Rabbi Paysach Krohn ("Echoes of the Maggid") recounts the story of a fourteen-year-old girl named Esther Haas who found herself on one of the Nazi’s infamous death marches. Beaten, overworked, and malnourished from the time spent in the Concentration Camp, she was feeble and her strength was withering away. After a while she collapsed on the ground out of sheer exhaustion. A moment later the figure of a Nazi loomed over her and mercilessly barked, "Will you walk to the barracks?" She meekly replied,
    "I want to work for the Reich". The Nazi was unimpressed and replied, "If you want to work, then get up now. Otherwise you are dead right here! We have no use for weak people." Esther desperately tried to move but she couldn’t. She waited with bated breath knowing that at any moment she would become another name on the Nazi’s endless list of martyrs. Then suddenly Esther felt herself walking. From out of nowhere (even after the war she couldn’t figure out where it came from), she felt a surge of strength and was able to walk back to the barracks and collapse into the arms of her shocked and teary-eyed comrades.
    After the war, Esther said, "The Nazis convinced us that every girl in the world was imprisoned in Concentration Camps worldwide. We did not know that in Britain, America, and Eretz Yisroel, Jews were still free. Every night I recited the same prayer: ‘Hashem, help me get out alive and I promise You I will get married, have a family, and raise my children as devout Jews. The Jewish nation will revitalize itself through me. This is my promise, if You will only give me the chance.’" Rabbi Krohn commented to Mrs. Haas that her pledge was similar to the words of King Yeshayahu who, upon recognizing the devastation and desolation of Torah in Eretz Yisroel at the end of the first Temple era, stood up and proclaimed, "Alay l’hakim- It is incumbent upon me to uphold it (i.e. the Torah)". He then began a wave of unprecedented repentance throughout the country until his untimely death (Melachim II, Chapter 23). "So too," said Rabbi Krohn, "perhaps it was the merit of your constant proclamation of "Alay l’hakim" that saved you from the ruthless Nazis."
    When the long and painful saga of Yosef and the tribes was finally over and Yaakov was informed that Yosef was indeed alive and well, Yaakov prepared himself for his descent to Egypt to be reunited with his long-lost son. But before leaving, the pasuk states (46:28), "V’es Yehuda shalach l’fanav el Yosef l’horos l’fanav Goshnah- And Yehudah he sent before him to Goshen, to instruct ahead of him in Goshen." Rashi explains that Yehuda was sent ahead to establish a house of study in Goshen from which the laws and instructions would be taught.
    Why was Yehuda, of all the tribes, chosen to be the one to establish the Yeshiva in Goshen? Aside from the fact that Reuven was the eldest, Shimon’s descendants were the ones who were set aside to teach and Levi’s descendants were the Kohanim and Levi’im. Also, Yissachar was blessed to sit and learn with tenacity and devotion. Would it not have been more appropriate for one of them to establish the Yeshiva?
    The Mishnah (Avos 5:21) teaches that at the age of thirteen, a Jewish male becomes obligated in performing all of the 613 commandments. The Rav Mibartenura explains that the source of this law is derived from Shimon and Levi whom the pasuk (Bereishis 34:25) refers to as men when they obliterated the city of Shechem although they were a mere thirteen years old.
    Why do we learn this fundamental Torah law concerning a child becoming a man from the act of Shimon and Levi? After they had killed out the city, Yaakov said to them, (34:30) "You have discomposed me, making me odious among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanite and among the Perizzite; I am few in number and should they gather and attack me, I will be annihilated – I and my household." We see that Yaakov thought their act was impudent and imprudent. If so, why should this be the source of such an important law? The answer lies in what the true definition of a Bar Mitzvah is.
