What do the study of Rambam, Tanya classes on the radio, and worldwide Chanuka Menorah lightings via satellite hookup all have in common? And what lesson can we learn from them as far as the impact we have on the world, even from the privacy of our own homes? Read on and discover what the Rebbe has to say on the matter…
Gai was taken aback. A dreidel on the Thai beach? How could that be? There wasn’t a single Jew in the entire area! Gai turned the dreidel this way and that and even played with it. It turned and turned and landed and Gai felt surprisingly emotional about it. He was overcome by childhood memories. He remembered how his father lit the Chanuka Menorah. His mother made warm, tasty doughnuts and they all sat and sang “HaNeiros Hallelu.”
How would you like to find out that Chanuka could be extended to nine days? It would be another night to light Menorah, to eat Latkes, to receive Chanukah gelt, and to play Dreidel! Well according to some commentaries that is what will happen in the times of Yemos HaMoshiach!
All the while that Moshiach Tzidkeinu has still not arrived – tangibly and overtly – one’s days are incomplete, his life is truly lacking. Yaakov expresses this sentiment by saying that even the 130 years of his life were seen as but “few” [meaning lacking], for the redemption had not yet been realized in the world.
Without oil, the wick will quickly burn out, utterly consumed by the intensity of the flame. It is the oil that enables the two to coexist, and fuels the flame while it is attached to the wick. So, too, the oil of Torah, especially the way it is illuminated by the mystical teachings of Kabbala and Chassidus, provides fuel for the Soul’s fiery existence and enables it to perform its ultimate mission – to remain united with the body and be spiritual within a physical world.
Even if we do call it “Chanukah gelt.” Money is supposed to be the root of all evil, gelt is blotteh, and it is symbolic of everything that is negative in the world. This is not merely folklore; in Chazal we find that the title “Bnan Shel K’doshim” – basically a holy person – was bestowed on R’ Menachem ben Simai specifically because he refrained from even looking at money!
Chanuka is from the root “chinuch,” and from the youngest of ages we need to provide children with uncompromising chinuch. Yes, there are times when leniencies are permitted, but when it comes to chinuch, we shouldn’t rely on them. Chinuch needs to be uncompromising, pure olive oil.
Dark nights, winding roads, hired smugglers. * The escape of a Jewish woman from darkness to light. * A personal Chanuka story.
November 26, 2013