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Short Summary
Main recommendation: Carry the "Menorah" of Torah and mitzvos every day, not just during Chanukah, because the Torah is the true light of Klal Yisrael, as expressed in "Ner Mitzvah V'Torah Ohr" (a phrase of the Arizal). Rabbi Paysach Krohn uses a visit to the Arch of Titus in Rome, and a story about Hadrian's Wall near Gateshead, to argue that Jewish continuity outlasts empires that tried to destroy it.
Key Points
- The Arch of Titus in Rome, dating back nearly 2,000 years, depicts Jews carrying the Menorah out of Yerushalayim, showing Jewish exile at its lowest point.
- According to the speaker, Pope Pius XII pointed to the arch in 1953 and said Titus thought he had defeated the Jewish people, yet Jews still exist worldwide while the Roman Empire does not.
- Rav Gordon Wit (also called Rav Leibel Gordon Wit), the Gateshead Rosh Yeshiva, showed a non-religious Jewish correspondent, who had come to research Hadrian's Wall, the Gateshead Beis Medrash, to illustrate that Rabbi Akiva's teachings live on while Hadrian's empire does not.
- The speaker frames the Menorah as "Ner Mitzvah," where each mitzvah is a candle and Torah is the light, citing the Arizal's phrase "Ner Mitzvah V'Torah Ohr."
Details Worth Noting
- Concrete instructions: Carry the lesson of the Menorah into daily life by committing to perform mitzvos every day and to learn Torah every day, as the speaker says this is what Yiddishkeit is about.
- Concrete instructions: On Chanukah, light the candles while recognizing that the true light of Klal Yisrael is Torah, extending that awareness through the rest of the year.
- The speaker notes that some say one may not stand under the Arch of Titus, so the group stood alongside it instead.
- Hadrian is mentioned as having been influential in the killing of Rabbi Akiva, which the speaker uses to contrast the two figures' legacies.
- The talk was given during a trip of over one hundred people to Italy focused on Jewish life there, with Rome as the final stop, and Ramchal is noted as having lived in Italy.
Bottom Line
Jewish commitment to Torah and mitzvos is the enduring light that outlasts empires, so its daily practice matters far beyond the Chanukah season.
