|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
The Essence of Chanukah
 Why is Chanukah unique amongst Jewish Holidays in that we are required to light the Menorah and teach its lesson at home with our families and NOT at synagogue?What are we celebrating on Chanukah? What is the spiritual and moral lesson we are meant to teach our children? People think Chanukah is the story of the miraculous military victory of a small and grossly outnumbered Jewish army over our giant Syrian Hellenist oppressors. While this is true and quite amazing Chanukah is in no way a celebration of merely a military victory, or even the celebration of achieving liberation from oppression. Chanukah is a celebration of and a commitment to identify people with their soul. Greek culture brought the world many gifts. Science, theatre, sports, art, and philosophy are just a few. But along with these innovations came something that Judaism saw as no less than sinister, something cruel and immoral. Humanity’s value became equated only with the external measurable aspects of the human being. If one was intelligent, beautiful, strong, or rich they were valuable to Greek society, everyone else was sub par. And if a person was mentally challenged, weak or infirm, they were less than human. Even Plato thought that mentally or physically handicapped babies should be exterminated. Put simply their worldview blackened the soul, and engendered a society that was centered around the “beautiful people”. In stark contrast stood Judaism. The yardstick of human accomplishment in the eyes of the Torah has always been the inner and not the outer. Not what a person can do rather how righteous can they become. The great glory of a human being is not in their beating the competition, rather in their overcoming their personal limitations to reach their potential. And since being human is based on being a soul created no less than in the image of G-d, how could one ever judge one person as being of more value than another, even if their body or brain didn’t function at full capacity? The Jewish people saw Hellenism as the inverse of Judaism: beautiful on the outside but cruel and immoral in the inside. The very word “Jew” comes from the Name “Yehuda” which is based on the principle of “hod”-when the person is so beautiful on the inside that the outside can barely contain the inner beauty. When a person confined to a wheelchair forces his prosthesis legs to walk alone out of sheer willpower their inner drive bursts forth and we get a glimpse of “hod”-of the true beauty of the human soul. Think about those individual acts of the human spirit that inspire others to live at a higher level, they are always an expression of “hod”. Like the small cruise of oil lasting for days and days, like a little bit of light illuminating a dark room, these “small” acts, whether they are about personal drive, inner courage, selflessness, or compassion, inspire others to live at a higher level. Judaism teaches “nair Hashem Nishmas Adam”- “The flame of G-d is the human soul.” The amazing thing about a flame is that even one small flame has the ability to ignite countless others. Judaism saw the true glory of humanity When the Jewish people reclaimed the Temple just 2 years into a 27 year war and saw the miracle occur through the light of the Menorah, the symbol of Judaism’s spiritual wisdom and values, they knew they had already won. When we light our Menorah this week, we are committing to live the same Jewish values we fought for 2,200 years ago. We are committing to celebrate a person’s inner essence over their external appearance. We are committed to seeing that within each person exists something no less than Divine, something so good that it can light up the entire world. But more than that, we are committing to transmitting these values to our children, because these values are at the very core of the Jewish family, and can only be taught at home. When we light our Menorah tonight, let’s a take a few precious moments with our spouse and children to look at the light, speak of its lessons, and reflect on the gifts we have been given and miracles that are taking place around us. Have a meaningful Chanukah, Chaim Levine |