As I was singing Maoz Tzur tonight I couldn't help but realize the irony of the situation: Bnei Yisroel is a nation stressing spiritual and Yavan a nation stressing physical, yet here we are outlasting them physically yet steeped in their ideology, an ideology that negates spirit. If you think about it, they really won. We might still be here, but they weren't trying to kill us physically. They have turned our society into what it is today and seemingly will be forever. So what are we celebrating?
This takes us back to Adam Ha'Rishon. When Adam sinned, he thought the world would be destroyed. The magnificent light of the or ha'ganuz remained throughout shabbos but was then extinguished. Adam thought that the world was coming to its end because of his sin. Hashem then told him that it was simply nighttime and the darkness was the way of the world. He taught Adam to make fire and that is why we have a torch every week at havdalah.
What happened throughout the next few months? Adam was born on Rosh Ha'Shana. This was the Fall Equinox. As the year approached winter time, the days were getting shorter. There was less and less daylight each 24 hours. Adam was sure by now that the world was slowly ending and it would eventually be complete darkness. This continued until Chanukah. Chanukah falls out around the Winter Solstice. At this time of year Adam realized that there was hope. He saw the days starting to get longer and realized that the world was, in fact, not ending.
That is the message of Chanukah. Even when it seems darkest, don't give up hope. We may have been decimated by the mentality of Yavan, but there is still hope. The outside world may not recognize the spiritual in the choshech that Chazal teach us is Yavan, but we come in and light a candle to brighten that choshech.
Common practice nowadays is mehadrin min ha'mehadrin. Each person lights a candle since each person must keep that hope alive within himself. We keep nurturing that longing for a world full of spirituality that will come be'vias goel. And just like Adam thought the world would never reverse itself and the days would continue to get shorter until there was no more daylight yet the daylight eventually returned to normal, we must realize that although it looks as if the darkness is getting more and more bleak, there will be an end to the pattern.
That is our hope when looking at the menorah and remembering the menorah that shown forth that sacred or ha'ganuz in the Bais Ha'Mikdash.
This takes us back to Adam Ha'Rishon. When Adam sinned, he thought the world would be destroyed. The magnificent light of the or ha'ganuz remained throughout shabbos but was then extinguished. Adam thought that the world was coming to its end because of his sin. Hashem then told him that it was simply nighttime and the darkness was the way of the world. He taught Adam to make fire and that is why we have a torch every week at havdalah.
What happened throughout the next few months? Adam was born on Rosh Ha'Shana. This was the Fall Equinox. As the year approached winter time, the days were getting shorter. There was less and less daylight each 24 hours. Adam was sure by now that the world was slowly ending and it would eventually be complete darkness. This continued until Chanukah. Chanukah falls out around the Winter Solstice. At this time of year Adam realized that there was hope. He saw the days starting to get longer and realized that the world was, in fact, not ending.
That is the message of Chanukah. Even when it seems darkest, don't give up hope. We may have been decimated by the mentality of Yavan, but there is still hope. The outside world may not recognize the spiritual in the choshech that Chazal teach us is Yavan, but we come in and light a candle to brighten that choshech.
Common practice nowadays is mehadrin min ha'mehadrin. Each person lights a candle since each person must keep that hope alive within himself. We keep nurturing that longing for a world full of spirituality that will come be'vias goel. And just like Adam thought the world would never reverse itself and the days would continue to get shorter until there was no more daylight yet the daylight eventually returned to normal, we must realize that although it looks as if the darkness is getting more and more bleak, there will be an end to the pattern.
That is our hope when looking at the menorah and remembering the menorah that shown forth that sacred or ha'ganuz in the Bais Ha'Mikdash.
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