Chanukoh means rededication, or renewal.
Re dedication is something distinctly human. But renewal is the Eternal quality of the Infinitely Merciful G-d. He constantly renews - the world, you, me, everything … from nothing. The most it would seem we can do is to merely rededicate, and thus touch on the essence of renewal.
However, in truth, renewal is a quality of the soul. The closer we draw near to G-d, the more we can become part of a G-dly process of renewal, the more we become part of The Essence that is constant rebirth, of self and soul.
I used to go the Sholosh Seudos[1] of a certain Tsaddik of Blessed Memory and I always felt afterwards as if I’d been cleansed and renewed – like having been through a ‘spiritual wash-machine’. The Kabbalists termed this level ‘loiven ho’elyon’.
Each one of us can access this level through learning Torah, or, through annulling oneself to a true Tsaddik, or through performing a Mitsvoh with a full heart.
The lighting of the Menorah is a particularly effective time to access this renewal, this cleansing of self, this rebirth. When we thank G-d and acknowledge His constant Providence and interaction with us, we become filled with love for Him, our consciousness expands and the soul reveals itself. When it does so, we experience an element of rebirth, like the legendary phoenix rising from the ashes.
Here is a meditation on the lights of the Menorah to help enter that state.
The Zohar says that a person is symbolised by an oil-wick flame[2]
Look at the lights of your Menorah.
Notice the wick, the oil and the light surrounding the wick,
These represent facets of your spiritual self,
The seforim advise us to see ourselves as a neshomo [soul] of light amongst other neshomos,
So realise yourself now, as you gaze at the lights, to be completely soul, amongst other souls,
The black wick at the centre represents your essence[3]
It draws sustenance from the oil - the good deeds you do, the Torah you learn, the awareness you have of G-d.
The flame is the light of G-d
It surrounds you, is opposite you, with you. Realise G-d to with us constantly.
The wick is constantly giving of itself to the fire, becoming one with the light.
When we do the Mitsvos, we reach out to G-d, we rededicate ourselves to G-d, we touch that sublime nothingness of self as we touch the Eternal.
The lights you look at are lights of holiness, pure Mitsvoh. Through them, you can be transported to a purely G-dly Place. Allow yourself to connect with the Shechinoh that is part and parcel of the Mitsvoh.
In lighting the Menorah, our custom is to light a new light each night, and then go backwards, till we light the first light we lit on the very first night. This is how to build in our spiritual service of G-d: always adding but always going back strengthening the old foundations, making sure the foundations are firm and then building further.
A freilichen Chanukoh.
[1] The third meal of Shabbos, after the Shabbos Minchoh prayer.
[2] I heard from the great Lelover Rebbe of Blessed Memory [Rabbi Avrohom Shlomo Beiderman of Jerusalem] in the name of his holy father [Rabbi Moshe Mordechai Beiderman zt”l] that as the wick draws sustenance from the oil, so does the soul in Gan Eden draw delight from a light that is lit for it in this world.
[3] The colour black is the lowest vibration. This represents the receiving end of the spiritual ladder. But it is also the door to the higher levels (see Eye to The Infinite, Part II).
Re dedication is something distinctly human. But renewal is the Eternal quality of the Infinitely Merciful G-d. He constantly renews - the world, you, me, everything … from nothing. The most it would seem we can do is to merely rededicate, and thus touch on the essence of renewal.
However, in truth, renewal is a quality of the soul. The closer we draw near to G-d, the more we can become part of a G-dly process of renewal, the more we become part of The Essence that is constant rebirth, of self and soul.
I used to go the Sholosh Seudos[1] of a certain Tsaddik of Blessed Memory and I always felt afterwards as if I’d been cleansed and renewed – like having been through a ‘spiritual wash-machine’. The Kabbalists termed this level ‘loiven ho’elyon’.
Each one of us can access this level through learning Torah, or, through annulling oneself to a true Tsaddik, or through performing a Mitsvoh with a full heart.
The lighting of the Menorah is a particularly effective time to access this renewal, this cleansing of self, this rebirth. When we thank G-d and acknowledge His constant Providence and interaction with us, we become filled with love for Him, our consciousness expands and the soul reveals itself. When it does so, we experience an element of rebirth, like the legendary phoenix rising from the ashes.
Here is a meditation on the lights of the Menorah to help enter that state.
The Zohar says that a person is symbolised by an oil-wick flame[2]
Look at the lights of your Menorah.
Notice the wick, the oil and the light surrounding the wick,
These represent facets of your spiritual self,
The seforim advise us to see ourselves as a neshomo [soul] of light amongst other neshomos,
So realise yourself now, as you gaze at the lights, to be completely soul, amongst other souls,
The black wick at the centre represents your essence[3]
It draws sustenance from the oil - the good deeds you do, the Torah you learn, the awareness you have of G-d.
The flame is the light of G-d
It surrounds you, is opposite you, with you. Realise G-d to with us constantly.
The wick is constantly giving of itself to the fire, becoming one with the light.
When we do the Mitsvos, we reach out to G-d, we rededicate ourselves to G-d, we touch that sublime nothingness of self as we touch the Eternal.
The lights you look at are lights of holiness, pure Mitsvoh. Through them, you can be transported to a purely G-dly Place. Allow yourself to connect with the Shechinoh that is part and parcel of the Mitsvoh.
In lighting the Menorah, our custom is to light a new light each night, and then go backwards, till we light the first light we lit on the very first night. This is how to build in our spiritual service of G-d: always adding but always going back strengthening the old foundations, making sure the foundations are firm and then building further.
A freilichen Chanukoh.
[1] The third meal of Shabbos, after the Shabbos Minchoh prayer.
[2] I heard from the great Lelover Rebbe of Blessed Memory [Rabbi Avrohom Shlomo Beiderman of Jerusalem] in the name of his holy father [Rabbi Moshe Mordechai Beiderman zt”l] that as the wick draws sustenance from the oil, so does the soul in Gan Eden draw delight from a light that is lit for it in this world.
[3] The colour black is the lowest vibration. This represents the receiving end of the spiritual ladder. But it is also the door to the higher levels (see Eye to The Infinite, Part II).