Chanukah
Days of light, sharing and mind over matter
Beginning Saturday evening, December 8, 2012
Why light a candle? Why not volunteer at a soup kitchen, work on a recycling project, or collect winter coats for the needy? How does lighting a candle even make it on the list of things to do to help humankind get closer to greater understanding, tolerance and an end to pain and suffering?
All actions begin with thought. When I light a candle, I could just think about lighting a candle. Or I can direct my conscious thought to natural miracles, where against all odds the outcome I wish for comes true. When I give out of my pocket I appear to have less. When I give of myself I feel better and hopefully so does someone else. When I light a candle we all have more light, not less. When we light the candles, let’s think about a world where sharing and caring spread like a flame, beyond what may appear rational or likely. This month of Kislev is designed for breakthroughs and unlikely outcomes. That’s what the Maccabees knew when they prevailed against a more numerous and mighty foe.
Share what you will be thinking about as you light candles by commenting below. Wishing all a meaningful holiday!
Contributed by David G.
Religions throughout time and across the world have marked the shortened winter days with festivals of light. Sometimes, these festivals of light align with one's personal history to form a deep connection. As the youngest of six children in a very assimilated Jewish household, I grew up with both a Christmas tree and a Chanukah menorah. The decoration of the tree was a family event, but so was the lighting of the menorah. As a young child, I would count toward the last night of Chanukah, when the menorah was a full representation of our family: one candle for each night, and each member of the family, and the shamash, the lighting candle, which stood above the family, illumined the individual members and watched over us.
The growth toward the menorah, completely aglow on the last night of the holiday, seemed to me to match the progression toward the fullness of our family. As the youngest in an assimilated household, I admired the steady glow of the lights on the Christmas tree, but I felt awed by the spread of light to all eight candles, and the silent sentinel that stood faithfully above them.
Contributed by Rav Natanel
Broken down to its most simple elements, the purpose of the
Chanukah candles is to bring light to aspects of our lives that was previously
in the Dark. Darkness prevents us from seeing. Two areas in which we have
trouble seeing are (a) how great G-od is and (b) how great Man can be.
How Great G-od is: When we say the daily prayer of Modim,
we thank G-od for all the miracles that He performed, performs, and will
perform on our behalf. He is constantly bestowing good on us.When saying this
prayer, I have found that I am often too often limiting my gratitude to the
miracles that I know about. Do I take enough time to think about the miracles
that I do not know about. Just because I do not see them, does it mean that
G-od is not orchestrating them for my benefit? How many factors play a
big role in my life, that may be taking place in the other side of the
city or even on the other side of the world, in my child's school or
maybe in the unseen parts of my body that certainly demand my gratitude? I live
in Darkness and therefore do not see how many wonderful thingsthe Creator and
Manager of the World does for me.
How Great Man can Be: G-od gave us the incredible
gift of Free Will. It not only means that we control our own fate but part of
the package is that every thought, word, and action impacts the World. Every
time we do a good deed, we bring blessing down to our world and every time we
do something unbecoming, we bring negativity and evil into the World. We may
never know where the resulting blessing or evil will land in the world but we
are responsible for whatever impact it makes. One of my greatest shortcomings
is that I do not realize the ramifications of my actions. Because I do not see
the outcome of my actions, I am lulled into the notion that my deeds are
insignificant. I live in darkness as to what impact I have on the World.
Comes Chanukah and the Candle Lighting ceremony to inspire
us to see things we do not normally focus on. Standing by the Menora, we should
use the light to lift the darkness enabling us to see the Greatness of our
Infinite G-od and the Greatness of His People. We should reflect on the
realized and the yet unrealized wonderful things that G-od does for us and
resolve to contribute blessing on our world.
Happy Chanuka!!
For me Chanukah had always been about commemorating an important event in Jewish history, both of winning a war and the miracle of the oil.
ReplyDeleteI now understand the deeper relevance of Chanukah which enhances my celebration and understanding that it is not just an event in history, and that because of what happened then this is now a special time. I understand that it is the energy of the month of Kislev that allowed both of these miracles to happen and that even now that energy of miracles is availabe to me like it was for the Maccabees.
As I light my Chanukah candles I will take time to be present to the miracles and blessings in my life and open myself up to the miracles that are still to come. Michelle F.
In order to take a concept deeper into my life, I look for a connection between the new information and my every day life actions.
