ת"ר לפי שראה אדם הראשון יום שמתמעט והולך אמר אוי לי שמא בשביל שסרחתי עולם חשוך בעדי וחוזר לתוהו ובוהו וזו היא מיתה שנקנסה עלי מן השמים עמד וישב ח' ימים בתענית [ובתפלה]
כיון שראה תקופת טבת וראה יום שמאריך והולך אמר מנהגו של עולם הוא הלך ועשה שמונה ימים טובים לשנה האחרת עשאן לאלו ולאלו ימים טובים
Our Rabbis taught: when the first person/Adam saw that the days were getting shorter and shorter, he said: “Woe to me! Perhaps because I became corrupt, the world is getting dark because of me, and is returning to the primordial chaos that existed before creation, and this is the death that was decreed upon me from heaven!” He went and sat for eight days in fasting and prayer.
When he saw the period of Tevet, and he saw the days getting longer and longer, he said: “This is the way of the world!” He went and made an eight day festival. The next year, he made both these [the days that were getting shorter] and these [the days that were getting longer] into festival days.
- What does darkness symbolize in this text? What does Adam fear is the cause of darkness?
- What does light represent in this text?
- Why make both the days that are getting shorter and the days that are getting longer into a festival?
- How does this text resonate with your own conceptions of darkness and light? How might this text change the way you think about and/or experience Chanukkah?
(יב) מִצְוַת נֵר חֲנֻכָּה מִצְוָה חֲבִיבָה הִיא עַד מְאֹד וְצָרִיךְ אָדָם לְהִזָּהֵר בָּהּ כְּדֵי לְהוֹדִיעַ הַנֵּס וּלְהוֹסִיף בְּשֶׁבַח הָאֵל וְהוֹדָיָה לוֹ עַל הַנִּסִּים שֶׁעָשָׂה לָנוּ.
(12) The mitzvah of the Chanukkah candle is an extremely dear one. And one must be careful with it, in order to make known the miracle and to add to the praise of God and the thanks to God for the miracles that were done for us.
- Why is the mitzvah of the Chanukkah candle so dear, one that we must be so careful with?
- How does lighting a flame add to the praise and thanks of God? To our awareness of miracles?
על הניסים
על הניסים ועל הפורקן ועל הגבורות ועל התשועות ועל המלחמוא [הנפלאות] שעשית לאבותינו בימים ההם [ו]בזמן הזה.
Al HaNissim (included in the Amidah and Birkat HaMazon on Chanukkah)
[We thank you also] for the miracles the redemption, the mighty deeds, and the victorious battles [or: and the wonders] which You performed for our ancestors in those days [and] at this time.
(27) The light of God is the soul of a person, searching all the inward parts.
(כג) כִּ֤י נֵ֣ר מִ֭צְוָה וְת֣וֹרָה א֑וֹר
(23) For the commandment is a lamp, and the Torah is light
Sefat Emet (Rabbi Yehudah Leib Alter of Ger 1847-1905)
“Especially at this season, when lights were miraculously lit for Israel even though they did not have enough oil, there remains light even now to help us, with the aid of these Hanukkah candles, to find that hidden light within.”
Rabbi Arthur Green, commenting on the Sefat Emet
“The Hanukkah candles are here reinterpreted as a spiritual symbol. They are the light of the mitzvot by which we search out our inner selves. We are looking for the hidden divine light within ourselves; the mitzvot are light-seeking candles, instruments given to us to aid us in that search.”
Concluding Questions
- In what ways is your inner self is experiencing increasing darkness, and how can you bring light to that part of your self?
- What can you do to remind yourself of the Divine inner light in every person, and how can you elevate the light of others around you?
- What light can you bring to the world in this time of increasing darkness?