“Oy, I’m being schlepped out to sea!”
In recent years, I’ve begun my own Chanukah tradition: I started asking folks how many candles they just lit.
Now, when most people get asked by a rabbi during Chanukah how many candles they just lit, they assume it’s a trick question; they expect a “gotcha.” On the first night, there’s no way around it: we begin by lighting only one candle. You can’t say “I think I lit four, but I may be mistaken.” It’s the first night!
Once we get to the latter nights of Chanukah, the confusion kicks in. It’s natural for someone to question themselves to see if they’ve made a mistake. “Is tonight six candles, or seven already? Wow, Chanukah flew by this year. I must have not been keeping track.” Or some people will say, “Yeah, I missed a couple nights on vacation. Last time I lit was two, so I’ll just light three tonight." I receive all sorts of interesting answers.
But here’s the thing; I’ve yet to have someone tell me on night number seven, “I’m only lighting one candle,” or “One is more than enough for me.”
Everyone attempts to calculate which night it actually is, to light the appropriate amount for that night. But lighting one candle on the second through eighth nights isn’t an option.
Why do I ask these questions?
The holiday of Chanukah and the menorah go hand in hand. In fact, in Hebrew the commonly used word for a Menorah is Chanukiya. The obvious reason is because on Chanukah we light eight candles, starting with one and making progress until we reach eight. Thus the Menorah, the candelabra with eight candles, is a Chanukiya.
But it’s not so simple.
When the Talmud relates the story of Chanukah and concludes with the Mitzvah (commandment) of lighting candles, the Talmud actually says there are three different ways to go about lighting those candles:
The first, bare-minimum method is, to light one candle per household, each night. There’s no adding a candle nightly, there’s no table for all sorts of original children’s Menorahs, just one lone candle per household each night.
The second, more generous method is to light one candle nightly, for each member of the household. Again, no additional candle every night, but at least everyone in the house lights their own candle.
The third, most beautiful method is to add a candle each night, for each member of the household (in their own Menorah).
Now if we’re honest with ourselves, we can all admit that we don’t rush to do each and every mitzvah in the most beautiful way possible. But Chanukah? That’s a different story. When Chanukah rolls around, not only are we all doing the mitzvah, we are truly fulfilling it in the most beautiful way possible! How many thousands of Jews don’t even know there’s a lesser, simpler way to do the mitzvah?
It’s no coincidence that Chanukah is the time to go all out. It’s the very essence of what Chanukah is all about.
We’ve all heard the expression “going with the tide.”
The tide has a slow and patient pull. It doesn’t come roaring and crashing. It is subtle, yet strong. That’s why when someone gets pulled out to sea in a tide they usually say afterwards, they didn’t even realize how far they were being pulled until it’s almost too late.
When the ancient Greeks invaded Jerusalem during the Maccabean era, there was a slow tide coming in. Slowly drifting in and filling the land with Greek culture, one drop of water at a time. A Shabbat out the window here, a holiday out the window there, until it was almost too late. There was almost nothing left…
But when the realization hits, “Oy, I’m being schlepped out to sea!” the response isn’t to try to squirm a little; the response is to go out full force and give it all we’ve got! We’ve got to save ourselves! We’ve got to recapture our country, our Temple! Our very identity as Jews is being threatened.
When we all light our all-out, generous, eight-candle Menorahs this year (Dec. 6 – 13), we are reaffirming our complete commitment to living our lives as proud Jews. We resolutely refuse to be schlepped out to sea and have our Judaism washed away; rather we combat the tide with the light of Chanukah, and the rich beauty of our heritage.
Chag Sameach!
Rabbi Yisroel Lein is the spiritual leader for Chabad of the East Side in Milwaukee.
Loading ...