Zoo Minyan - Sat. Dec. 12

In the midst of all the familiar and wonderful stories of Breishit, we also get to tell the story of Chanukah -- at the next Zoo Minyan, the first day of Chanuakh, December 12th.

Or rather, stories of Chanukah. There's the pig on the altar, the daughter dancing naked, the woman emerging from the tent with someone else's head -- oh, and that little vial of oil, which seems pretty tame in comparison.

Why so many stories, why so wild, and why don't we tell them very much anymore? We'll get a chance to tell a few, dissect them a little (better than dissecting a pig!), and hopefully add some of our own. Come join us for davenning, torah reading, lunch, and learning, shabbat-after-next.

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Hey, have you checked out the recently posted drashes on this website? Enjoy!

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We'll be gathering for davenning, lunch, shmoozing, singing, etc., next Saturday in
<{TBD - still seeking host - want to volunteer???}>
(within walking distance of the Zoo, as is Zoo Minyan custom) at <{TBD - your name here? }> ;)

If you'd like to Leyn there are several short aliyot this time...use the self-service (sometimes quirky) leyning spreadsheet to sign up, or email leyning@ZooMinyan.org.

Volunteers sought for Zoo Minyan veggies, davenning treats (i.e. Kavanot or creative tidbits, not actual food ;) also Torah Transporter, and davening leaders – write back to info@ZooMinyan.org.


The Details:

Zoo Minyan
Next Saturday, Vayeshev, 12 Dec.
10am sharp, with a rockin' (Rock of Ages, get it?) Psukei d'Zimrah
Pot-luck dairy/veggie lunch -- main courses especially appreciated

At the home of <{check back}>. For directions, check next week's Zoo mail, or email info@ZooMinyan.org

Chanukah, hu chag tov!

So nu, what's the miracle?

We all know the story: a little bit of oil, lasting for 8 days -- it's a neis, a miracle!  And thus the obligation to place the menorah someplace visible from the outside, to fulfill Pirsum Nisa, publicizing the miraculous event.

But there's a little problem, here on the first night.  If there was a day's supply of oil, then what exactly is the miracle for the first day?

A literalist might say, look, we're celebrating all eight days, so of course we have to start with the first day.  A physicist might say, perhaps an eighth of the oil was consumed each day, so the in-progress miracle was already visible (similar to a derivation from the Beit Yosef).  The midrashist might draw connections to the eight days of sukkot (though sukkot is really seven, plus shmini atzeret).  Reasonable explanations, true; but not deeply satisfying.

A Zionist or Maccaebean zealot might say, it's a different miracle that's being celebrated on the first day -- the nitzachon, the military victory.  Although all traces of that perspective have been erased from the gemara and halachah, there's a germ of a different idea here.  For an essential question behind any military undertaking is -- to put it baldly -- is God on our side?  And how would we know?

Most miracles don't even look like miracles.  They're b'derekh teva, clothed in the appearance of the natural order of things.  The crazy coincidences of the Purim megillah; the almost-slapstick but actually-heroics of Judith's Chanukah triumph; the impossible not-misses of meeting one's b'shert; the annoying red light that, unbeknownst to anyone, avoids the fatal car accident --no one is forced to see the hand of ha-Shem in these kinds of miracles.  The hashgacha pratit is known only to the extent one wishes to know it.

So perhaps the neis of this first night, is the neis b'derekh teva; the nisim that we are entirely immersed in, on all nights and at every moment.  And the true neis is that, the more we become of aware of those miracles, the more obvious the miracles become, the brighter the light shines, throughout the eight days of the chanukiah, throughout this solstice-marking holiday, through the entire season of gradually increasing light, into the era when the light hidden away for the righteous becomes visible to all.

Chag orim same'ach!