ReplyDeleteI have been taught to think of others during this season. Although until now, I've never connected the celebration of Chanukah and acts of kindness to the action of lighting a candle and Lighting up my conscious intention towards myself and others.
Reading this blog about Chanukah, specifically about how to frame our intention, inspires me to celebrate this holiday by being more in the energy it provides. To be focused on sharing "light" with others and create a multitude of miracles.
Chanukah is the holiday that causes me to reflect on the nature of "miracles." I grew up assuming that miracles only occurred during the times of Moses, Kings, Prophets, etc., or I questioned if miracles actually ever occurred. As I have studied the meaning of Chanukah, I understand now that Chanukah may have occured precisly because miracles can (and do) happen to all of us during this time of the calendar. This idea feels me with a sense of joy and of hopefulness in a way that no gift, gelt or latke ever has!
ReplyDeleteThis was a beautiful post, and will hopefully enhance my menorah-lighting experience this year! (as it will be printed, and hung up next to my menorah).
ReplyDeleteThank you!
A heartwarming and insightful post. One breakthrough we can all keep in mind during this time is highlighted in the blessing we recite before kindling our Channukah candles (and in turn, the fire of our souls). The blessing on the candles, even beyond the first night, is "to light the candle of Chanukah," in the singular. One of the deepest Jewish thinkers of the previous generation, Rav Abraham Isaac Kook, points out that this blessing is teaching us an essential lesson that we all can internalize over this beautiful holiday. All of the candles are part of one greater flame, a flame which contains the candles of every single Jew. We are all part a greater whole, pieces of one entity called the Jewish people. This is why the blessing is in singular: we are all really lighting the same candles, the flame of Torah, the flame of the Jew. This lesson about the unity of our people and the deep eternal connection between each and every one of us is one that can transform our lives.
ReplyDeleteSociological studies report that the most celebrated Jewish holiday is Channukah. This is a wondrous fact considering its Rabbinic nature in contrast with many of the less observed holidays of Biblical origin which are regarded with far more legal gravity. Sociologists give different accounts in attempt to explain this phenomenon. While many of explanations offered contain elements of truth, the deeper reason for this is that Channukah is holiday of lighting the soul. King Solomon, the wisest of all men, teaches, "The candle of God is the soul man" (Provers 20:27). Jews of all affiliations, and even many of no active affiliation, subconciously feel a flickering in their soul during Channukah. We must realize that as we light the Channukah candles they light us as well. The word in Hebrew for stranger is "zar," the letters ר and ז. The word for secret is "raz," the letters ז and ר. These two words are the same two letters spelled in opposite directions. Every stranger has a secret. Every Jew accross the globe, whether they look like us, talk like us, or dress like us, posseses a divine secret which becomes illuminated on these very special days of Channukah. Don't miss out!
ReplyDeleteWe speak of the miracle of the war and miracle of the oil that enabled re-sanctification of the Temple. We recall Yehudit, daughter of Yochanan the Cohen Gadol, …who with one hand pleaded with B’nai Y’israel to pray to God while slaying the wicked Holofernes with the other. We learn to seek God’s intervention as we act as His agents. Jorde N.
ReplyDeleteI think of a lot of things. One of them is the Talmud's description of two ways that giving takes place: One can give as one pours water from one vessel to the next. In this case, there's a fixed amount of water, and the recipient benefits at the expense of the giver. But we can also give like we light a flame, in which case the giving takes place without "costing" the giver anything. I think there's a very important message there about the attitude we have in both giving and receiving, attempting to understand our lives as not a competition for scarce resources, but a contribution in an unending flow of abundance. Easier said than done, of course, and real scarcity--in poverty, in particular--needs to be recognized. But the danger in Hannukah is a form of triumphalism ("We beat the mighty Greeks and reclaimed our homeland!") without the mediating sense of humility that comes from seeing our lives fundamentally as terumot--contributions, gifts, in the service of creation.
ReplyDeleteI find significance in most rituals, whether it be lighting candles, keeping kosher or going to the mikvah, because the ritual itself makes me feel connected to Judaism and klal yisroel. I am moved by performing rituals that people before me have done and after me will do. There is a certain continuity to ritual that I find spiritual and moving. Rituals remind me that I am a Jew and I do things in a Jewish way. I live a modem life and do modern things but, at my core, I am connected to a people with a tradition that is thousands of years old. I think that's incredible. Hanukkah Sameach.
ReplyDelete