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The Spiritual Flame Within Us

T
Noah Cheses
he Maharal or Prague asks: What eradicating Hellenistic culture and Jewish approach acknowledges the
are we commemorating year illuminating Jewish destiny. physical but also looks deeply into
after year when we light the oil lamps Throughout Jewish history the power the spiritual. Physical beauty is only
for 8 consecutive days? Traditionally, of this spark and the ability it has had worthy of praise when it is reflecting
the answer is given that the oil to inspire a people, has been plainly a foundation in spiritual beauty. The
burned longer then it logically should obvious. victory of Chanukah was the victory
have, an idea that at first glance is How can we tap into this spark and of spirituality. Hashem created man
hard to fathom. Perhaps another relive this inspiration annually, just as with body and soul, and man's life
answer could be offered to this per- Jews did during the battle with the mission is to bridge the gap between
plexing question. Greeks, at a time when hope often the two elements within him: the
During the Greek empire, the Jewish appeared as an unattainable flicker. ethereal and the
population had to fight rapid accul- The Ramban explains that we should quintessential. It is not easy to fuse
turation. Many sects of Jews were the two, but that is our task. Greeks

When we
becoming Hellenized, just as the denies this was of life, while Jews
Greeks had envisioned. Many of the aspire to perfect it.
mitzvot that Jews held dear had been
prohibited, including Shabbat, cir- light the When we light the Menorah the
flame represents the spiritual, and the
cumcision, and the learning of Torah;
as a consequence, Jewish morale suf- Menorah, oil, the physical. The wick that con-

the f l a m e
nects the two elements represents us
fered greatly. Eventually, the Greeks as well. If we sink into the physical
defiled and desecrated the Jewish
represents
oil then the flame will suffocate and
peoples' most sacred place, the holy go out; if we leave the oil and try to

the spiritual
temple, and as a whole, Jewish des- ascend into the spiritual world then
tiny appeared dark and gloomy. the flame will be left with nothing

and the oil


Rav Kook comments that the Jews upon which it can feed. In order to
have been persecuted many times in feed the flame within us we must sta-
Jewish history. However, Chanukah
was different in that it represented a the tion ourselves just as the wick does:
grounded in the physical and rooted
spiritual persecution. The Greeks
tried to rip out Judaism’s core and physical. in the spiritual.
The Midrash says that when Moshe
starve the Jewish people into spiritual needed to make an important deci-
oblivion. Rav Kook points out, how- start by examining exactly how the
sion he’d stare at the flames of the
ever, that despite their successes, the Jews were able to overcome Greek
Menorah. The flame represents the
Greeks were unable to defile the last Hellenization. Classical greek culture,
most powerful image in all of
pitcher of oil; the spark of the Jewish both its art and philosophy, can be
Judaism, the spiritual fire that will
people is eternal, and no one can characterized by an appreciation of
never be put out, and only with that
destroy it. The true miracle of only that which can be seen and the
in our minds, can we hope to take
Chanukah was that upon being lit by denial of anything that is not tangi-
meaningful step forwards as a people
the Jews the spark of the menorah ble. Hedonism represented the
and celebrate Chanukah the way it
grew bigger and never stopped grow- Greek outlook on life; human exter-
was truly celebrated at the time of
ing. The one small pitcher of oil, nality was often worshiped.
the second temple.
which represented the only remnant This approach to the world is the ulti-
of purity in the temple, and in broad mate denial of spirituality. When all
terms, the holiness of the Jewish that exists is what can be seen by the Shabbat Shalom and Chanukah
nation, burned for more than a week, eye, there is no room for God. The Sameach.

EINAYIM L’TORAH SPECIAL INSERT •1

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