Increasing Our Joy

Beit (school of) Shammai ruled:

On the first day of Hanukkah, we light eight candles; each day after that, we diminish the lights by one.

Beit Hillel ruled:

On the first day of Hanukkah, we light one candle; each day thereafter, we increase the lights by one."

Our practice today is to follow the custom of the school of Hillel.

Kavannah

Nina Beth Cardin

"This choice of counting up or down encapsulates two approaches to life: Are the blessings of life so finite – so that with each one bestowed our cup is diminished? Or are they as infinite as the Source from which they come? And even if they are finite; do we imagine a growing darkness as each is used up, or do we gather all the revealed ones together, basking in the light that grows with each new blessing? How we answer these questions colors the way we receive each new day and each new blessing...

So, while practicality forces any one of us to choose only one way to act, our recounting of the ways of Beit Shammai and Beit Hillel keep the possibility of both ways alive. And lest practice divide us, our stories unite us." Rabbi Nina Beth Cardin (in Sh'ma magazine)

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Second Night

Kavannah
This practice has the potential to be an exciting educational moment. With each additional candle on each night the light grows brighter. So too does the excitement and anticipation of the whole process. The lighting of the candles is done in such a way as to remind and educate others, including ourselves, about the importance of this mitzvah.

Shlomo Carlebach

Performing the ritual means tapping into the "light" of Torah; as with all of our rituals, we are attempting to inspire meaning into our own lives so that we see ourselves as holy. But what is most important in all of this is how we teach this message to others and to ourselves. The details matter, but how we hear and receive the message is most important, because this can then increase the "radiance" of our existence in God's world.

"When you teach someone you are not sure his/her "light" will increase, but when you "give over" (teach in a loving manner) to someone you know his/her light will grow. That is why each night of Hanukkah we kindle one more candle to shine into the world, until all the streets of the world are full of light." – Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach

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Third Night

One practical answer is that the rabbis of the Talmud did not really know how to perform this mitzvah. Perhaps there were several traditions among different groups of Jewish communities and they felt the need to preserve these customs.

Kavannah
Throughout the Talmud, we see that there are many disputes are conserved. On a philosophical level this represents one of the trademarks of Judaism, that is the acceptance of pluralism. Perhaps the point of keeping both opinions is to demonstrate that both opinions are the "words of the living God". [Talmud, Eruvin 12b]

On this Hanukkah, may we merit the blessing of openness and tolerance. May we allow the opinions of others to enhance and increase the "light" of joy in our lives.

– Kliel Rose

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Hanukkah Meditation

• Breathe out slowly three times.
  See yourself taking a golden menorah from a shelf, dusting it, and polishing it until all of its branches and vessels are perfectly clean.
• When it is ready, place it in the window.
  See yourself filling it with pure, sacred oil, increasing the amount of oil in slow and steady increments.
  Sense, feel and know that as you are increasing the amount of light in the chanukiah (menorah), you are increasing your own light.
• Breathe out one time, and see the light shining brightly.
  Sense how you are sending light into the darkness.
  When you are ready, breathe out and open your eyes.

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Fourth Night

Rabbi Joshua ben Levi said:

All oils are fit for the Hanukkah lamp, but olive oil is the best.

Abaye observed:

At first Rabbah used to seek poppy-seed oil, saying, 'The light of this is more lasting'; but when he heard this dictum of Rabbi Joshua ben Levi he was particular for olive oil, saying, 'This yields a clearer light.'

Kavannah
What do we learn from this discussion in the Talmud? Why does it matter what kind of oil we use to light our hanukkiot?

There is a Jewish concept called hidur mitzvah, to enhance a mitzvah. When we can make the fulfillment of a mitzvah even more beautiful, it enhances the mitzvah and shows a level of kavod (honor) for the mitzvah. For example, some people choose a beautifully decorated klaf, or scroll, for the inside of a mezuzah. Some haggadot for Pesach have elaborate drawings to adorn the pages.

Using the clearest and best burning oil for our hanukkiot allows us to give extra kavod to the mitzvah of burning oil to remember the miracle of Hanukkah.

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Fifth Night

Rava said:

It is obvious to me that if one must choose between the house light and the Hanukkah light if one cannot afford both, the former is preferable, on account of the importance of shlom bayit (peace in the home); between the house light and wine for Kiddush, the house light is preferable, on account of shlom bayit (peace in the home).

Rava said:

What if the choice lies between the Hanukkah lamp and the Kiddush: is the latter more important, because it is permanent (as it occurs every week) or perhaps the Hanukkah lamp is preferable, on account of advertising the miracle? After wondering, he himself solved it: The Hanukkah lamp is preferable, on account of advertising the miracle.

Kavannah
Why is the recognition of the miracle of Hanukkah given precedence over the miracle of the Exodus, as remembered in the Kiddush? Why was shlom bayit so important to the Rabbis? How does Rava's hierarchy of mitzvoth apply to us today?

– Rabbi Jessica Zimmerman

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Publicizing the Miracle: From the Powerless to the Possible

Sixth Night

Kavannah
You think it's impossible, hopeless! There's no way a flask of oil can last eight days and there's no way a teeny band of visionaries can prevail over the world's most powerful army. Maybe you're missing the point. According to Rabbi Daniel Gordis, and others, Hanukkah is in fact a universal holiday. Its not only about us Jews. Its about the teeny, the minority, the unlikely. Its about hope and possibility.

"Hanukkah proclaims and insists that the downtrodden, the powerless, the dispossessed and the all but vanquished are these flames... The ritualized dance of the frail and fragile flames is a tenacious struggle the entire world needs to witness."

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Seventh Night

A father called his three sons (triplets) to see who should marry first. He said: "I have three barns. I want each of you to fill up a barn. Each of you should fill a barn as fully as possible. The first son collected all the paper he could get his hands on. White paper – clean, ready to be written upon and easy to compact together. Upon inspection, his father said, "Not bad. For the most part the barn is full."

The second son drilled a hole in the roof of the barn and filled it to the brim with sand. Upon inspection, his father said, "Excellent, the barn is as close to full as I can imagine."

Finally, the third son had a special idea. He went inside the barn and came out moments later. Skeptically, the father followed his son into the barn, to see a small, brightly lit candle sitting in the center.

The father thought for a moment and said, "Son, the barn is completely filled with light. Congratulations. You will be the first to marry!"

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Eighth Night

But, as we know the Temple no longer stands. The only sacred building, mishkan, that exists today is the one within each of us.

Asu li mikdash, v'shakhanti b'tokham.

So, just as the Maccabees sought to rededicate the Jewish sacred space, we should do the same.

This year, when we stare into the Hanukkah lights sitting in the window, beware – the light is aimed inward. It is a lamp that will help each of us find and nurture that sacred space within.

– Rabbi Meir Feldman

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