Reading Room

ViewPoint

Chanukah - Making the Darkness Glow and Glow
December 1997

The following ViewPoint was intended to provoke thought and discussion.

The kindling of the Chanukah lights serves as a catalyst to bring about the ultimate light - the light that will illuminate the world in the Era of the Redemption. The Rebbe said that when the Jew adds a new Chanukah candle every night, it serves to remind the Jewish people that they must increase their endeavors to spread the light throughout the world every day. It reminds them of their commitment to progress continuously, come what may. This ties into last month's ViewPoint, where I asked to be taught the halacha of the Sheva Mitzvos B'nei Noach.

Originally (before the "time of danger"), the primary mitzvah was to place the menorah (candelabra) at the doorway near the public domain. The mezuzah was to the right and the Chanukah flames to the left, and the master of the household, wearing his tzitzis, stood between them. This fulfilled the verse in Shir HaShirim 7:7, How beautiful [with your mezuzah] you are, and how pleasant [with the Chanukah light] you are. According to Sfas Emes, lighting the menorah at the doorway demonstrated how the eight days of Chanukah are symbolically the 'door', the beginning of the Ultimate Redemption.

I respectfully suggest that it is time to once again for the Jews to light the menorah at the doorway and not on the table in the home. It is time to make the darkness glow and glow! As Chassidus teaches, the Jewish victory involved the transformation of darkness into light; the Chanukah candles refine and elevate the darkness of the public domain, causing it to shine with G-dly light!

The Rebbe, in his book Timeless Patterns in Time, Volume 1, says to the Jewish people, "...the Chanukah lights... teach us that when confronted with darkness, we must not resign ourselves to it. Nor may we remain content with lighting up our own homes. Instead, we must reach out and spread light as far as we possibly can, until the public domain too is illuminated."

Mishle (Proverbs) 6:23 teaches that "a mitzvah is a lamp and Torah is light." Chassidus teaches that every mitzvah is a lamp which lights up the darkness of our material world. And this is why I am continuing the theme of last month's ViewPoint: Until B'nei Noach are taught the halacha for the Sheva Mitzvot, they are not performing the mitzvot, and the light of Torah is not lighting up the darkness of our material world, G-d forbid.

May it please Hashem that the Orthodox Jews determine to fully learn and teach the complete Sheva Mitzvos to B'nei Noach today. Together, we can make the darkness glow and glow, and bring about the Ultimate Light, the Light of Moshiach. May this take place in the immediate future.

Back to the Reading Room