בס"ד

The Brodie Chronicles dot com
By Reverend Gabriel Brodie

Does a dot matter? One used to talk of Dotting the l’s and crossing the T’s to avoid misunderstandings. With the advent of the Internet, the dot became crucial in arriving at the correct source of information.

For us, the People of the Torah, the Written Law coupled with the essential Oral Tradition, taught us millennia ago, that the addition, omission, precise placing of a dot can make all the difference to the correct reading and connotation of a word or a text.

For example. Were I to ask the average person to punctuate the word 'אור ' he will immediately guess that it is the Hebrew word for “light”, and hence place a dot on top of the Vav. It may surprise many of you, that if you move the dot from the top to the middle of the Vav, the word becomes the Hebrew for ‘fire’.

 
Let me share with you the philosophical and halachic ramifications of the two aforementioned alternatives for placing the dot, in what is otherwise a word with the identical consonants, in a topical illustration, as expounded by Rav Zevin Zatsal.

Does the flame of the menorah symbolise light or fire? The question is relevant in the context of the task of the Maccabees to defeat the Greeks.

All those defiled jugs of oil in the Bet Hamikdash were but a microcosmic example of the havoc they wrought among the Jewish populace, by intimidation and persuasion, in contaminating the undiluted purity of authentic Judaism.

In this context, the flame of the Menorah seems to be a symbolic reminder of a fire of destruction, burning down every trace of defilement, driving out the enemy and his evil influence.

When the work was done, the Hasmoneans, rewarded by the miracle of the single cruse of oil, lit the Menorah for 8 days; a celebration of the restoration of the purity of Torah. In this context, the flame seems to be a symbol of the light of truth.

Which poses the question: which phenomenon should be perpetuated by lighting the Menorah, year by year? The Schools of Shamai and Hillel argue about this philosophical dilemma and brilliantly apply their respective decisions to opposing Halachic rulings. Do we start with eight lights and decrease each night by one, or do we increase from one to eight.

Shamai, who as always is the rnachir, taking the stringent view, holds that in the confrontation between good and evil, a massive conflagration is the drastic response to bring about the destruction of evil. As the fire takes effect, one can gradually diminish Fire-Power. Hence one starts with eight lights and ends with one on the last night. Thus the Menorah is the symbol of fire, of the defeat of evil.

Hillel traditionally takes the lenient view Of course, at the time, evil had to be totally destroyed; but as an annual celebration, we do not emphasize that phenomenon Rather does Hillel believe that little light can disperse much darkness. Hence he rules that we kindle one flame on the first night; and by the growing impact of truth, symbolised by the increasing number of lights each night, falsehood will gradually diminish, until on the eighth night we experience a blaze of shining illumination, the triumph of truth.

At Stenecourt we do not condone compromise. But following as we do the ruling of Hillel, let our Family reach out to those who grope in the prevalent darkness, and in love and brotherly concern radiate the light of Torah commitment far and wide, Or, to put it in one sentence: let us place the emphasis,the dit, on top of the Vav, thus — light.