As we say the blessings and gaze at the light of the candles, we remind ourselves of the miracles which G-d Performed for our ancestors in Jerusalem, some 2,000 years ago.
Every Jewish observance (mitzvah) we perform has an outer reality and an inner reality; a body and a soul. On an external level, we celebrate on Chanukah the miraculous military victory of the Maccabees, as well as the finding of a single jar of pure olive oil, with the seal of the Kohen Gadol (the high priest), used to re-light the Holy Temple's menorah in Jerusalem. The jar contained only enough oil to light the Menorah for one day, but miraculously the oil lasted for 8 days. That is why we light menorahs in our homes for 8 nights, beginning from the 25th day of Kislev, just as our ancestors did then in the Temple. But what is the inner significance of this one jar of oil that was found, and that we commemorate each year? How come the Greeks were so intent on defiling every other jar they could get their hands on?
Our Sages explain a very interesting thing. The Greeks who ruled over the Jews in ancient Israel, actually appreciated Judaism! They enjoyed the intellectual rigor of the Talmudic wisdom, the interesting “rituals” and customs of the Jews, the ethical morality of the Torah. It’s actually not so hard to understand this. My mother mentioned to me once that our family began keeping Shabbat before even believing in G-d! It just seemed like a great way to shut off the TV and phone for family time to spend together. A great idea! Or take a Biblical Hebrew professor I had in college. He had an expensive set of Talmud in his classroom that he loved to learn! It was simply very enjoyable. The Philosophically modern Greeks enjoyed Judaism in theory. There was just one, small problem: The G-d part. Do the commandments! Learn the Torah! Just don’t do it b/c G-d Said so. Study & do the Mitzvot b/c it makes sense. Period!
The Jewish Mystics explain, that oil represents Divine Wisdom. The G-dly Wisdom which underlies all of Torah & its Mitzvot. Like oil which rises to the top of anything it touches, this Wisdom is above and beyond our mortal intellects. Many things in Judaism we do not understand - but do only b/c G-d Told us to. This connection of Torah & mitzvot - with G-d – is what the Greeks Desired to destroy amongst the Jewish People. Besides for rape and murder, the Greeks used a very familiar, more subtle technique to end Jewish commitment to Torah, one we see so often today: the lure of assimilation. Greece represented modernity – Get with the times people! And many Jews abandoned their faith for the Greek way of life. But no matter how assimilated we became (or have become today), no matter how far each of us feels from our connection with G-d, there will always be the ‘one jar of oil with the seal of the Kohen Gadol.’ Spiritually speaking, this is that one Divine point in every Jew’s soul that can never be tarnished by any outside forces. The essence of our souls inside, that forever remains pure and attached to G-d. We can always tap into that divinity inside and re-connect to our source. The Maccabees aroused this level within themselves and the Jewish People, triggering a spirit of self sacrifice for what was right and true. No enemy or exile can ever touch this level within us.
As we gaze at the candles this Chanukah, let’s remember that a little light dispels a lot of darkness, and any candle of goodness, of Torah and mitzvot, that we light – will lead us & the world closer to the final redemption when light will forever displace darkness.
Happy Chanukah!
-Daniel
{To see a great resource for Chanukah info, check: Chanukah}
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