsenai as “a guest.”⁹ He is hinting that every person must see himself in this world as a guest, who must keep raising himself higher. And these days are suited to this.

5May Hashem grant that we be privileged to rise higher and higher in the merit of these days, and to see the Menorah kindled in the rebuilt Beis HaMikdash. Amen.