On December 2, I had the pleasure to attend a special Melavah Malka at the Beth Gavriel Center in Forest Hills. The public was invited to honor the community, its Bukharian Chief Rabbi Rav Yitzchak Israeli, and the special guest from Jerusalem, Rabbi David Yosef, son of the late Rav Ovadia Yosef.
The set up was something truly memorable. The guests were greeted with beautiful traditional music sung by a choir of young Bukharian boys in honor of the event. At times the music was upbeat and exciting; at other times it was slow and warm, like the center of a hearth. Many leaders from different communities came to show their respects in a great show of unity and brotherhood.
Rabbi Ilan Meirov opened the event with the following: The room is filled with rabbis and community members from all over the tri-state area. Being united like this in honor of our Torah is a truly special thing. This was Rav Ovadia Yosef’s goal. His word was heard all around the world and recognized as the final halachah. When he passed away, he left a void. But thank G-d, he left children - all following in the path of the Torah. His son Rav Yitzchak Yosef toils day and night, serving as the current Chief Rabbi of Israel. It is safe to say that his brother, Rav David Yosef, is in many ways the Chief Rabbi of Hutz La’aretz (outside of Israel). Rav David has been involved and especially interested in the development of our community for many years. We are proud to host him at our community at a time when it has grown so much.
The next to speak was Chief Bukharian Rabbi Rav Yitzchak Yisraeli, a student of Rav Ovadia Yosef. He spoke the following: Our forefather Yaakov was worried about encountering his murderous brother Esav until Hashem ensured him that his son Yosef was like a flaming torch which would burn Esav’s influence away like chaff.
In the story of Chanukah, the Greeks were interested in obliterating spirituality and spoiling our way of life. They wanted to remove holiness from the world. When they broke into our Temple, they didn’t destroy the holy temple but rather purposefully contaminated it. It was a war against the Jewish soul, not the body. When the Hasmoneans saw the light of Truth dwindling because of the Greek’s dark clouds of Hellenism, they wondered how to counter them. They drew their inspiration from the teaching of our Torah. One small spark is all that’s needed to burn through all the chaff. When they absorbed the strength of their ideals and became unafraid of self-sacrifice, they lit a small spark that burned through the façade of Greek philosophy.
In every generation, G-d grants us our chachamim (wise ones) as a torch to illuminate and guide us past our collective and even individual roadblocks. Maran Ovadia Yosef, of blessed memory, was our generation’s torchbearer. His command and instruction to us was that we always endeavor in any way we can to illuminate the world with Torah. We in America have been following this path ever since we arrived to spread to all. Today it is clearly evident that, thank G-d, so many great students and teachers have sprouted all over the community. We are witnessing together a beautiful renaissance of Torah in the Bukharian community, which surely heralds the successes and developments to come. The end of the matter is that we are all moving forward to prepare the world for the greatest light and blessing it can receive: May we all merit to witness the dawn of our greatest enlightenment by the light of our Moshiach.
Rav Yisraeli then continued by praising the evening’s guest of honor: “With special thanks I would like to personally welcome Rav David Yosef, who is a dear personal friend and also a true friend of the Bukharian community, for being here and always being our guiding light in all communal and social matters.”
After his speech, the Chief Bukharian Rabbinate of USA and Canada, headed by Chief Rabbi Yitzchak Yisraeli, presented Rav David Yosef with a Bukharian Jomah to commemorate his unyielding support for the Bukharian community in America and around the world. Rabbi David Yosef graciously accepted the gift and then addressed the crowd.
After praising the great Torah knowledge and leadership skills of Chief Rabbi Yisraeli, Rav David Yosef stated that the story of the struggle between the Jews and the Greeks is very relevant to us today. Jewish holidays do not only commemorate distant occurrences, but also serve to teach us timeless lessons invaluable to our survival as a people. Therefore, Hanukah is not just a story about Greek philosophy and influence versus Jewish ideology and thought. Though that is the surface message, there is a deeper message underlying the secret, and this is reflected with the holiday we celebrate called Hanukah. Let us demonstrate this point with a modern example.
The Israeli Defense Forces is renowned as one of the most capable, accomplished, and moral fighting forces in the world. The wars in which it fought presented scenarios with overwhelmingly unfavorable odds for the Jewish army, but somehow, it always succeeded. Some commentators claim that the secret to the IDF’s success was due to its level of modernity juxtaposed to the enemy armies. However, we Torah-observant Jews know that the reason the IDF succeeds is actually because of Hashem, our Protector and Shield, who neither slumbers nor sleeps. When we follow His commandments and live according to G-d’s Torah, he watches over us and leads our armies to success - no matter the odds.
