Today we will share a Hanukah related thought from the great Klausenberger Rebbe. The Rebbe points out that the miracle of Hanukah took place during the era of the second Bet Hamikdash, as we know. He says that the issue of Sinat Hinam was already brewing then, and that was part of the reason they got into trouble. Therefore, after the miracle of Hanukah, they strengthened themselves in the area of Achdut/ unity. He says there are two very interesting things about the mitzvah of the Menorah. Number one is that we do it outside. Our other Mitzvot are inside. The Seder is in the house, and Succot is inside the Succah- we don't see what's going on in anyone else’s house. But the menorah is on the outside. Number two is that there are three different levels of kiyum mitzvot of Ner Hanukah There's a regular level- where you light one candle, then there's one per night, then there’s one per person…different levels. We don't find that with other Mitzvot. We don’t get three options of of matzot- grade A grade B or grade C. The Torah has one level of Matzot. Additionally, we don’t have different levels of Megilat Esther. So what is it about Hanukah that has that three levels? He answers both questions with the same point- that since they had perfected their area of unity and they were no longer jealous of each other, it enabled that, firstly, we could put the menorah outside. When jealousy shows up, people think, “ How come he has a silver menorah and I only have copper?” But we don't have to worry about that when it comes to Hanukah. Secondly, I don't have to worry that he thinks he's better than me, because he’s doing a higher level Mitzvah. So whereas people may think- “ What? He eats yashan- he thinks he's better than me? He eats chalav Yisrael, he thinks he's better than me?” we didn't have that problem with Hanukah, because again, there was no jealousy. And with this he explains a Midrash, which is based on the Pasuk from Shir Hashirim, that is difficult to understand: הַֽדּוּדָאִ֣ים נָֽתְנוּ־רֵ֗יחַ וְעַל־פְּתָחֵ֙ינוּ֙ כׇּל־מְגָדִ֔ים literally means, “The Dudaim (a certain type of flower), gave a smell, and on our doorsteps are all kind of delicious delicacies. The Midrash says that the Dudaim gave a smell refers to Reuven, because he was the one that brought the Dudaim to his mother, and he saved Yosef from the pit. And on our doorstep there are delicacies refers to the Ner Hanukah that we put outside on the doorstep. What's the connection? A lot of rabbis speak about the connection between Reuven and the Ner Hanukah.The Klausenberger Rebbe explains, beautifully, that Reuven saved Yosef. As the Gemara in Berachot 7b says, Leah pointed out, “ Look how special my son is. Esav tried to kill Yaakov, and here Reuven is helping his would-be competition, Yosef (who would be the Bechor from Rachel, over the Bechor from Leah). He's helping him; He's uniting with him; He's trying to save him.” This connects to the miracle of Hanukah, when we light outside, because we're no longer worried about jealousy on Hanukah. Again, a beautiful connection between Achdut and the miracle of Hanukah. Have a wonderful day.

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