As a result of the libelous slander of the Frankists (followers of Sabbatai Zevi, the archbishop of Kamenitz decreed that all Hebrew books of the communities in his jurisdiction should be burned. On this day, he suffered a miraculous downfall and the decree was annulled. (Imrei Pinchas, 2003 ed., vol. 1, pp. 496–498)
The explosion of some barrels of gunpowder that had been caught on fire resulted in the collapse of a number of nearby buildings, placing Rabbi Yaakov Yehoshua Falk in mortal danger. In distress, he pledged that if he would survive, he would commit himself to studying the Talmud and its commentaries. He was miraculously saved, and went on to author his classic Talmudic commentary, Pnei Yehoshua. (Introduction of the author to the above work)
After overcoming the Greek forces, the Hasmoneans cleared the Temple from the idolatrous images that had been erected there. (Megilat Taanit ch. 9)
In tonight’s evening prayers, preceding Dec 5., 2024, we insert the request for rain, “v’tein tal umatar,” in the amidah. We continue adding this request into the weekday prayers until the holiday of Passover.
You are Jacob. You are on a journey from Beersheva, the wellspring of all souls, to Haran, this formidable world.
Your souls makes a vow, Jacob’s vow:
“If G‑d will be with me and protect me on this journey and provide me bread to eat and clothing to wear, and if I return to my father's house in peace...
Meaning: G‑d will be always with you, shielding your soul.
Your bread will be the wisdom of Torah that you learn. Your clothing will be the mitzvahs. So that in both these ways, you willl bring His light to shine in places where it has never shone before.
And you will journey back home as just another human being, immersed within the inner turmoil, the desires, the cravings, the pressures, the burdens, the passions, the anxieties, the fears, the utter noise and cacophony of a fragmented, confused universe—
—and you will pull yourself back toward inner peace.
How? By finding the Infinite G-d in all these ways of humankind, not abstaining from them, not running from them, but injecting them with your soul’s sense of divine purpose, rendering them, too, a way of knowing G‑d.
...then G-d will be my G-d and this stone that I have set as a monument will be the House of G‑d.” (Genesis 28:20)
Your soul will find peace within her most inner self, in the ultimate bond with the Infinite.
And the world you entered will also be redeemed, until even the stones beneath your feet and the granite of the building in which you work will cry out, “We, too, are a place for the Infinite Light to dwell!”
You are Jacob, bearer of light, warrior of peace.