    Why is a thirteen-year-old boy obligated in the mitzvos while a twelve-year-old boy is not? The Torah views a thirteen-year-old boy as old enough to feel a sense of responsibility and to feel a yoke on his shoulders. A twelve-year-old boy is generally still too immature to appreciate the meaning of having responsibilities and therefore he is still exempt from the mitzvos. The Gemarah (Kiddushin 31a) relates, "Greater is the one who performs a precept that he was commanded to do than one who performs a precept without having been commanded to do so." At first glance this idea seems very strange; isn’t it a greater feat and sign of love to do something without having been asked than to wait until being asked? Tosfos explains that one who is commanded to do something feels a certain degree of pressure to fulfill his responsibility. One who is not commanded however does not have that pressure because if he chooses, he can change his mind and not do it.
    Rabbi Shmuel Rozovsky zt’l explained that in essence there is no difference in the actual act done by one who was commanded and the one who was not commanded. The only difference is in the attitude and mindset. One who has an obligation feels the pressure and therefore it weighs down on his conscience and continues to be a concern until he does it. But one who lacks an obligation doesn’t feel any such worry. Until the age of thirteen, the Torah does not view him as being old enough to bear that yoke and feel that burden of responsibility. But at thirteen the boy has matured enough to appreciate such a yoke. The Torah derives this from Shimon and Levi. Their reply to Yaakov was simply, (34:31) "Should he treat our sister like a harlot?" They felt a sense of responsibility to stand up and avenge the honor of their sister. Though they may have acted improperly, the bottom line is that they demonstrated their ability to recognize that such an act could not go unpunished.
    Based on the aforementioned idea, it is literally true that ‘what separates the men from the boys’ is the magnitude of responsibility one feels to his neighborhood, to friends, to Klal Yisroel, and to the Torah.
    When Yosef demanded of the tribes that Binyamin be brought before him, Yaakov was heartbroken. He adamantly refused to abandon Binyamin even at the behest of Reuven who offered the lives of his two sons as a guarantee for Binyamin’s safe return. It was only when Yehuda stood up and boldly proclaimed (43:9), "Anochi e’ervenu meeyadi tivakshenu im lo haviosiv aylecha v’hitzagtiv lifanecha v’chatasi lecha kol hayomim- I will guarantee him; of my own hand you can demand him. If I do not bring him back to you and stand him before you, then I will have sinned before you for all time." Chazal explain that Yehuda put everything on the line, i.e. his share in the eternal world, as a guarantee that Binyamin would return home safely. It was only when Yaakov heard those words that he relented and allowed Binyamin to go. Thus, when Yosef tried to imprison Binyamin it was Yehuda who boldly stood up to Yosef and announced that he could not leave without Binyamin.
    In order to build and establish houses of Torah study, one must be a person who is ready and willing to accept responsibility. To assume the awesome yoke of upholding a Yeshiva and ensuring its ongoing success is not for the faint-hearted or weak-spirited. One can possess the sharpest mind and the greatest drive for learning but if he cannot state with conviction, "Alay l’hakim- It is incumbent upon me to establish it," he will never be successful in building a house of Torah study. Therefore it was specifically Yehuda who was chosen to establish the Yeshiva in Goshen because Yaakov knew that Yehuda could bear its yoke. This is also the reason why the monarchy and the eventual birth of Moshiach comes from Yehuda. A monarch must bear the weight of his entire kingdom and such a job is only fit for one who can assume such an overwhelming task.
    During the period of the Greek occupation of Eretz Yisroel, the Jews who agreed to live in the manner and cultural lifestyle of the Greeks, were not persecuted, in fact they lived regally and comfortably. It was only the minority who stubbornly refused to forsake the ways of their forefathers and tenaciously clung to the Torah and its teachings who suffered the oppression and torture of the Greeks. In fact much of the Jews persecution came from their own Jewish brethren who had Hellenized and joined the Greek way of life. The miracle of Chanukah emerged only because a small group of Jews announced, "Alaynu L’hakim". They embarked on a ‘suicidal’ mission to fight off the far superior powers of the Greeks. The rest, as they say, is history.
    On Chanukah, we too must reflect on this important idea and renew our acceptance of the yoke of G-d and the Torah.