After sundown on December 18, we will begin celebrating the festival of Chanukah by lighting the first candle in our eight candle Menorah, celebrating the miraculous victory of our ancestors 22 centuries ago.
We will continue lighting the Menorah on the following evening, the second night of Chanukah, when we will light two candles and continue adding one candle each night until on the eighth and final night of Chanukah, we will light all eight candles of the Menorah.
Light, brightness, radiance, are metaphors we use when we want to speak about hope, joy, positivity, or goodness. The light of the candle is a metaphor for our yearning for a better world and for a more positive and more virtuous self.
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It’s easy to wallow and get caught up in our “tsuris”; in the grind of life and our day-to-day challenges.
Chanukah is a time to shake us out of our negative preoccupations, Chanukah is a holiday when we refocus on light; the hope, positivity and goodness in our lives. Chanukah is the time to rekindle our own light within ourselves, to change ourselves and those around us in a positive and joyous way.
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We don’t light the entire Menorah on the first night of Chanukah. We only light a single candle. That is because, when we want to start lighting up our lives and the lives of those around us, we must start with small steps, we start with just a single small candle.
But after the first candle is lit, we don’t stop there. The next night we add a second candle and then the next night a third candle until by the eighth night, we fill the entire eight-candle-Menorah with light and we become a walking Menorah, shining light in our home and all around us, bringing hope, joy, positivity and goodness to the world around us.
This year, as you light your own menorah, recall that miraculous victory, 2200 years ago, the victory of hope over despair, of spirit over materialism, of good over evil. Then take a moment to think of the light in your own life, your hope, the goodness and joy in your life and what you can accomplish.
Don’t stop with yourself. Light shines for everyone around it. Spread that light; the hope, positivity, joy and goodness to your entire environment brightening up everyone in your radius.
Join me on Sunday, December 18 at 3:30pm, in celebrating first night of Chanukah, by lighting up the entire community and beyond at the Hermosa Beach Pier, where we will be lighting a giant menorah and have a massive gelt drop with live entertainment, latkes, doughnuts, gifts for the children and much more. Click here to learn more and RSVP
Happy Chanukah
Rabbi Yossi Mintz
