36 Candles of Hidden Light

'During Chanukah, at the time the Menorah's candles are lit, the hidden light, the light of Moshiach, shines.'
- Reb Pinchas of Koretz, student of the Baal Shem Tov

Happy CCCChanukah to you and yours! The 8 crazy nights are finally upon us! Donuts, Latkes, Dreidels, and of course the Menorah; Judaism officially rocks! (I don't know if you can tell that this is one of my favorite holidays). What adds to these awesome days is how many innumerable lessons and sources of inspiration we can derive from them. The faith of the small army of Maccabees in the face of oppression. The courage of the Jewish people who risked their lives in order to adhere to the Torah & Mitzvot, rather than leaving Judaism for Hellenism. The one jar of pure oil found in the temple. But what stands out in the minds of most Jews at this time of year, is the flickering of the candles on our small Menorahs, which we light for 8 days to commemorate the 8 days that the oil miraculously stayed lit for in the holy temple in Jerusalem.

But what are some of the deeper aspects contained in the Menorah lighting we do every year? To understand this a bit better, let's take a look at Torah - the 5 books of Moses. In general, Torah & its study can be divided into 3 categories: A) Torah as a guide to life B) Torah as a means of connecting to G-d C) Torah as an end unto itself.

On the 1st level, we study Torah simply to understand how to live. If you buy a complex object needing assembling, you can try and assemble it without the instruction manual. But it makes sense to take a look, a thorough look, at the manual written by the designer himself - which will guide you on the proper path to success, and help you make the most out of your materials. In this respect, the sages say: "Mitzvot were given to refine the human being" and "The Torah was given to make peace in the world." Deeper though, is Torah as a vehicle for union with G-d. Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi teaches, that when you understand, when your mind grasps a law or concept or story of Torah, which has within it G-d's Will & Wisdom, you are essentially becoming enveloped by G-d's Will & Wisdom. "This is a wonderful union, the likes of which there is none other, and which has no parallel anywhere in the material world..." Finally, there exists a 3rd level of Torah study, Torah "for its own sake." In the 1st 2 levels, Torah serves as a means to an end, whether it be mastering life or even connecting to G-d. But loftier than all, is learning Torah simply for its own sake. King Solomon writes: "A mitzvah is a lamp, and Torah is light." From the 3 above levels within Torah, we can learn about 3 levels within light as well: A) Light as a tool for life B) Light as a means of connecting to G-d C) Light for the sake of light.

Let's look at the mitzvot within Judaism that have to do with light. Light as a tool for life can be seen in Shabbat candles, whose purpose is "shalom bayit" - creating peace in the home; A tranquil & pleasant atmosphere in honor of the Shabbat. As we said above: "The entire Torah was given to make peace in the world" (Maimonides). The Shabbat Candles thus represent Torah's role as a guide to a life of harmony & perfection. Next is the lights that were kindled in the Holy Temple, the house of G-d. The Talmud asks: "Does such a place, where G-d's divine glory is manifest, need light?" Rather, the lights served as "a testimony to the entire world that the divine presence rests in Israel." This light represents the 2nd level, the connection between G-d, heaven & earth, and us. But then there are the lights of Chanukah. True, we light candles in order to "publicize the miracle" of Chanukah. But that's not the essence of why we light, for often in history, out of fear, Jews fulfilled the mitzvah by lighting in hiding. Rather, the essence of the Menorah candles we light is just for its sake alone.

Jewish Mystics teach that on Chanukah we light 36 candles altogether (1+2...+8). This isn't by chance, but rather corresponds to the hidden light that shone in the world during part of the 6th and all of the 7th day of creation. After Adam & Eve were sent from the Garden of Eden, G-d hid this light for the future Messianic time. Except during Chanukah. As we light our candles (Friday before Shabbat will be 4 candles), let's watch the candles dance, signifying something much deeper than we can imagine. Perhaps its the Jewish soul
that can never be extinguished? Or the secret power of good, of light, over darkness? As the Rebbe Maharash used to say:
"One must listen to what the Chanukah candles are saying..."
- (Based on a talk of the Lubavitcher Rebbe)

Shabbat Shalom & Happy Chanukah!

-Daniel

Chanukah - The One Jar of Oil

Tonight - Wed. the 1st of December - Jews worldwide will be celebrating the 1st night of Chanukah.

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}

The Mystical Meaning of Donuts & Latkas

B"H

Happy Chanukah everyone!
This afternoon, before Shabbat, we light our final 8 candles of the menorah.
I hope the holiday has gone as great for you as it has for us here in Jerusalem.
From dancing at an army base to lighting the menorah by the Western wall, things have been quite fast-paced & exciting here.

Now I don't know about you, but every year it seems my digestive system asks me the same thing: "What's with all of these donuts and Latkas!? Enough already! Spare me, please!!"

