The Ten Minute Chazzan

by Rabbi Mordechai Rhine

The Chashmonoim- or Maccabees, as they are commonly called- were talented people planted in history at a critical time. They were known as scholars and priests, but they became military leaders and motivational speakers when the times required. Most interesting is the attribute ascribed to them in the song “Maoz Tzur”. In this most popular song they are called “Binei Binah,” people of understanding.

The attribute of Binah, or understanding, comes up often in Jewish literature. It refers to the ability to truly appreciate a subject matter, to be able to cut through to its essence. For example, when Pharoh has two dreams in this week’s parsha, Yosef is described as a person of Binah, because he realized that they were really one dream, and was able to suggest how to act upon its message.

If the Chashmonoim are described as “Binei Binah” they must have understood some great message in the events of their day. What was the understanding that they achieved regarding the miracles of their time?

Most of us are aware that the Chashmonoim were vastly outnumbered by the Syrian-Greeks. What is not commonly noted is that they were vastly outnumbered even among the Jews themselves. The Chashmonoim were just one family out of the 24 families of Kohanim, and Kohanim generally are just a small percentage of the greater Jewish people. But somehow, this small dedicated segment of the Jewish people became the messenger- the chazzan of sorts- for the entire Jewish people, and they were victorious in their mission.

When the Macabbees finally won the war against the Syrian-Greeks they entered the Beis Hamikdash to discover the desecration. The enemy had purposely defiled every jug of oil that they found. Broken jugs, and defiled jugs were strewn everywhere. But then, in an inner room, probably deep inside a cabinet where the enemy had not thought to look, they found one jug of oil that was untainted. When they looked at that jug, they didn’t just see that one jug. In that one jug they saw all the jugs that didn’t make it. They saw in that jug the qualities of a messenger- a chazzan of sorts- on behalf of all the others. “When one is saved,” when one has the stamina to do the right thing, “he is not saved for himself alone, but rather on behalf of all those that he represents.”

To the Chashmonoim, people of understanding, the miracle of the oil was the miracle of the battle all over again. Just as they needed to shoulder the responsibilities of the nation, so would this historic jug of oil somehow acquire the strength to represent the many jugs that didn’t make it, until new oil could be obtained.

The message of the few representing the many has broad applications in Jewish life. Not only is it common in the communal setting for the few to represent the yearnings of many, but the idea of representation has a powerful application in our personal lives. Often we spend the bulk of our time doing things that are important but do not necessarily give us a high level of life satisfaction. What the Chashmonoim understood is that the few can represent the many, and so it is with the way that we spend our time. If we manage to tithe our time, and use just a few minutes for acts of kindness and Torah study, then the light of these mitzvos becomes the chazzan- the representative- for the entire day.

Over the past few years I have had the privilege to experience the principle of time “representation” on a most personal level. A few years ago we started a learning campaign entitled “Take Ten for Talmud” in which we study Halachic Highlights of the Daf Yomi page of Talmud for ten minutes a day. To study the entire page properly would take upwards of an hour. No one is under any illusions that we are studying the entire Daf. Yet, the energizing power of such a study session is that it is a starting point, a powerful representative, of the amazing mitzvos we are capable of.

I realized the power of this short study session when, after a few days of study, participants began to compare Talmudic passages and concepts to those that we had before. Often, at business, during the course of the day people will comment, “This is exactly what today’s Daf was speaking about.”

Ten minutes can represent the entire day. They radiate light into a person’s day, just as one priestly family and a jug of oil did for the Jewish people so many years ago.

With best wishes for a wonderful Shabbos and a Happy Chanukah.

P.S. If you would like to subscribe to Take Ten for Talmud by e-mail, please contact RMRhine@teach613.org