The Nine Hanukkahs of Light, Part 2

Rabbi Isaac Roussel, Congregation Zera Avraham, Ann Arbor, MI

Part Two

 Last week we explored how we can think of ourselves as the eighth candle of the menorah and Yeshua as the ninth; the one who lights us with his passion and power. He calls us to a life of dedication to Torah. This week we will continue with two more ways we can be Hanukkahs of Light.

Hanukkah is also about being dedicated to shedding the light of Torah to the world.

We do this mostly by living out the precepts of Torah, in particular by doing gemilut hasidim, deeds of lovingkindness.

As the ninth candle, Yeshua is our example par excellence in this area. We see him consistently being drawn to and reaching out to the down-and-out, the unappreciated, the rejected, and the ignored. He eats with tax collectors and prostitutes. He touches lepers and pays attention to cripples and the blind. These are people whom society in this day as well as in his day tends to just overlook and cast aside. Yeshua loves them, lives with them, and grants them dignity.

As the eighth candle, we too are called to live a life of hesed, of lovingkindness. The schools of Hillel and Shammai had a disagreement, as they often did, on how Hanukkah menorahs should be lit. Shammai said that you should light all of the candles the first night and light one less each night. But Hillel said that you should light one candle the first night and one more each successive night because in matters of holiness we should be growing, not diminishing. This is the practice that our tradition has adopted. Hanukkah is a call on us to be dedicated to growing ever more in our acts of hesed. In our own way, we can comfort the afflicted, give sight to the blind, heal the sick, and raise up those who are bowed down.

To Heal a Fractured World by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks is an excellent book that I highly recommend. His basic premise is that what the Torah has given the world is this sense of being accountable for our fellow human beings. He says there is divine justice, but God calls for human justice. He calls for us to act to stop injustices and to reach out to people who are in need. This is exemplified in God’s call upon Abraham to “walk before me and be perfect” (Gen 17:1). The rabbis interpret this to mean “Don’t wait for me to command you to do good. See the need and do it.” The Torah calls us to be people of lovingkindness. As one Jewish mystic put it, “Another person’s physical needs are my spiritual obligation.”

Yeshua said, “Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven” (Matt 5:16).

Maimonides said, “If a person is scrupulous in his conduct, gentle in his conversation, pleasant towards his fellow creatures, affable in manner when receiving them, not retorting even when affronted, but showing courtesy to all, even to those who treat him with disdain, conducting his commercial affairs with integrity… such a person has sanctified God’s name.”

Each and everyone one of us is a Hanukkah of light. We can shed our light upon others around us through dedication to good deeds.

Finally, Hanukkah is about being dedicated to the mission that God has given us in life.

The Jews in the days of the rebellion against Antiochus did not so much find God’s mission as it found them. The very circumstances that they were thrust into begged for them to stand up for Torah and the Jewish way of life, and fight against tyranny.

Yeshua knew God’s mission for him because it was revealed to him by the Father. He dedicated himself to fulfilling the office of Mashiach because it was God’s will for him.

Some of us will be like those in the days of the first Hanukkah and discover what God wants us to do by the circumstances we find ourselves in. Some of us will be like Yeshua and have God tell us what he wants. Whichever way we discover it, we need to seek out his mission for us and dedicate ourselves to its fulfillment.

We have been talking about mission. We are all called to the mission of keeping and encouraging observance of the Torah. We are all called to do good deeds. Collectively, we as Jews are called to be a light to the nations, a holy priesthood. But each of us has a particular role, a sub-mission if you will, in accomplishing this task.

Martin Buber said, “Every person born into this world represents something new, something that never existed before, something original and unique. Every person’s foremost task is the actualization of his unique, unprecedented, and never recurring potentialities.”

Hanukkah calls us to be dedicated to finding our particular mission in life and working towards its fulfillment.

We should not be dismayed by the breadth and depth of these calls upon us. They indeed can be daunting. If you read a history of Hanukkah, you will realize that the temple was dedicated before the war was over. Judah Maccabee sent soldiers to continue the fight against the city garrison of foreign troops while others began to clean up the temple. So we too can dedicate ourselves to these great tasks even though the battle isn’t over for us either. Yeshua is the ninth Hanukkah of light, our example of what it means to be dedicated to Torah, to the love of others, and to fulfilling our mission in life. He perfectly executed all of these.  And he is the one that empowers us to fulfill this mission ourselves.

As the eighth Hanukkah of light, all of us are called to dedicate ourselves to Torah, to loving others and good deeds, and to fulfilling our particular mission in life. This Hanukkah season, may each of us reflect on these and strive to fulfill them.

Proverbs says that each person’s soul is a lamp of Hashem. May we become a light that truly sheds light on all of those around us and may we all merit seeing that final Hanukkah in the World to Come!