Miketz - Chanukah: How To Shine Your Light

How do you feel when you carefully observe the flame of a candle?

What do you see in its light that shines so brightly?

Or have you ever tried listening to its story?

Light and darkness are one of the most powerful metaphors used by the Jewish mystics.

More than any other phenomenon, it captures the source of tension, embedded in the core of our existence.

It serves as a guide in resolving that tension within us. It also provides the inspiration needed to do so.

The mystical narrative of life is both beautiful and simple.

In the beginning G-d created a world which concealed his light.

At the same time however, he empowered mankind with the ability to reveal that light.

He did so by embedding a spark of his infinite light, within each and every one of us.

However, we can only dispel the darkness, when each and every one of us shines our unique light within our sphere of influence.

But how do we define light in pragmatic terms? How can we more clearly identify its impact on our surroundings?

First, a few simple dynamics about light.

Light is the glow which automatically shines from a flame.

However, it can only do so if there is nothing blocking its glow.

So too with G-d, the source of all light, can only illuminate our world if uninhabited by mankind, who sometimes get in the way.

In summary:

Light is the realization that there is a fundamental unifying force, which unites all existence.

It is the moment when we experience that all mankind are components of one single entity.

It is the feeling we have when we internalize that we are “one for all, and all for one”.

We can achieve this state of illumination when we reject any “reality distortion”, that blocks our flame from naturally illuminating the world around us.