OHR SOMAYACH'S ASK THE RABBI 
Issue #257, December 4, 1999 
Parshat Vayeshev
=====================================
In this issue:
WHAT THE ELEPHANTS?
WHO COMMANDED IT?
I HAD A LITTLE DREIDLE 
CHANU-KAH
EXERCISE
YIDDLE RIDDLE
PUBLIC DOMAIN
=====================================

WHAT THE ELEPHANTS?
Ceil Carey <jscarey718@aol.com> wrote:

Dear Rabbi,

I work in the youth services department of a library and in a child's 
book we see an elephant used as a symbol of Chanukah but no 
explanation.  Could you explain the symbolism of an elephant in the 
celebration of Chanukah? Thank you so much.

Dear Ceil Carey,
	
According to the Book of Maccabees, the ancient Greek armies came 
against Israel with fearsome armored elephants.  It is known from other 
historical sources as well that the Greeks used elephants in warfare.  
They were the ancient tanks!

************

WHO COMMANDED IT?

Avner Stein from Tampa, Florida <AvnerStein@juno.com> wrote:

Dear Rabbi,

I thought that blessings having "asher kidshanu b'mitzvotav v'tzivanu" 
[that G-d sanctified us with his commandments, and commanded us"] 
are reserved for ones that originate in the Torah.  Yet the first blessing 
for lighting the chanukia also contains this phrase even though the 
holiday isn't in the Torah.   Is this an exception? 

Dear Avner Stein,

Lighting Chanukah candles is not one of the 613 mitzvot of the Torah.  
Rather, it is a Rabbinic mitzvah that was enacted by the Sages of the 
Sanhedrin (Supreme Torah Court) during the Second Temple period. 
Yet, the blessing we say when we light the Chanukah candles -- 
"v'tzivanu l'hadlik ner shel Chanukah"   -- means that Hashem 
commanded us to light them!  How can we say that G-d commanded us 
to perform a Rabbinic mitzvah?  The answer is this:  One of the 613 
mitzvot in the Torah is the commandment to obey the Sanhedrin 
(Deuteronomy 17:11), and since the Sages enacted the lighting of 
Chanukah candles, therefore lighting the candles indeed becomes like a 
commandment from the Torah.  
	
We say a similar blessing for other Rabbinic commandments as well, 
such as lighting Shabbat candles Friday afternoon and reading the 
Scroll of Esther on Purim.  Both of these are not commanded in the 
Torah; yet in the blessing we say that G-d commanded these things, 
because G-d commands us to listen to the Sages who instituted them.

************

I HAD A LITTLE DREIDLE

Caren from Indianapolis, Indiana <clf@iquest.net> wrote:

Dear Rabbi,

How does the dreidle (four-sided spinning top) fit in with the story of 
Chanukah? My theory is that since Jews were not allow to congregate, 
but they were allowed to play Greek games, they pretended to play this 
game while they planned their next move.  Am I even close?

Dear Caren,
	
Close but no dreidle!  The ancient Greeks forbade studying the Torah, 
so the people would gather together in secret.  If the Greeks interrupted 
them, they would pull out the dreidels and pretend that they had 
gathered to gamble.
	
For deeper meanings of the dreidel, see "The Secret of the Dreidel" at 
the Ohr Somayach Web Site: www.ohrnet.org/special/chanukah/chan95.htm

************

CHANU-KAH

Alan Litchman from Brooklyn, New York  <alitchman@aol.com> 
wrote:

Dear Rabbi,

Do the words Chanukah and Chinuch (education) have the same root?  
If so, what is the connection?

Dear Alan Litchman,
	
Yes, these words are connected.  Chanukah means inauguration, as 
Chanukah celebrates the "Chanukat Hamizbe'ach," the re-inauguration 
of the altar by the Maccabees after its defilement.
	
Chinuch is an expression indicating the beginning of something.  Thus, 
it means inauguration, but it also means education, which begins and 
initiates a person in the way that it is hoped that he will follow.  As 
King Solomon wrote,  "Chanoch l'na'ar al pi darko -- teach a child 
according to his way...."
	
Chanukah when read as two words (chanu kaf-hey) means "they 
encamped on the 25th," indicating that that the Maccabees were 
victorious in battle and rested from their enemies on the 25th of Kislev.

