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We are all familiar with the miracle of the Chanukah lights that is told in the Talmud. When the Maccabees began the process of purifying the Holy Temple after defeating the Syrian-Greeks and evicting them from their homeland, they found only one bottle of pure oil that had not been contaminated by the Greeks. Any jar of oil in which the seal was broken was thought to have been used in the process of idol worship, and thus could not be used to light the Temple Menorah. Though the Maccabees found many jars of oil, they found only one jar in which the seal of the High priest had not been opened. This jar, as we know, contained enough oil to light the Menorah for one day but nevertheless lasted for eight days.

When the Maccabees rededicated the Temple, they immediately returned to performing all of the mitzvot that the Torah commanded. One of those mitzvot was the daily lighting of the Menorah. According to one tradition, the closest location where kosher oil could be procured was a four day journey from Jerusalem. Thus, the miracle of the eight days was meant to last for the period necessary to fetch and return to Jerusalem with kosher oil. In Jewish thought, the number eight represents that which is beyond creation. While the Torah recounts in Genesis the seven days of creation (including Shabbat), one day beyond that represents that which exists outside of our world. This would include the heavenly abodes where God’s presence dwells, and where our souls reside before and after our time in this world.

The light of the Menorah has come to represent such a concept. The miracle of the lights teaches us that something beyond our world caused the light of the Menorah to last for eight days, and it is that light that we contemplate on the eight nights of Chanukah.The Talmud teaches that the windows of the Holy Temple were constructed in such a way that the light of the Menorah would emanate and could be seen in all four directions.It is that sense of wonder that we contemplate with our minds, but only connect with our souls.

What are we meant to learn from this light, and why was it necessary that Jews should always be able to see the reflection of the Menorah’s light when they gazed at the Holy Temple? I believe that it is possible to act either with our intellects or with our souls. When we act in the interest of our intellects, we are immersed solely in the world in which we live. Sometimes we act out of necessity, and sometimes out of lustful yearnings. However, when we act from a soulful, spiritual place, we are focusing on that which our souls yearn for – to be closer to God and to find meaning in life. There is no luxury or physical achievement that will ever provide for what the soul desires. That is why on Shabbat we are commanded to desist from all earthly activity and focus solely on the spiritual. On the other days of the week demands of work and reality divert our attention from this task. Yet, the presence of the holy light emanating from the Temple was meant to remind the Jew to remember the soul even when the intellect held sway.

On Chanukah, if you look at the lights of the Menorah in just the right way, you may illuminate your soul. That will not give you meaning in life in and of itself. But it will remind you to search for it in the right places.

L’shalom,
Rabbi Jeremy Barras