24 Nov CHANUKAH IS IN THE AIR: LIGHTS – MENORAH – ACTION

“Haneiros halalu kodesh heim…
These lights are sacred…”
The Chanukah lights are holy and
have mystical powers. After lighting,
we linger by the menorah, and take
some time just basking in the glow of
the holy lights.
“Ein lonu reshus l’histamesh bohem,
elah lir’osom bilvad… The Chanukah
lights are not for mundane use, but
only for the sake of the mitzvah…”
“Lir’osom…. To gaze upon them.”
To let the lights illuminate our neshamos. But how? What should we be concentrating upon, while watching the
flickering flames?
Here are eight thoughts to enrich our
observance of Chanukah and make
each of the eight nights meaningful.
ONE: We are all familiar with the
miracle of the pach hashemen. The
single jug of oil that was sufficient for
just one day, yet lasted for eight full
days.
One may think that the miracle of
Chanukah should be celebrated for
only seven days, being that there was
adequate oil for the first day. Our rab- bis teach, that just finding that one
sealed, uncontaminated jug of pure olive oil was itself a miracle.
Chanukah celebrates the triumph of
the Jewish neshamah. The story of a
nation that didn’t allow its inner flame
to be extinguished. Despite living for
years under the tyrannical rule of An- tiochus, a ruler who tried to make them
forget their Torah and assimilate to
Greek culture, Am Yisroel persevered.
The miracle was more than finding
the oil. That there was a group who refused to give up, but searched and
searched until they found that one jug
of pure oil. A nation, who even during
times of spiritual oppression, did not
allow their emunah and bitachon, their
faith and trust in HaShem, to falter.
As we gaze upon the lights, we daven
that our neshamos be filled with the
very same emunah.
TWO: The Hebrew word for fire is
“aish”, spelled aleph and shin. Aleph is
for ahava, love; Shin is for simcha, joy.
Let’s make a personal prayer that our
hearts and souls be filled with aish, a
burning fire to keep HaShem’s Torah
with ahava and simcha. That we reach
out to our fellow with love and joy.
“Even a little light dispels a great deal
of darkness.” (Rabbi Shneur Zalman
of Liadi) With just a little love, a little
joy, we can light up a world.
THREE: Each night of Chanukah,
we light an additional candle. So too,
our spiritual light must always increase, must constantly intensify. More
chesed, more mitzvos, more Torah
study. It’s easy to become complacent
and be comfortable with the status quo.
But, as Jews, we strive to increase kedushah, holiness in the world. Therefore, we add candles, and each night,
we bask in a brighter light than the
night before. A lesson to utilize every
day as an opportunity for growth.
“In holiness, one must constantly in- crease.”
(Babylonian Talmud)
FOUR: Ever wonder why we use a
shamash, helper candle to light the menorah?
Typically, when we give of our own
portion, the remaining piece is diminished. If I were to share my Chanukah
donut, I am left with a smaller portion.
No so with fire. The shamash, goes
from wick to wick, lighting each one,
yet its own flame is never diminished.
So too, with Torah knowledge. When
we share knowledge with others, our
own is never decreased. In fact, the reverse is true. Torah discussion
amongst friends, studying with a
chavrusah, increases each one’s
understanding.
Within the word Chanukah, we
find the word chinuch, education.
Let’s be inspired by of all those
who continued studying Torah,
refusing to obey Antiochus’ decree, to increase our Torah study
and performance of mitzvos, despite all of the challenges and
negative influences of society
around us.
“One candle can kindle many
candles without being diminished.” (Medrash Rabbah)
FIVE: “Kedei l’hodos
u’le’hallel…. To express thanks
and praise.” Chanukah lights are
lights of gratitude. The prayer Haneiros Halalu tells us to look at
the candles and express gratitude
to, and praise HaShem. To live
with an attitude of gratitude. To
appreciate life and see every day
as a gift from HaShem.
Each of us has our own “bucket
list” of what we want out of life.
As we reflect upon the Chanukah
lights, let’s trade in our bucket list
for a gratitude list. We have so
much to say Thank You HaShem
for…. We just have to recognize
it.
SIX: Chanukah comes during
the darkest days of the year, when
the days are the shortest, and the
nights are longest. For the Jewish
people living under Greek oppressors, the times weren’t just
physically dark; they were spiritually dark as well.
The Hebrew word for darkness is
choshech. The very same letters –
ches, shin, chof – also form the Hebrew word shochach – shin, chof, ches,
meaning to forget. Unfortunately, the
Hellenists, those of the Jewish people
who assimilated to Greek lifestyle and
culture, temporarily forgot – shochach
– their Jewish identity. They descended to an abyss of choshech – darkness.
But within the word shochach, is the
word koach – chof and ches – strength.
The strength to return. The strength to
once again see the light. No matter
how far one may have drifted, HaShem
always gives us the koach, strength to
return. When we light the Chanukah
candles, we connect to HaShem. No
matter how many mistakes we may
have made in the past, how many re- grets we live with, we can always re- connect to our Father. That should be a
take-away for each of us from the mir- acle of Chanukah.
SEVEN: The neshamah is compared
to pure olive oil. To produce olive oil,
we squeeze and press the olive until oil
flows. That is the story of Am Yisroel.
Throughout our history, we have be
“pressed,” numerous times. Yet, we always emerged stronger and more resilient, like pure olive oil.
The miracle of Chanukah, which we
celebrate for eight days is three-fold.
The Hebrew for eight is shemonah,
which is comprised of the same letters
as the word neshamah, soul and hashemen, the oil. In essence, all three are
one. The miracle of oil burning for
eight days; the miracle of the pintele
yid within each neshamah, a spirit that
burns on and on, and the purity of the
soul that enables us to survive the ages.
EIGHT: The Talmud (Megilah 29a)
teaches that the Shechinah, the presence of HaShem exists in the holy
spaces we create. The menorah we
light transforms our home into our
sanctuary – a mikdash me’at. We place
the menorah by the window or door,
persumei nissah, letting the world
know of the miracle of Chanukah. On
Chanukah, we light up our homes, we
light up our cities, we can even light up
the world.
The time we kindle the Chanukah
lights is a most auspicious time to daven to HaShem. We daven for ourselves,
our families, our friends and neigh- bors, our people. We all have some- thing to daven for. As the flames rise
upwards, may our tefillos accompany
them heavenward.