Dear Friends,
“We should listen to what the candles are telling us.” So said Rabbi Shalom Dov Ber Schneerson of Lubavitch, the fifth Rebbe of Chabad.
The candle lights up the room and the flame dances. It is talking to us, and we only have to sit, watch, observe and listen to it.
The candles will tell us about old Matityahu who raised the flag of revolt against the Hellenists and said, “Mi LaHashem, Elai!” (“Whoever is for Hashem, come to me!”) That – to the few people of our nation at that time who remained faithful to the true Judaism. Because the main difficulty was not the battle with the Greeks, who fought the Jews with brute force; the big battle was with the faithfuls’ own brothers and sisters, of the Jewish nation – their own flesh and blood.
This struggle was not physical, but rather a spiritual and value-based struggle. The faithful Jews were told that they are of the Dark Ages, it was written about them that they have the mindset of exiles, that they are ignorant. They were mocked for not being athletic – for they sit all day bent over old books.
But Matityahu and his sons were not impressed with all this. The Hashmona’im knew very well where the light was. They remembered their Yiddische Mama lighting Shabbat candles, her eyes filled with tears of thanksgiving and prayer, and their father saying Kiddush and his face lit up with the joy of the mitzvah. They remembered and decided to do everything so that it won’t remain just an old memory.
The candles tell stories, but not only that. They also expect us to glean from them and from their stories strength and a message for our own lives.
May we all have a Happy Chanukah, a Chanukah full of light that will extend from Chanukah to all the days of the year.
Shabbat Shalom,
Zalmen Wishedski