As we anticipate the lighting of the last candle of the hanukkiyah (menorah) this evening, we look forward to the beautiful light that shines from all of the candles burning brightly. A beautiful teaching links the Hanukkah candles to the radiance of the Torah, based on a verse from the Book of Proverbs: “For the mitzvah is a candle, the Torah is a light” (Proverbs 6:23). Just as light illumines the world, so does Torah illuminate the path of righteousness.
The 19th century commentator, Malbim, extends the comparison: the light of a candle benefits a single person, while the light of the world, or daylight, serves all people. Similarly, a mitzvah represents the possibility of a single person making a difference in the world, while the Torah exists to guide all people in making the world a good place. Further, while candlelight comes from the world below (our world), the light of day comes from above (God’s world). Likewise, the power of a mitzvah comes from below – the human realm – while the greatness of Torah comes from above – from God.
In this way, we learn that Hanukkah is essential to Jewish life – just like the Torah – even though Hanukkah is not mentioned in the Torah. We study Torah to gain the tools for living an ethical and good life, but Hanukkah reminds us that we need to act in our lives by performing mitzvot in order to bring justice into the world. We cannot wait passively and expect redemption to happen to us. We must fight for personal, political and religious freedom for ourselves and for all of God’s people: this was the way of our ancestors and this is the message of the Hanukkah story. It is not enough to read the words or go through the motions of ritual, but we must bring the tradition to life in all of our deeds every day.
Hanukkah is a time of joy and celebration – a time to enjoy family and friends (not to mention fried foods!). Malbim teaches us that Hanukkah also reminds us of our responsibility as Jews to strive for goodness in the world – even perfection, though it may be unattainable. May this continue to be a time of happiness for us, and may we strive to become better people through the celebration of our beautiful traditions.
Happy Hanukkah from all of the staff and families of Congregation B’nai Shalom.
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I like the way Hanukkah builds momentum. Unlike Passover, which starts with a big first night or two and then fades slowly, Hanukkah's energy grows as we add more candles, as the kids learn or remember more songs, as more friends and family join in. It's nice too when it falls this early, so that we can celebrate it separate from Christmas. I hope everyone had a great Hanukkah this year! We sure did. A blog, eh? Lara says, "way to go, Rabbi. A little Web 2.0!"
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