T orah P ortion
CAN DL E L IGHTIN G
Chanukah 5782
BY RABBI ELCHONON FRIEDMAN
Parshat Vayeshev
THIS COMING WEEK we
will be celebrating the holiday
of Chanukah, the holiday of
lights. We will celebrate many
miracles: the victory of the few
over the many, the victory of
the righteous over the wicked
and the victory of the weak
over the mighty.

These miracles provide great
life lessons in how to have faith
in oneself and face the greatest
obstacles and overcome them.

Yet all these miracles really
occurred in the days before
Chanukah, for when we light
the menorah in our homes we
will be celebrating a miracle
that occurred after the wars
were won and the battles had
ceased. So yes, we mention
these miracles in our prayers,
but the eight nights and days of
Chanukah, with the lighting of
the menorah and the associated
blessings, actually celebrate the
miracle of the oil.

It was after the Greeks
were defeated, and the Jewish
people returned to restore the
Holy Temple and its service
— including the lighting of
the holy menorah — that the
miracle of the oil happened.

When the Jewish people
arrived, the temple lay in ruins,
and no untampered oil was to
be found. They searched and
miraculously found one jug of
olive oil still intact and sealed
with the seal of the High Priest.

This jug only had enough oil
to last one day, but the Jewish
people lit the menorah and the
oil burned for eight days. In
celebration of this miracle, we
light a menorah for the eight
nights of Chanukah.

The lessons of this miracle
are plenty. One lesson is that a
pure heart and soul can always
burn miraculously beyond
one’s wildest dreams. If we just
tap into the very pure unadul-
terated good that is our very
essence, warmth, light and
miracles will be natural. No
darkness can stand in the way
of light, and since our hearts
and souls are G-dly light,
we just need fuel to burn. A
mitzvah or a good deed is the
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fuel of our soul, and with our
G-dly essence we can trans-
form our inner darkness as
well as the dark outside that
threatens our Judaism, tradi-
tions and morals.

There is one more miracle
that we should not overlook:
The Jewish people at the time
of Chanukah, weary from war,
tired from battle, overcome
with grief at the ruins of the
Beit HaMikdash, and seeing
that the Greeks deliberately
defiled all that was holy, were
still certain that a pure flask
of oil remained. They saw
that every jug was broken, the
menorah itself destroyed, pigs
were brought onto the altar,
and yet they knew there was a
pure flask of oil with the seal
of the High Priest still intact
somewhere. These are the true miracles
of Chanukah: First, that each
one of us, man, woman and
child, always has a pure heart
and soul at his or her very
essence. Sometimes it may be
lost, but it is always there.

Second, that we never lose
hope or stop searching for
this very essential good. As in
the days of the Maccabees, we
continue our search, and with
G-d’s help we will find that
perfect good within.

Third, it is the very fact
that we believe in this essen-
tial good that allows the weak
to fight the mighty and the
righteous the wicked. We fight
for this good even when not
fully recognized or matured.

Fourth, just the belief that
one’s essential good exists will
cause the miracle that the weak
will overcome the mighty. Just
the belief in one’s inner good
will propel one to a state where
they will overcome the greatest
obstacles and adversaries.

Fifth, the light of one’s inner
goodness and G-dliness will
start shining a little — first
one flame on a dark night, and
then becoming two lights, and
three and four, and the light
will spread through the home,
and then to the neighborhood
and streets.

Our inner lights are eternal
miracles, eternal good that
has no boundaries and limits,
and once one discovers it and
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fans its flames, darkness will
recede, ice will melt and people
will change for the better.

Discover your inner self,
take a look at that beautiful
menorah flame shining through
your window, and then look in
the mirror and see that flame
burning within. Let it shine
in your actions with another
mitzvah: a favor for another
person, lighting a Shabbat
candle or putting a mezuzah on
your door. Celebrate who you
are and your inner light will
shine ever brighter.

And never lose faith in the
fact that G-d and goodness is
always within, always perfect,
created and sealed by G-d
Himself. Look and you will
find, taste and you will enjoy,
open your eyes and you will
see, there is always a miracle
within. Have a good Shabbat and a
happy Chanukah. l
Rabbi Elchonon Friedman is the
spiritual leader of Bnai Emunoh
Chabad in Pittsburgh. This column
is a service of the Vaad Harabanim
of Greater Pittsburgh.

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