[Avodah] The Chanukah Musings of a Mathematician

[Micha Berger]

On Mon, December 3, 2007 5:43 pm, R Yitzchok Levine wrote:
: Ask them how many candles would be lit if Chanukah were 15 days long,
: or 20 or 30, etc. and many people would have to pause to figure out
: the answers. Of course, those who know the formula that
: 1+2+3+.....+n=n(n+1)/2 will be able to give you the answer very
: quickly.

... or maybe even how many cows would be a qorban mussaf on Sukkos if
there are 13 offered on the first day, 12 on the second...

RASoloveitchik suggested that Beis Shammai's shittah of lighting 8
neiros the first night, followed by 7, etc... was based on the
connection between Sukkos and Chanukah, and was pocheis veholeich
because the parim were. In seifer haMakabiim we see that the people
who had missed aliyas haregel on Sukkos because the BHMQ was tamei
came with 4 minim on that first Chanukah. Then there's that whole
chanukas habayis to sukkah connection. From here RAS gets to "ger
vetoshav anokhi imakhem" and the difference between Yehoshua's kibush
and the period from Ezra to the Chashmonaim stabilizing the 2nd one.
Beautiful stuff.

(I was zocheh to hear RAS present it live the Chanukah after Oslo. I
remember it that way because RAS used the vort to explain his
opposition to the accord.)

If you can't get ahold of RAS's "Logic of the Mind, Logic of the
Heart", you may have to settle for my notes for a derashah I gave at
<http://www.aishdas.org/asp/2006/11/chayei-sarah-kibbush-and-chizuq.shtml>
which is heavily based on this thought from RAS tied together with
RYBS and a R' Chaim.

But back to the point, the math problems are similar because, RAS
suggests, the yamim tovim are.

SheTir'u baTov!
-micha

-- 
Micha Berger             One who kills his inclination is as though he
micha at aishdas.org        brought an offering. But to bring an offering,
http://www.aishdas.org   you must know where to slaughter and what
Fax: (270) 514-1507      parts to offer.        - R' Simcha Zissel Ziv