The story of Hanukah reflects this reality. The famed Hasmoneans of the Hanukah episode did not revolt against their tormentors out of a concern for “independence” or “status.” They were anxious solely for the perpetuation of the Jewish faith. They fought against the true enemy of the Jewish people: against the danger of spiritual annihilation. Furthermore, contrary to popular culture, the Hasmoneans were not strong, battle-hardened worriers. They comprised of a relatively tiny group of men who challenged the might of the Greek imperial army. They were scholars and teachers, spiritual leaders who took responsibility for the spiritual life of the Jewish people. They witnessed their brethren confuse priorities until it was commonplace for Temple priests to hurry through their services and run to attend games at the nearby Greek stadium. The Hasmoneans knew that it was a short step until the entire Jewish people would lose their identity to Hellenism; much of the Middle East under Greek dominion had already succumbed.
During the time of the Spanish Inquisition, the Catholic Church would condone the horrific torture of anyone discovered as a Crypto-Jew. One of the Jews living at the time decided to raise his son as a Christian in order to avoid the suspicion of the aristocracy. The boy was extremely intelligent and grew in position and power until he eventually became the Cardinal of Spain. One day, the king of Spain called him into the palace. The Cardinal immediately obeyed and found the king crying. The king told the Cardinal that the second most important person in the kingdom was extremely ill; the important Finance Minister of all Spain had contracted a serious illness and needed to be read his Last Rights.
The Cardinal quickly made his way to the Finance Minister’s quarters and found him lying in bed, surrounded by doctors. When the Minister saw the Cardinal, he turned his back on him and faced the wall. The Cardinal was taken off-guard and wondered, “Why would the minister behave so? Maybe he’s Jewish?” The Cardinal then thought, “It cannot be that the two most powerful people in the Catholic Empire are Jewish; maybe the Minister is simply in denial that he is passing away.” The Cardinal then asked everyone to leave the room except for the Minister. He began the Last Rights when he noticed that the minister had closed his eyes and stopped breathing. At that moment, the Cardinal thought to himself, “What if the minister is Jewish? Then the most important thing for him would be to say the Shema Yisrael prayer before he dies.” The Cardinal leaned over to the minister’s ear and whispered the words of the ancient Jewish prayer: “Shema Yisrael Hashem Elokenu Hashem Echad.”
The doctors came back to the room and assessed that the man was still alive! After a few hours, the doctors exclaimed that it was a miracle - the Finance Minister was recovering! After fully recovering, the Finance Minister invited the Cardinal to the palace. In a private room, the Minister thanked the Cardinal for giving him his Last Rights, but inquired, “What was the last thing you whispered in my ear?” The Cardinal’s face blanched and he began to shake. “Whispered in your ear?” asked the Cardinal. “I did not whisper in your ear. You were so sick you must have been hallucinating.” The Minister replied, “No! I remember clearly you whispered something very strange in my ear. You don’t want to tell me? Fine, I will say it: Shema Yisrael Hashem Elokenu Hashem Echad!” Noticing the shock on the Cardinal’s face, the Minister continued: “I am Jewish, too. What are we doing here in this country? I am sick of pretending to be Christian; we are Jewish and should live as proper Jews.”
The Greeks tried to prevent the Jews from saying the Shema Yisrael prayer. They knew about the prayer’s ability to unite the Jews and mark them as G-d’s chosen people. The Maccabees were a small group of Hasmoneans, a small group of priests and Torah scholars, who took up swords, even though they didn’t know how to handle them. They defeated the Greeks and took back the Temple, but had to run away to the fortress of Modi’in in anticipation of the empire’s next assault.
The Greeks sent army after army, which continuously failed to overtake the Hasmoneans - until they finally sent in their greatest, most powerful regiment. The Maccabees heard the footsteps approaching, the battle drums and the horns blasting through the air. They saw the enormous war elephants from a distance and their hearts sank. They called out “Shema Yisrael” and were prepared to give their lives for the sake of Heaven. Yehuda the Maccabee rose up and exclaimed, “Master of the universe, everything we did we did for Your Namesake. Help us at this time and we will uphold Your commandments.” He led the Maccabees into final battle and valiantly fought until G-d caused the enemy soldiers to become confused and fight each other to extinction.
At the end of the night, the rabbis’ messages were clear. The Bukharian community faces many challenges and difficulties in preserving the unique and traditional character of its authentic Jewish tradition. Though we have today succeeded beyond any other point in our American history, we must continue to work hard in reclaiming the souls far away from the warm light of the Torah. When Hanukah comes, we pour the oil and light the wick. A candle is only fulfilling its function of providing light when it has a fire burning at its head. Similarly, the Jewish people fulfill their purpose only when their minds are filled with the light of the Torah and they become repositories of G-d’s greatest gift to mankind.
Wishing everyone a happy Hanukah!
Rav David Yosef Joins Chief Bukharian Rabbi Yitzchak Yisraeli For A Memorable Night In New York
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