This Shabbat is very unique. On Shabbat we are always encompassed by the holiness of G-d and Torah, more so than during the remainder of the week. On Chanukah, we are surrounded by light which illuminates the world with holiness.
On Shabbat-Chanukah, we are literally living a full Shabbat of awesomeness! The holiness of Shabbat and the light of Chanukah come together to inspire the Jewish people and give a spark as we move forward on the calendar.
Chanukah is a very unique and special time. Many lessons are learned from the holiday. The most popular theme of Chanukah is the lights.
Chassidic masters have taught over and over again how light changes the world. Of course we ask ourselves, “Why do I need a Chassidic Rabbi to tell me that light eradicates darkness?”
Good question indeed.
When a candle, emitting one small flame, is lit in a huge room, the light changes the entire room. Chassidism compares this physical fact to a spiritual fact: Do one good deed and the entire landscape of the world changes!
The Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Schneerson once wrote a letter to the participants of several public Menorah Lightings in the United States. In that letter the Rebbe opens with; “Chanukah, the Festival of Lights, recalls the victory—more than 2100 years ago—of a militarily weak but spiritually strong Jewish people over the mighty forces of a ruthless enemy that had overrun the Holy Land and threatened to engulf the land and its people in darkness.
What the Rebbe is stressing in the opening of the letter is how the spiritual strength – the LIGHT – of the Jewish army, led them to victory over their enemy – over the darkness.
The Rebbe then continues in his letter, “The Chanukah Lights remind us in a most obvious way that illumination begins at home, within oneself and one’s family, by increasing and intensifying the light of Torah and Mitzvos in the everyday experience.”
The Rebbe – as seen through his army of emissaries around the globe – was a pioneer in kindling the light! The Rebbe told everyone to be “LAMPLIGHTERS” and spread the light wherever they go. Yes, we must create the spark at home, but the next step is to take that spark and extend it, one wick at a time, until the entire world is engulfed in G-dliness.
“Such is the nature of light that when one kindles the Chanukah Lights which are expressly meant to illuminate the “outside,” symbolically alluding to the duty to bring light also to those who, for one reason or another, still walk in darkness. “ the Rebbe explains.
It is important that each of us take a lesson for life from our Holidays and traditions which seemingly celebrate happenings of thousands of years ago. The truth is, the celebration of Chanukah, and of other Jewish Holidays, is a celebration of the present.
The original celebrations of Chanukah celebrated the victory of the weak over the mighty, the few over the many and so on. Today’s celebration of Chanukah commemorates that and celebrates the modern day victory of goodness over evil and the triumph of what is right over it’s adversaries.
The goal of today’s celebrations of Chanukah is to create holiness out of mundane just as we create the holy Chanukah lights from a simple candle. We must transform the world and make it holy so the words of the prophet Zechariah , found in this week’s special Shabbat Chanukah Haftarah, will be fulfilled.
"Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for, behold! I will come and dwell in your midst, says the L-rd."
By creating spirituality and goodness in this world, we constantly illuminate it and bring G-d and his glory closer.
As the Rebbe concludes his letter, “Let us pray that the message of the Chanukah Lights will illuminate the everyday life of everyone personally, and of the society at large, for a brighter life in every respect, both materially and spiritually”
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