Chanukah
a) It is stated in sefarim24 that "חנוכה" (Chanukah) derives from the term "חינוך" (chinuch, education or inauguration). This is also understood simply from the expressions "חנוכת המזבח" ("the dedication of the Altar") and "חנוכת בית המקדש" ("the dedication of the Beis HaMikdash"): this was a beginning. They began to perform G‑d's service (in the Beis HaMikdash in general, and in the Altar and the Menorah in particular) anew, which is a matter of chinuch.
b) The miracle of Chanukah was that they found a cruse of pure oil sealed with the seal of the Kohen Gadol25. Although according to halachah they could have lit even with impure oils, since "טומאה דחויה" or "הותרה בציבור" ("impurity is set aside," or "permitted, in a communal setting")26, nevertheless, in order to show "חיבתם של ישראל" ("the affection for the Jewish people"), G‑d performed a miracle. This way they would be able not only to begin fulfilling the mitzvah, but to fulfill the mitzvah "בתכלית ההידור" ("in the most beautiful manner"), without any leniencies. They did not rely even on well-founded leniencies, leniencies according to the Shulchan Aruch.
From this we see the lesson: when it concerns a matter of holiness, one must do it with the utmost perfection and the utmost beauty right at the beginning, at the very start of chinuch.
10. The same applies particularly to the education of sons and daughters. From childhood on, one must give them a complete Yiddishkeit, without any compromises and without any leniencies.
To make sure that "גם כי יזקין לא יסור ממנה" ("even when he grows old he will not depart from it")27, one cannot rely on the idea that when he grows older and is out in the street, one will tell him then that he must wage battle. One cannot wait until then to tell him that he must not be impressed by any obstacle or hindrance, and how he must have mesiras nefesh (self-sacrifice). If one wants him to withstand the trials then, "when he grows old," one must begin when he is still a "נער" ("youth").
For this reason the Sages of Israel invested great efforts and devoted enormous energies to the education of Jewish sons and daughters, so that it would be "על טהרת הקודש" ("in the absolute purity of holiness").
They battled over every detail. Even over details that did not appear so important, they fought not to concede, because they knew that the years of education affect the young man or young woman for their entire life. They knew that one must equip them with strength and with weapons, so they would have the means to repel all the battles they would face along their life's path.
A person is likened to a tree, as it says: "כי האדם עץ השדה" ("for man is a tree of the field")28.
If one makes a scratch in a tree when it is already fully grown, the scratch is only at the spot where it is made, and beyond that it does no harm. But when one makes a scratch in the seed that is about to be planted, it is possible that from that one scratch the entire tree will grow up crippled.
11. So it is also in the matter of chinuch:
A person in middle age, who has already traveled half the road of his life, may think he is compelled to go along with compromises. For him, this has an effect for no more than a few years. For forty years he lived without compromises. So if he stumbles and makes a compromise for a year, the previous forty years behind him can give him the strength to soon forget the compromise and hold on to a complete Yiddishkeit.
When, however, it concerns a young generation, and one wants to raise them on compromises, one takes away from them the warmth and zeal for Yiddishkeit for their entire life. Because of the scratch, the flaw that is made in their soul in their youth, it is possible that afterward, "רחמנא לצלן" ("may the Merciful One save us"), a crippled Jew, a blemished person, will grow up.
12. True, indeed, "אף על פי שחטא ישראל הוא" ("although he has sinned, he is still a Jew")29. But there is the kind of person about whom the Gemara in Tractate Sanhedrin says, "עכור אתה בעולם הזה" ("you are troubled in this world")30; his good fortune is that he was assured of the World to Come. We, however, need a young generation of Jews in this world. They should be healthy Jews and lively Jews spiritually, and consequently healthy Jews and lively Jews physically. In this way they will be able to conquer this world, not only for themselves, so that their own portion becomes a sanctuary for G‑d, but also for the middle and older generation.
13. There are certain details which appear on the surface not to matter so much, as if they were no more than a "חוט השערה" ("hairsbreadth").
But it may well be that this is the hairsbreadth about which the Gemara says31 that the entire evil inclination grows out of it: "רשעים נדמה להם כחוט השערה" ("to the wicked it appears like a hairsbreadth").
How does it come about that a Jew should become, Heaven forfend, a rasha (wicked person)? A Jew wants to fulfill G‑d's will. So how does it come about that he does things that go against G‑d, to the point that he is called wicked?
It comes only from the fact that "it appears to them like a hairsbreadth." It seems to him that this is a trifle. At times it may even happen that it truly is a trifle, yet in the particular state and situation in which he stands, that trifle can be what decides the matter. Either he will be a tzaddik and be inscribed and sealed for eternal life32, or, Heaven forfend, a wicked person about whom the verse says "לדראון עולם" ("to everlasting abhorrence")33. And over what? Over that hairsbreadth.
