The Flames of Chanukah

There are only a few things in this world that a person can gaze at for a while and get lost in. One of those things is a flame of fire. As it flickers upward and back down again, tearing itself away from its contact with wick or wood, it somehow radiates a quiet tranquility. We are now in the midst of the 8 nights of Chanukah, commemorating the victory of Jewish freedom over hellenist Greek oppression - light over darkness. As we watch the candles dance on these nights of Chanukah, what lessons can we take into our lives from the flickering flames? 

  

A small candle lights up a dark room. Like the candle in the dark, our individual actions and positive thoughts and speech, can have a strong effect on our surroundings, especially in an area of spiritual darkness. 

Growing slowly, one candle at a time. Why don't we light all 8 candles each night? The lesson in lighting only one more candle each night, is that we must strive to grow as people and as Jews, one step at a time. One mitzvah, one action that we connect with. That type of growth is slower, but lasting.
One candle can light infinite others. When lighting from one flame to another, notice that the original flame loses nothing. When helping others, we may think we are diminished - our time, financially, emotionally. But the truth is that we gain and fortify ourselves greater than before. And the ripple effect of our actions can carry on infinitely. See this video for  an awesome example of this. There are so many other lessons, but let's end with this:

"The soul of a person is a candle of G-d" [Proverbs 20:27]. The soul descends into a body and material life, in order to carry out its individual mission on earth. On one hand, our souls desire to leave the "wick" - the body - and return to its source in heaven and spiritual bliss, like the candle always yearning upward. But ultimately the soul's purpose is on the wick, for only in the body is it able to perform its crucial mission of making the world a beautiful, G-dly place. Maybe the reason we like to stare at the flames of the candles, is because we are really staring into ourselves.

Shabbat Shalom & a very happy Chanukah to you!

The Light of Joseph

In this week's Torah Portion, Vayeshev, we are first introduced to the great Joseph: "Yakov settled in the land of his father. These are the descendants of Yakov: Yosef was 17 years old." It's not by coincidence that every year the Torah portions about Yosef fall during the holiday of Chanukah (begins this Tuesday Night). Every holiday is associated with a forefather; Avraham with Passover, Isaac with Shavuot and Yakov with Sukkot. But who best exemplified the light of Chanukah?

     At the beginning of the Torah's account of creation, G-d fashions a special light and hides it, calling it "good" - tov. Tov in hebrew is numerically equivalent to 17, the age of Yosef in this week's Torah portion. If that wasn't enough numerical connection for you, on Chanukah we light a total of 36 candles, and Yosef's mother Rachel died at the age of 36. Leah's Hebrew name equals 36, and Yosef's father Yakov was away from his home for 36 years. 

     In the book of Ovadiah (1:18), we read: "The house of Yakov will be fire, the house of Yosef a flame, and the house of Esau straw, and they will ignite them and devour them." Esau represents spiritual numbness, the darkness of exile full of assimilation and spiritual insensitivity. Yosef represents the light of the Jewish soul, able to illuminate this darkness with his flame of goodness and holiness like the menorah of Chanukah at night, even amidst the temptations and loneliness he experienced in Egypt.
   
     As we watch the candles flicker on these upcoming 8 nights, let us meditate on their strength and power. A little bit of light dispels a lot of darkness. We light only one additional candle each day. We learn from this that our inner character growth can be slow and incremental, as long as it's real. Then it will last.

Happy Chanukah!

-Rabbi Daniel Bortz

A Walk on the Beach

~ This Torah thought is dedicated to those killed in Jerusalem this past week, and the comfort of their families. May Israel see no more pain ~

And Isaac said to Jacob, "Please come closer, so that I may feel you, my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not." So Jacob drew near to Isaac his father, and he felt him, and he said, "The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau." 

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There's a known story told in Islamic tradition. A father and son are walking along the beach towards the time of sunset. During this special moment, the father turns to his son and says: "Son, I love you." 

As they continue walking, the son turns to his father and asks, "how much do you love me?" The father responds: "With all my heart." The boy then asks, "Father, how much do you love God?" To which the father responds, "With all my heart." 

With a perplexed look, the boy asks his father one more question. "Father, how can you love me and God with all your heart?" Taken aback by this deep question, the father is very affected by it. The next morning, he packs up his bags, kisses his family, and ventures off into the mountains to dedicate himself only to God.

This story, a concept of spiritual asceticism prevalent in many religions, might not sit well with someone in the Jewish community. The reason is, that the Jewish view on attaining a true connection with God isn't through shunning materiality and human relationships, but is actually the exact opposite. Our physical lives and our relationships -  when approached correctly through the teachings of the Torah - are actually vehicles for connecting to the Divine. 

In this week's Torah portion, Jacob dresses in the clothes of his brother Esau, and receives a blessing from his father Isaac. On a deeper level, our Sages ask, why did the holy Jacob need to disguise himself in his murderous brother's clothing? The explanation is, that Jacob represents the soul, and Esau the body. In order to truly connect with God and draw down Divine blessing, the soul must be in a body and involve itself in elevating the world around them through the Mitzvot.

Wishing you a Shabbat Shalom!