I have been avoiding writing original material directly on the Torah Parsha (the weekly portion of Torah which is publicly read in shul each shabbos) for some very specific reasons. One simple reason has to do with the fact that there is always a great deal of written information from various sources which can readily be found on the web which highlight different things.

An additional reason is that if I lead with my strongest ideas; which are uniquely my own personal take and understanding of any given Torah portion, then there is always the possibility that I may have understood something incorrectly. By understanding something incorrectly and then actually publishing the piece right here on this web site, then I may run the risk of misleading someone. There is a prohibition in the Torah  which states that one may not throw stumbling blocks in front of the blind. This prohibition can be both understood literally as well as extended into areas where one could mislead someone even in such things as learning.

At the place where I have been doing the most of my Torah learning during the week, we have been learning form a sefer called Siftei Chaim by Rabbi Chaim Friedlander. Now please understand that i would be happy to share more information about this particular sefer (book) and its author, however I usually have to track down this information on the web. I have just now learned that the late Rabbi Chaim Friedlander, (Zichrona L’Bracha) has already brought forth some important and accurate Hebrew translations of another Torah Giant: Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto, The Ramchal. I have included a brief blurb about the author of the Siftei Chaim, which was taken directly from a website which I have visited before: http://www.azamra.org/TempleSecrets/Ramchal.htm

Mesilat Yesharim has long been readily available but until relatively recently the few other works of Ramchal that were brought to press were often hard to find and poorly printed. Since the 1970′s a series of fine, accurate Hebrew editions of many of Ramchal’s most important works have been published through the efforts of the late Rabbi Chaim Friedlander ז”ל and a number of other scholars, bringing them within easy reach of growing numbers of students. In addition Ramchal is now accessible to those who do not know Hebrew through the translations of “The Path of the Just”, “The Way of God” and “The Knowing Heart” as well as some of his works on logic and reasoning

A link to the source where I found this information about how it was R. Chaim Friedlander who had only recently published some accurate renditions of important works of The Ramchal: Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto who according to another Torah giant “The Gaon of Vilna said he would have walked all the way to Italy just to sit at the feet of Ramchal. The Gaon said that Ramchal was the only sage since the ARI who truly understood the Kabbalah.

All of the above is by way of introduction to some of the the other works which were written by the author which our small chevrah (friends) have been learning from for at least the past month.

The thing we have been kicking around for what seems to be dozens of hours is how the essential ingredient that truly makes Chanukah, Chanukah is that it is about Torah Shebal Peh (the Oral Law). Why it takes so long to get to this, is truly beyond my current level of understanding however, I can say this: When you have been dancing around an issue for such a long time, it does seem particularly satisfying to finally at least feel a if you finally are on the right track to answer the essential question, and understand the meaning of the answer in at least some of its subtle complexities.

The biographical information has been included to show you that the source of the information which our small chevrah at Passaic Torah Institute: http://www.ptiweb.org/ has been studying for at least several months, is certainly an extremely credible and reliable.

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