He may not have within himself enough strength and enough understanding to tell whether this is the detail on which his very essence depends. If so, then in present times, when the truth is becoming more and more clear, there is a sign that comes from the opposing side:
One sees how the opposing side stands with such strength that it is prepared to lose millions in money, to lose a great many people, and to lose support from all sides, just so as not to concede a small detail, something that makes no logical sense at all. This is a sign and a lesson for us that we must not concede even that very detail which they want to persuade us is no more than a small detail. For this is "ערקתא דמסאני" ("the strap of a shoe")34 at a time of a decree of persecution, and this is the hairsbreadth on which it depends whether, as time goes on, he will remain a Jew.
14. A further proof of how much the hairsbreadth matters can be seen from the fact that the entire trouble we have come to began as our Sages say35: "כל המחניף לחבירו" ("whoever flatters his fellow"), or, according to the other version, "כל המחניף לרשע" ("whoever flatters a wicked person"), (one version is in the Gemara and one in Ein Yaakov), "לסוף נופל בידו" ("will ultimately fall into his hands").
It has been seen in recent years that all those who, years ago, went along with compromises, thinking that this way they would win over the young generation (assuming that those already on the observant side would remain whole in any case), clearly saw the result. Not only did they lose the youth whom they wanted to lead on the path of compromise, but they also brought a weakness into the youth who were under their influence and had been entirely observant.
Those, however, who ten, fifteen or twenty years ago followed the approach that one must not concede any detail, especially in chinuch, were successful.
15. Added strength in kosher chinuch is given by all those who involve themselves in kosher chinuch with their body and their soul, and by all those who help in this with their money.
People may even come up to such a person and say: "Listen here, why do you insist so stubbornly on giving money to a yeshivah that will raise batlanim (idlers), that will raise people who have no connection to the realities of this world? This one will go about with a beard, that one with a long coat, and you will be the cause of raising people who, when they go out into the world, will not know which way to turn."
Nevertheless, he has within himself the strength not to be impressed. On the contrary, he learns a lesson from this very thing: since they press him so much and want to tear him away from this, it is proof that precisely here lies the truth, and precisely here lies the salvation of the Jewish people. Consequently, not only does he not reduce his work for kosher chinuch, whether with his soul, or his body, or his money, or with all three, but on the contrary, from now on he does it with even greater strength.
This also gives strength to the young generation itself. When they are asked: "Your friends also receive a Jewish education, but without zealotry and without stringencies. Where is it written that you must be the ones who are so meticulous?"
They point and say: here is a businessman who stands with us, here is a wealthy man who stands with us, a rav who stands with us, an elderly Jew or a woman who stands with us. This gives them strength to withstand the trials they face within their own "ד׳ אמות" ("four cubits").
And yasher koach goes to those who learn with the students, are not impressed by trials, and continue on this path of chinuch. It also goes to the askanim (activists) of chinuch who do not spare their soul, their body and their money, and who give as much as they can (and in the course of time they will presumably give even beyond their means), just to maintain chinuch "על טהרת הקודש" ("in the absolute purity of holiness") with pure fear of Heaven.
16. One may set out on the path of "חנוך לנער על פי דרכו" ("Educate a child according to his way") without any compromises. This follows the lesson that was given on Chanukah, when they did not want even well-founded leniencies according to the Shulchan Aruch. They said that they wanted a miracle, because we want a pure Sanctuary, a pure Menorah and pure oil, and consequently the light will also be pure.
When one does this, then just as G‑d helped at that time, so that within a short time there came about the [OCR unclear: "נהת", likely "מסרת" ("You delivered")] of all the groups "ביד עוסקי תורתך" ("into the hands of those who engage in Your Torah"), and they dedicated the Beis HaMikdash with lights that illuminate for us until today. Even when the sun sets, when outside it grows dark and darker still, in Jewish homes it is bright, and it keeps growing brighter.
Notes
24) See Maharsha, Shabbos 21b.
25) Shabbos 21b.
26) Pesachim 80a.
27) Mishlei 22:6.
28) Devarim 20:19. And see Taanis 7a.
29) Sanhedrin 44a.
30) See there, 43b.
31) Sukkah 52a.
32) Rosh Hashanah 16b.
33) Daniel 12:2.
34) Sanhedrin 74b.
35) Sotah 41b.
Key Lesson
Just as on Chanukah G‑d made a miracle so that the Menorah could be lit with pure oil, without even permitted leniencies, a child's chinuch must be complete and without compromise from the very start. A small "scratch" in a seed can cripple the whole tree, and a detail that looks like a mere hairsbreadth can decide a person's whole future. Standing firm on every detail, and supporting those who do, is what produces a strong young generation and keeps Jewish homes bright.