Monday Torah Tweet (Vayeira)

Monday Torah Tweet (Vayeira): Household peace has priority over glorifying HaShem.

Back-story: What do you do when you invite that special guest for an intimate dinner? Everybody knows the answer. You prepare a beautiful meal, spread a white tablecloth, set out your best dishes, pour a little wine, dim the rheostat, and light candles—all to create a rich and peaceful glow.

And that is what Shabbat candles are all about, “shalom bayit, peace in the house.” On the other hand, Hanukah candles are to be lit in the window for “pirsumei d’nisa, the publication of for HaShem’s having miraculously made the cruise of oil last not one day but eight.

In the Talmud (B. Shabbat 23b), Rava asks an unusual question: if one only has sufficient resources for either Shabbat candles (in those days oil) or Hanukah candles, which should one purchase? Naturally, in a world of plenty, the answer is both. Scarcity, however, always tests our values.

Should the government allocate the limited funds available for another dialysis machine or for prenatal care? So Rava asks, if there are limited means, which should one choose, Shabbat candles that are for “shalom bayit, peace in the house” or Hanukah candles that are for “pirsumei d’nisa, the publication of G‒d’s miracle.” The first is to the honour of the human beings, while the second is for the glory of HaShem.

Rava is unequivocal, and in doing so, he teaches us not only about Shabbat and Hanukah, but also about Jewish moral values: properly honouring our fellows (peace in the house) takes precedence over glorifying G‒d (the publication of the miracle). A comparable lesson is learned from Par’shat Vayeira (Genesis 18:1-2), this week’s Torah reading, when Avraham appears to leave HaShem to attend to the needs of the approaching strangers.

From this example, Rav Y’hudah learns: “G’dolah hakhnasat orhin mihakbalat p’nei sh’khinah, according hospitality is more important than welcoming G‒d’s presence” (B. Shabbat 127a). On Abraham’s example, the great Chofetz Chayim is known to have postponed singing the customary Shalom Aleikhem (a greeting song to the angels who accompany Shabbat) in order to more quickly serve a hungry guest.

Household peace and glorifying G‒d are both important, and when all is well, we must carve out a place for both Shabbat and Hanukah candles. But when there are means for only one of the two, surprising as it may seem to many, classic Judaism teaches the prime importance of household peace by assigning it precedence even over giving glory to G‒d.

This teaches us that Judaism is a different kind of religion than what some might have expected. Jewish prayer and prayer ritual are to move us from an egocentric point of view to a divine point of view, but…in classic Judaism, one cannot serve G‒d (mitzvot bein adam laMakom) without a commitment to the well-being of G‒d’s creation (mitzvot bein adam lahaveiro).

Click here for a complete list of Torah Psychology.