If you ask almost anyone about the story of
Hanukah,
people will say that it is the story of a miracle:
A small cruse of oil that lasted for eight days.
And yet,
the story of the
"miracle of the oil" was written
at least 200 years after the events
that is the basis of our holiday!
Many people say that the story of the
"miracle of the oil" was written to elevate the emphasis of Hanukah. In the physical realm, Hanukah is the story of the first and only war fought
specifically and only for religious freedom (in my opinion).
The story of the "miracle of the oil" is rooted in the understanding that these eight days also belong in the realm of the spirit. The story of the "miracle of the oil" may not live in the realm of facts and history,
but it shines bright in the realm of truth and faith.
The story comes to us to shed some light
(pun intended!)
upon the holiday called, dedication."
(Hanukah means dedication).
The Menorah
The Lamp that our people lit in the Holy Temple every day was the seven-branched
Menorah. Today we find a remnant of it in many Synagogues. We call it the "
Ner Tamid." That term, usually translated from the Hebrew as "Eternal Light," really means the "Regular Light" or "The Light of Consistency". The sacred Menorah of the Temple is the oldest of all Jewish symbols. The Menorah was lit daily with the sacred oil.
It is the symbol of Shabbat, a symbol of creation and the symbol of the Jewish people.
The Hanukiah
The
Hanukiah that we light every year on Hanukah, was made by simply adding another branch to the Menorah. In a sense, it was
adding a little light to our history and to our spiritual dimension. Therefore, the Hanukiah, an extension of the Menorah/Ner Tamid, is a symbol of our desire for spiritual consistency.
We are all inconsistent beings. But we strive for consistency within our inconsistency. That is one of the lessons of the Hanukiah. When our ancestors added the extra branch, the total number of lights equaled nine, not eight. So one was raised and called the
Shamash in Hebrew. Shamash means "officiant," "minister," "attendant", in other words, helper. And it also is the word for "sun."
In
Breashet (the first book of the Bible), it says that G created the sun to help us with
Mo'adim, the Hebrew for "meeting times with G", and to delineate the
Shanah, the Hebrew for the "year." Shanah has another meaning, a
Remez (the Hebrew word for Key/clue) meaning. It means to grow, to change through learning.
The Story of the Hanukiah
The story of the Hanukiah really does shed a little extra light on the Holy time of Hanukah. The
Shamash of the Hanukiah reminds us to create for ourselves,
Mo'adim, "Sacred Meeting Times" with G within ourselves. By so doing, we create the
Shanah, of sacred changes that we must make 'consistently' (
Tamid), in our lives. That is one of the reasons why we are not to use the Hanukiah for any mundane purpose. It is there to give light and joy, not to be used to find the car keys.
Celebrating Hanukah
When we light the Hanukah candles this year, I will be thinking of it as a
Mo'ed, a sacred meeting time for me to set aside in hopes of making the changes that I want to make, seeking the growth that I want to attempt to build into my life. I will be seeking the consistency in my growth, in my learning, in the changes that make my life whole.
May this Hanukah be joyous and filled with light. Shamash. May this Hanukah be a sacred meeting time with our soul. Mo'adim
May this Hanukah be a time of good changes in our lives. Shanah
For more information about Hanukah (and how to observe Hanukah)
and other Jewish festivals and holy days,
contact MountainHai at
MountainHai@comcast.net or (303)927-6534.