STORY OF CHANNAH:
| 2And he had two wives; the name of the one was Hannah and the name of the second was Peninnah; and Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children. | בוְלוֹ֙ שְׁתֵּ֣י נָשִׁ֔ים שֵׁ֚ם אַחַת֙ חַנָּ֔ה וְשֵׁ֥ם הַשֵּׁנִ֖ית פְּנִנָּ֑ה וַיְהִ֚י לִפְנִנָּה֙ יְלָדִ֔ים וּלְחַנָּ֖ה אֵ֥ין יְלָדִֽים: |
PIRKEI AVOT: not only that, but [the creation of] the entire world is worthwhile for him alone
PROVERBS: Chapter 2
TZADDIKIM:
Week 2
is the week of Yom Kippur. The verse from the story of Channah speaks of “two
wives.” Both the number two as well as the concept of marriage and relationship
is related to this week. (See Book 1,
where the animal for this week is the hen, followed by the rooster for week 1).
The name Peninah means “pearl,” which signifies inner beauty and purity. Channah
comes from the word “chen,” which
means grace as well as mercy. As Rebbe Nachman of Breslov explains, chen is a quintessential ingredient in
prayer. The Talmud also teaches us that we learn how we are supposed to pray by
Channah’s example. These concepts are all closely tied to Yom Kippur, when through prayer and fasting we reveal our inner
sanctity and beauty, find grace in the eyes of Hashem and are cleansed from our
past transgressions.
The Pirkei
Avot section for this week explains that the existence of whole world is
worthwhile for the Tzadik, the one that
studies Torah for its own sake. Interestingly, the above verse in the Channah’s
story tells of how Peninah had many children, and yet Channah did not have any.
Peninah’s existence and that of all her children (and the whole world) was worthwhile
because of Channah, even though Channah herself did not have any children. This
is similar to the statement in the Talmud regarding Rabbi Chanina (whose name
also comes from the word chen): “The whole world is nourished because of Chanina, and
for Chanina, one amount of carob is enough from Sabbath eve to the next.” (Brachot 17b) (See Book 2, Week 48) Tishrei
very much connected to the creation of the world, and to its continued
existence once our sins are forgiven on Yom
Kippur.
Chapter
2 of the Book of Proverbs contains a theme of Yom Kippur and the choice between righteousness/good (which leads
to life) and sin/evil (which leads to death):
18. for her house sinks to death, and her paths [lead] to
the dead;
19. none who go to her return, neither do they achieve the
ways of life
20. in order that you go in the way of the good, and you keep
the ways of the righteous.
21. For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect
shall remain therein.
22. But the wicked shall be cut off from the land, and the
treacherous shall be uprooted therefrom.
This
week, on the 8th of Tishrei, it is the yahrzeit of
Rabbi Noach, the son of Rabbi Mordechai of Lechovitch. Rabbi Noach is an
important link in the chain of various Chassidic dynasties, including Slonim, Kobrin,
Koidenov, and Karlin. He taught that “a Jew who begins to question his emunah
should have faith that he has faith! When he fails to feel the strength of that
faith within, he should assure himself that the faith is there, but remains
hidden and obscured.”[1] This is related to what
was mentioned above above Yom Kippur.
A day later,
on the 9th of Tishrei is
the yahrzeit of Rabbi Avraham Aveli
Gombiner, the Magen Avraham, one of the greatest halachic (Jewish law)
authorities of all times. He was born in 1637 and was very weak and sickly as a
child.[2]
His writings also have a special connection to the spirit of Yom Kippur:
In paragraph 156 of Magen Avraham he writes, “It is a mitzvah for all men to love each Jew as himself, as it is written, ‘You shall love your fellow as yourself’ [Leviticus 19:18], and whoever hates a Jew in his heart transgresses a prohibition, for it is said, ‘You shall not hate your brother in your heart’ [v.17]. When someone sins against his fellow, he should not keep a grudge in silence, but he should say, ‘Why did you do this to me?’ and he should not speak to him harshly, to the point of shaming him, but reprimand him in private, calmly, and with soft language.”[3]
Other yahrzeits this week include Rabbi Elazar Nisan of Drobitich (1854), son
of the Yismach Moshe and father of the Yetev Lev of the Satmar-Sighet dynasties
(9th of Tishrei); Rabbi Akiva (10th of Tishrei); and (sometimes) Rabbi Yitzchak Tzarfati (father of Rashi); Rabbi Avraham the Malach
(“the Angel,” son of the Magid of
Mezeritch, 12th of Tishrei), Rabbi Shmuel
Schneersohn (the Rebbe Maharash, 4th
Rebbe of Lubavitch, 13th of Tishrei),
andd Rabbi Akiva Eiger (also 13th of Tishrei).
Furthermore, there is a tradition that on the 7th of Tishrei is the yahrzeit of Zevulun, the son of Yaakov, our patriarch.
Furthermore, there is a tradition that on the 7th of Tishrei is the yahrzeit of Zevulun, the son of Yaakov, our patriarch.
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