How the Humble Light of Chanukah Illuminates the World

The Chanukah Candles are not just Physical. Now we are in the days of Chanukah. These are days not only of the physical light that comes form our candles, but also of a spiritual light that we can all benefit from at many levels.

As I have written in the past the Jewish calendar is not days that remember once-upon-a-time events. Rather the Jewish calendar is a living calendar that returns us to the same spiritual plane each year. So just about 2,300 years ago the Kohanim (those from the priestly family who worked in the Great Temple of Jerusalem) lit the candles and one day’s measure of oil miraculously lasted 8 days, lighting the heart and spirit of that time until today.

What Message can We Learn from the Lights of Chanukah. What message is there for us in these lights that can bring light into our lives which we can take away form Chanukah to incorporate within ourselves? These past few months, both in Israel and in the US, we had been witness to the darkness that evil can bring into peoples’ lives. We probably have all been affected by this darkness in one way or another.

Many have problems and different levels of darkness in their personal lives without the added help of the terrorists. Divorce, family strife and personal emotional pset affect millions today. How can these small little candles fight off this gloom which affects so many today at various levels?

Joseph,Pharaoh, and Chanukah . Every year on the Sabbath of Chanukah the Torah reading comes out to the same section. This being the case, there must be a reason and a connection between this section of the Torah to Chanukah.

We read Genesis chapter 41-44:17. Here we find Joseph, the second youngest of the twelve brothers which became the twelve tribes. His brothers sold him. He was taken to Egypt and accused of a crime he did not commit. He was thrown into the dungeon at 18 years old and was there a total of twelve years. A very bleak picture if we think about it. A young man far away from home in an Egyptian dungeon, which we understand was not like the modern day prison. After ten years he met two other prisoners for whom he interpreted their dreams. One of them was to be freed and Joseph asked that he (who was Pharaoh’s private servant) should remember him and mention his name to help secure his release. Upon the release of this servant, though, he forgot Joseph.

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