Hashmonaim

He, he-- of course, he says that was-- there was such a miracle, but that's not the reason.

He says, "The reason why we say Hallel on Hanukkah is because Jewish sovereignty over Eretz Israel was restored by the malchus of the Chashmonaim." And even though, uh, many of the Hasmonean kings were not even from...

They're-- Well, they were not righteous.

Some of them...

Like if people say, "Well, how can you, how can you rejoice about the State of Israel, uh, if the leadership is not religious?" Well, I would point to the Rambam who says we celebrate the restoration of Malchus Israel even b'tzad haChashmonaim.

Okay? So I'm not giving you a direct answer, is it reishit smichat g'ulatainu? But I think that there are reasons to be positive about Hakamas Hamedinah, and the population plus the fertility are, are indeed simanim.

They are reishit smichat g'ulatainu.

First of all, I

feel like I have to brag to you, Rabbi, because it's something you don't know about me, which is that my second son is a mitzvah kid in the first class of Hashmonaim.

The first ever, you know, unit in the Haredi community.

So I feel like I don't want to walk around schvitzing about that, but in this context, everyone's bragging about their army achievements.

Let's say, for example, the election were yesterday, and HaTzibbur Haredi got in, and it's in the government.

Would it instruct people that Hashmonaim, for example, or other Mizra, other frameworks currently existing in the IDF are sufficient? Or is it saying, "No, we need to do more.

I don't mean that it can't get better, but that people should not serve until we make it better"?

So let's look again at the history of, uh, uh, HaTzibbur Haredi.

Uh, was a Rosh Kollel, Rosh Yeshiva at yeshivas funded out of his own pocket because he did well in, in his business dealings.

But he's not in Gadal.

And he is the patron saint, as it were, to Hashmonaim.

He's the one who designed it, who negotiated with the government, who even told people, "Not yet.