Sources:
*	Rashi, Tractate Shavuot 15a

************

EXERCISE

Jechezkel Frank from Holland <jbfrank@xs4all.nl> wrote:

Dear Rabbi,

Did our Sages exercise at all?  How could the Maccabeans be so strong 
and know about warfare without practicing and working out?  Of course 
this was one of the miracles which happened on Chanukah, but is there 
more we can say about this?  Are there any sources about rabbis who 
knew how to sport or exercise? Or sources about the importance of 
exercising?

Dear Jechezkel Frank,

In the Chanukah prayers, we say that G-d delivered the "strong into the 
hands of the weak."  So it is clear that the Maccabees were "weak."  In 
fact they had no military training, since the only people who did not go 
to war were priests, and the Maccabees were all priests.
	
This is not to say that they weren't healthy and vital.  Maimonides 
writes:  "Having a healthy and complete body is following in the ways 
of G-d, as it is impossible to understand and to perceive the knowledge 
of the Creator when one is sick; therefore people must distance 
themselves from things that are destructive to the body, and conduct 
themselves in ways that are strengthening and therapeutic."
	
Maimonides highly recommends exercise as part of his overall 
prescription for health.  He even ranks it higher than proper diet, saying 
that, "anyone who exercises and engages in a lot of physical activity, 
doesn't overeat and maintains regularity, sickness will not come upon 
him, and his strength will increase, even if he eats unhealthy foods."

Sources:
*	oMaimonides, Hilchot Deot 4:1, 2, 15

=====================================

YIDDLE RIDDLE

Last week we asked:
How many times did Joshua's troops encircle the city of Jericho?

Answer:
13.  Joshua was commanded to encircle the city once a day for 6 days, 
and on the seventh day to encircle it 7 times.  

(Joshua 6:3,4)

=====================================

THE PUBLIC DOMAIN
Comments, quibbles, and reactions 
concerning previous "Ask-the-Rabbi" features

Re:  Gather Round the Chanukah Fire: 
(http://www.ohrnet.org/ask/ask218.htm#Q2)

Last year an Ohrnet reader asked about the validity of a menorah, the 
arms of which are arranged in circular fashion.  It's interesting to note 
that there is an opinion, recorded in the classic rabbinic literature, which 
maintains that the Menorah in the Tabernacle in the desert (and in the 
Temple in Jerusalem)  was in just such a shape, "like a crown."
	
This opinion is found in Midrash ha-Gadol, as well as the Midrash 
Me'ohr Ha'afelah, both cited by Rabbi Yoseph Kapach in his edition of 
Maimonides' Commentary on the Mishnah, Tractate Menachot 3:7 n. 
57* (p. 78).

     Rashi Simon, KESHER, London, England <rsimon@kesher.org.uk>

Re:   Unkosher Kritters (http://www.ohrnet.org/ask/ask256.htm#Q1)

Regarding the question posed regarding the scuba  diver who wondered 
if it was "kosher" to wear his shirt with pictures of lobsters on it, I 
would like to add that there exists in fact a custom of not wearing 
clothing with non kosher animals drawn in it.  Some people are strict 
about this especially in regard to children's clothes, because they 
believe the first images a child has are very important in his spiritual 
development.  That's why many people adorn a baby's room with 
religious articles or pictures of rabbis, and don't let them wear or be 
surrounded by objects with non kosher animals engraved in them.

      Daniel Faintuch, Sao Paulo, Brazil  <danielfaintuch@hotmail.com> 

Re:  Talking Turkey (http://www.ohrnet.org/ask/ask255.htm#Q2):
	
Two comments regarding Thanksgiving:  Us non-Americans will never 
understand how religious Jews in the U.S. celebrate a "non-Jewish" 
festival.
	
I have heard that the custom of eating turkey on Thanksgiving is a 
Jewish one. The Hebrew word for turkey is "Hodu."  And how does one 
thank G-d?  By saying "Hodu la'Shem ki tov...."

                  Dani Wassner, Jerusalem <dani@moit.gov.il >State of Israel  
Ministry of Industry and Trade Publications and Economic Information
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