Now, I know. You'll tell me that the whole miracle of Chanukah that we commemorate, centers around the finding of oil and that's why we eat all of these oily foods. But let's take a deeper look.

What were the Syrian-Greeks trying to stamp out from the minds and hearts of the Jewish people?
Unlike during the times of Purim where a decree was sent to kill the Jews, the oppression of our people by the Greeks was not on our bodies, but rather on our souls and our beliefs.

The Greeks valued beauty.
Art, music, philosophy, intellectual pursuit. Socrates, Plato, Homer, Aristotle. If one were to look back to the Story of Noah & his 3 sons after the flood, this love of beauty makes perfect sense. Noah cursed Cham (look there for reasons why), blessed his son Shem (whom Abraham descended from) w/ spiritual truth, and blessed his son Yefes (from whom Yavan, the father of the Greek Empire descended) with beauty. Noah wished however, that this beauty "should be found in the tents of Shem." That TRUE beauty should only truly be found when in a G-dly, spiritual context.

Now the Torah is a beautiful work.
It's the #1 best-selling book in History!! [ed. note: I'll have to check Harry Potter statistics later]. Now that's not too shabby. It has a great Author as well you should know.
So what was the Greeks' problem? They should have rejoiced in the fact that they could fulfill the wishes of Noah, that spiritual beauty and aesthetic beauty can bind together in perfect harmony. It's even known that there was a point in history when this harmony resided. It's recorded that the mighty Greek ruler Alexander the Great, when greeting the great Jewish sage Shimon Hatzadik, 'alighted from his chariot and bowed down before him...he exclaimed: Blessed is the G-d of Shimon Hatzadik!'

The later Greeks' annoyance however, centered not on the Torah's intellectual beauty. They liked that. No, the Greeks disliked that the Torah didn't remain just intellectual beauty. Mitzvot and Jewish ritual weren't considered by the Jews as mere customs and tradition. Jews considered Torah and Mitzvot to be G-d's Divine Will.
That there's something beyond what the human intellect can reach on its own.
That there's a higher, divine reality.

Now let's get back to the oily Latkas and Donuts.
Stay with me here, I'm going to need your head on this one:
Jewish mysticism likens oil to the Essence of Torah.
Many examples are given why, one being that just as oil's nature is to pervade through and through whatever it comes in contact with (just ask your mother who had to clean your pant's stain the other night), so too the deepest truths of Torah pervade every fabric of our reality. As the "blueprint of the world", every aspect of our lives and of our world can be found in Torah on some level.

But unfortunately, oil can't be consumed raw!
{There's a discussion in the Talmud as to whether there should be a special blessing for oil. Just like wine has a distinct blessing from its grape source, shouldn't oil have a special blessing from olives, like "borei pri ha'zayit?"
In the talmud its decided against this, since oil on its own is damaging. Try downing a full cup of olive oil every morning...}

For consumption of oil, it has to be cooked or fried with something.
Spiritually speaking (for we are taught that everything physical has its root in the spiritual), this need to mix raw oil with dough, or potatoes and onions, or some other more tangible food, represents the need for the Essence of Torah (oil) to come down in a more tangible, "edible" way.

On its own, pure G-dliness would be too much for us mortals to handle.
It's too lofty; its beyond us.

But through "cooking" and "baking" this divine wisdom into words and teachings that we can understand, we are able to digest and internalize this divine wisdom and message. This is the idea of Torah, and primarily the mystical aspects of it.
G-d Actually cooked the oil (his Essence) into a latka! :) Into the words of our Torah - in its mystical and very much practical teachings and directives.

But Why?
What's the point of this cooking of Divinity into digestible letters? Letters that on paper can even appear as only a beautiful wisdom (As it did to the Greeks).

Ahh, but here's the catch.
Torah, primarily its inner teachings, have a special ability to reveal the essence of our souls. The Supra-rational bond of soul with G-d, Beyond intellect - a bond which the Greeks sought to destroy. The 'oil in the Latka,' the Essence found in Torah & Mitzvot, seeps into one's very being to its core & reveals its essence.
Torah has the ability to reveal our essence, since the soul, Torah, and G-d are all essentially ONE.

May we all take advantage of the 'donuts & latkas' (i.e. Torah and Mitzvot) in our midst throughout the entire year beyond Chanukah, and let the Essential oil reveal our essential connection to Hashem.
And may the 'beauty of Greece' be found in 'the tents of Shem' - the tents of divine purpose and meaning.

I hope your donut & latka eating will never be the same!

Happy Chanukah & Shabbat Shalom!

-Daniel
Jerusalem, Israel

A Modern Day Chanukah Miracle

B"H

Happy Chanukah everyone!

This afternoon (friday), we kick off the 8 day extravaganza of the "Festival of lights" (& donuts and latkas :). We light the 1st candle b4 Shabbat comes in, & tomorrow night after Shabbat ends, & continue for 6 more nights.

