Chanukah: Vive Le Light
It is not enough for us to realize our natural potential – symbolized by the number seven, the highest number in the natural order. Even as we light the seventh light, we observe an empty space on the menorah for an eighth light. It beckons and challenges us to beyond our nature and realize the climax of spiritual light that is symbolized by the number eight.
Three Meanings of Chanukah
Chanukah means dedication. Chanukah is so called because the victorious Hasmoneans dedicated the Temple rather than celebrate their military victory over the Syrian–Greeks that was impressive by anyone’s standards.
Chanukah is also a construct of two words: Chanu chaf hei, they rested or “encamped” on the 25th day of the month of Kislev.
That we observe Chanukah on the day that they rested, rather than on the day that they won their final battle, is once again instructive. They did not revel in their victory but in their ability to live as Jews in tranquility.
Chanukah is also an acronym for five Hebrew words: “Ches neiros, v’halacha k’Bbeis Hillel-Eight lights, inasmuch as the law follows the view of the School of Hillel.” This is a reference to the well-known dispute as to the ideal manner of lighting the Chanukah lights. According to Beis Shammai-The School of Shammai we begin with eight the first night and then light seven, six, and so forth on subsequent nights. On the last night of Chanukah we only kindle one. The School of Hillel and the prevalent custom is to do it in ascending order.
What is the crux of the dispute between these two schools of thought?
Diminishing Evil or Increasing Light
According to Beis Shammai, the focus of Chanukah is the destruction and ultimate elimination of evil. After all, wasn’t that what the whole struggle against the Syrian- Greek attempt at Hellenizing the Jewish community, was all about? Each night the forces of evil become less potent and hence the need for less light.
Beis Hillel’s insistence that we light the candles in ascending order, underscores that despite the greatness of the joy in destroying evil, our focus has to be on increasing light. By giving the Holiday the name Chanukah with the allusion that we follow the view of Beis Hillel, we echo the sentiment that Chanukah is not about defeating evil as much as it is about increasing light.
All three names of Chanukah thus point in the same direction. Our joy is our ability to dedicate ourselves to Judaism in a complete state of tranquility and without the need to ever look back at the evil forces that we vanquished; but only to increase the light.
Two Approaches to Life
What is the message for our time?
There are two approaches to life. The first approach is to focus on every victory that we experience; every crisis that we avert and every bit of darkness that we dispel. No matter how paltry and pathetic the positive consequences of these victories might be, we show appreciation for G-d’s goodness. We should never deny G-d even His slightest show of compassion for us. There is something to be said for savoring the sweet taste of a victory over evil, any victory. The advantage of this approach is that even the most limited change of status is reason to celebrate.
This approach, though necessary, however, has its drawbacks. When a person is content with the joy in overcoming an obstacle, they do not have the motivation to reach the top. They are content with the victory they’ve won with much effort. This approach is a minimalist approach, because it can make a person happy with but the minimum of achievement.
Alternatively, we can dwell on the positive qualities that we now enjoy. We can savor the taste of generating light, without relating it to the previous state of darkness. We learn to appreciate good for good’s sake.
The benefit of this approach is that no matter how good things were today, human nature demands that we have more tomorrow. When we light the first Chanukah light, with all of the contrast that one light has when compared to no light, we are not satisfied. The next night we generate two lights. We will never be content. And no matter how truly impressive are our positive achievements we constantly strive for more.
Indeed, it is not enough for us to realize our natural potential – symbolized by the number seven, the highest number in the natural order. Even as we light the seventh light, we observe an empty space on the menorah for an eighth light. It beckons and challenges us to beyond our nature and realize the climax of spiritual light that is symbolized by the number eight. Indeed, the nature of a person who has acquired something positive is to not be content. “Whoever has a hundred zuz, wants two hundred, one who has two hundred wants four hundred.”
Two Choices on the Threshold
As we stand on the threshold of the Messianic Age, there are two choices open to us:
We can yearn for better times and ask for the Messianic Age, because exile has been so bitter. Our desire to dispel the darkness that characterized our existence has motivated many a Jew to hope, pray and yearn for Moshiach to come and take us out of exile.
The drawback of this approach is that no sooner do conditions improve, ever so slightly, then Jews are so grateful and appreciative, that they celebrate the victory as small as it may seem. With the passage of time their desire and requests for Moshiach lose their urgency. It takes, G-d forbid, another tragedy to once again inspire them to plead for Moshiach and Redemption.
The second approach – the one associated with the School of Hillel – is one that compels us to focus on the light and celebrate the miracles that G-d has wrought for us in our own day and age. We should not just look at the collapse of the Soviet Empire – for example – because it liberated millions of Jews from their oppression, but moreover, we should “open our eyes” and see the manifestation of the Divine in this event. This should whet our appetite for more G-dly light to enter this world.
By concentrating on the positive, we feel a yearning for more. And even as we light the first light on the first night of Chanukah, we already know that our journey of light will not end until we reach the number eight, the number that transcends the order of nature – the light of Moshiach.
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From the book Light from the Future: Chanukah by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.
