The Light Breaks Through - Chanukah 5785

 There is something strange about Chanukah.  We start the first night of candle lighting with one light (not including the Shamash), then light two on the second night, until on the eighth we light eight lights.  Now what’s strange about that, you might ask, that’s the way it’s done.  

Well, do we do that with any other Mitzvot?  Imagine someone coming to the synagogue on the first day of Sukkot with a lulav, then on day two with a lulav and etrog, then on day three he adds willows, ten on day four the myrtles.  Or perhaps on Shabbat - one week we call one person to the Torah, then two the next week, then three, etc.  It doesn’t work that way.  We are consistent with these observances.  Four species every day of Sukkot, seven aliyot plus maftir every Shabbat, and so it is for all the Mitzvot.  Only on Chanukah do we increase the number of lights every day.

There is another aspect of the change in the number of lights.  (I say “lights” and not candles because the optimum way to observe the Mitzvah is with olive oil and cotton wicks.) 

In the time of the Mishnah (roughly 2,000 years ago) there were two great Talmudic academies, Beit Hillel and Beit Shamai.  They often disagreed on matters of law and custom, and almost always the practice was set according to the ruling of Beit Hillel.

On the question of how many Chanukah lights we should light each night of Chanukah, Beit Shamai says we start on day one with eight lights and then each day we reduce by one, ending up with one on the eighth day.  Beit Hillel says we start with one and go up to eight, and of course as we know the ruling is like Beiit Hillel.  Why would Beit Shamai say we reduce the number of lights when in matters of holiness we need to increase rather than decrease?

There are several explanations given in the Talmud and commentaries.  For example, Beit Shamai considers how many days there are left to the holiday and Beit Hillel goes by the number of days we have reached.   I want to give a unique Chassidic explanation, based on the teachings of the Rebbe.  (Rabbi Shneor Ashkenazi elucidated this beautifully.)

There are two approaches to dealing with personal challenges. Until recently, the main focus of psychology was to figure out our challenges and blockages, and to try to remove them.  In the last few decades, positive psychology started focusing on our potential, honing in on the good and leaving the bad behind.  They talk about the fact that was “recently discovered” by science that every emotion begins with a thought, and if we can control the thought and move it in a positive direction, we can create positive emotions.  (Of course this was written in the Torah, and explained at great length about 300 years ago by Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi in the book of Tanya.)

We all deal with our Yetzer Hara - the “evil inclination” that is constantly seducing us to go in the wrong direction.  How do we overcome it?  Shamai was known as an extremely pious man who dealt with negativity very severely.  His academy was known for students who followed that path.  Fight the evil, push it away and change your negative traits.  This approach can be seen in their Halachic opinions, usually taking a very strict approach and, when there is a question of whether something is permitted or not, often presenting the strict opinion.

Another approach is to focus on the good.  Hillel emphasized the goodness in everyone, explaining that this is their true essence.  The evil side of us was also created by Hashem for a positive purpose, to give us an opportunity to make the choice between good and evil.  When we realize that our true inner desire is to do good, and we connect with that part of us, we slowly grow our goodness and connection to Hashem, leaving the negative behind.  This was the approach of Hillel’s academy, and they would, where possible, take the lenient approach. 

The verse in Tehillim (34:13) says:  “Turn away from bad and do good.”  Most ethical Jewish teachings before Chassidus interpreted this verse to mean that a prerequisite to doing good is to turn away from evil.  Clean out your house first, and then you can grow in goodness and holiness.

Chassidus took a different approach, following Hillel’s path, which after all is the accepted path in Jewish law. Turn away from evil, we interpret the verse as saying, by doing good.  Taking Hlllel’s approach in all areas of life, including dealing with our own internal struggles, leads us to focus on fulfilling our potential and growing, and the increased positivity helps us overcome the negativity.  When someone wants to approach Jewish practice, for example, rather than focusing on what he or she is not doing or is doing wrong, we emphasize and celebrate every Mitzvah, and this leads to more and more Mitzvot.  (This approach is also the ideal for parents with their children, as well as all relationships.)

Now let’s go back to the question of the Chanukah lights.  The miracle of Chanukah is all about the good overcoming the evil, light overcoming darkness, as it was in the original Chanukah and as symbolized by the Chanukah lights illuminating the darkness of the night.  Beit Shamai says:  There is a lot of darkness, we need to fight it with everything we have, so let’s blast it with eight lights. According to this opinion, we decrease the light daily as our efforts succeed to force the darkness to recede.  

Beit Hillel says, you don’t fight darkness.  Darkness is an absence of light and the darkness dissipates automatically when you shine some light.  Don't focus on the darkness and don’t allow it to overcome you.  If you find yourself enveloped by darkness, find a little bit of light deep inside you, just as the Maccabees found one bottle of pure olive oil.  That little light will begin to dispel the darkness, and on day two the light will grow to two lights, and so on.

This is the unique message of Chanukah.  Light grows.  Don’t give up on yourself or the world.  You don’t have to change overnight and you don;t have to engage the darkness.  One little light will grow to two and then three and then will fill the entire menorah.

If you do not have a Menorah, please contact me and i will be happy to give you a Chanukah kit with Menorah and candles, so that you too can contribute to lighting up the world on this wonderful holiday.  Happy Chanukah.