As we know, over 2,100 yrs. ago at this time, the Syrian-Greek Hellenists tried to stamp out our Jewish practice and beliefs.
Our Sages explain something very interesting. The Greeks didn't want to necessarily uproot our Torah learning or Mitzvah observance;
on the contrary, being "enlightened" themselves, they appreciated the great wisdom found in the Torah!
Rather, they despised the G-dliness, the holiness, behind our practice. "The commandments that make sense I understand.
'Don't murder.' 'Don't steal.' 'Set up courts of justice.' But eating kosher!? Putting on Tefillin!? That makes no sense!"
The Will of G-d behind Judaism was what the Greeks desired to stamp out.
When the Maccabees were victorious, they miraculously found one jug of undefiled oil to light the menorah.
Why had the Greeks defiled all of the oil they could find?
In kabbalah it's explained that oil represents a level higher than human, natural comprehension. The Greeks desired to eradicate that aspect of divine service from our lives. At this time of year, as we watch the flame of the menorah candles dance, we remind ourselves of the true, eternal divine dimension of our souls & our Judaism.
A holy level beyond intellect, beyond comprehension. A connection to G-d that defies our understanding.

~ To find out your Shabbat times, click here
To explore a treasure load of other insights, stories and guides about Chanukah, click here:
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3 years ago, I was learning in a Yeshiva in Toronto, Canada.
Every friday, we students would scatter throughout the city to meet with Jews we knew; in office buildings, malls, wherever,
to impart a thought on that week's parsha, put on tefillin w/ the men, or give out Shabbat candles to the women.

One friday before Chanukah, I went on a different route with my friend Asher Sossonko. When we visited his friends, he told them an unbelievable story, one which is well known, but I had never heard 1st hand. He relayed the story as follows:

"My grandfather, Asher Sossonkin, was a Jew who practiced real self-sacrifice.
Living in Russia, where it was illegal to practice or teach Torah, he nevertheless did his utmost to teach as many Jewish children as he could, until he was arrested and sent to Siberia, to a labor camp. There my grandfather never gave up, and with his great wisdom and joyful demeanor,
he was a beacon of hope to all of the Jews in the camp.
A particular Russian Jew, who was sent to the labor camp for crimes much less noble than spreading Torah, became very close to my grandfather. He learned a lot about his faith that he had never known, and began secretly to observe as much as he could in the camp.
As Chanukah approached, my grandfather taught this man about the holiday and the menorah.
"But how are we going to light the candles here in the camp!?" this man asked.
My grandfather replied: "Well, I will try and scrape together some potatoes and make holes in them.
I'll place some string inside and light them. It's not ideal, but it's the best we can do."

Now this man would not stand for this. He wanted the best for G-d. So he used the connections he had in camp, and in exchange for a large sum, he was able to have a metal menorah constructed in time for Chanukah.

So every night of Chanukah, with my grandfather leading the lighting, this menorah was lit in the back of their bunkhouse
(to the consternation of their non-Jewish bunkmates).
One night, on the 5th night of Chanukah, my grandfather & this Jew were watching the flames flicker and were silently singing the Chanukah songs, when suddenly they heard a shout:
"The commander's coming!"

Before even having a chance to hide the menorah, the door of the bunk house swung open, and in the entrance stood the commander.
Staring at my grandfather, the commander shouted:
"P'yat!?"(Russian for "five!?")
My grandfather nodded. "P'yat."
The commander nodded back, and with that, he was gone...

My grandfather always said, when recounting this story, that perhaps that "commander" was Elijah the prophet.
If it was, he didn't come in his merit.
He came in the merit of this simple Jew, who in his great desire to make G-d Happy, did his best to commemorate Chanukah in the most beautiful way he could."
----

May we all have a great Chanukah, filled with light and warmth,
and may we watch the dancing flames of the Chanukah candles, and listen to what it seems to be shouting at us:
"The Jewish soul is eternal!"

Happy Chanukah!

-Daniel
Jerusalem, Israel

{1. Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who has sanctified us with His commandments, and commanded us to kindle the Chanukah light.
1. Ba-ruch A-tah Ado-nai E-lo-he-nu Me-lech Ha-olam A-sher Ki-de-sha-nu Be-mitz-vo-tav Ve-tzi-va-nu Le-had-lik Ner Cha-nu-kah.
2. Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who performed miracles for our forefathers in those days, at this time.
2. Ba-ruch A-tah Ado-nai E-lo-hei-nu Me-lech Ha-olam She-a-sa Ni-sim La-avo-te-nu Ba-ya-mim Ha-hem Bi-z'man Ha-zeh.

(This 3rd blessing is Only said b4 the 1st lighting:)
3. Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who has granted us life, sustained us, and enabled us to reach this occasion.
3. Ba-ruch A-tah Ado-nai E-lo-he-nu Me-lech Ha-olam She-heche-ya-nu Ve-ki-yi-ma-nu Ve-higi-a-nu Liz-man Ha-zeh.}