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ב"ה

Dig Deep

Friday, 15 December, 2023 - 7:28 pm

 The golden Menorah, the centerpiece of the Chanukah miracle, predates the story by more than a thousand years. It was constructed in the desert, shortly after the Exodus. G-d instructed us to build a portable Sanctuary, and one of the Holy articles was to be a golden seven-branched Menorah, to be kindled daily. It was this very same Menorah that the Maccabees lit when they retook the Holy Temple from its Hellenist invaders. 

But if that Menorah had seven branches, why do ours have eight (in addition to the ‘servant light’, usually raised in the center)? Why did our Sages, in structuring the Chanukah holiday, add a branch, changing for posterity the public image of the Menorah?

On one level, the eight branches commemorate the miracle of the oil lasting eight days, but we can memorialize that aspect by lighting a seven-branch Menorah for eight days. Why take the drastic step of adding a branch?

The number eight represents a level of Divinity beyond reality's natural order. [Seven represents the framework of life as we know it. In the construct of time, think of the week’s seven days. In space, imagine lines extending in all six directions (four directions, up and down), with one point in the middle serving as the nexus.] 

Moshiach, the Talmud tells us, will play a harp of eight strings, alluding to the otherworldly ‘melody’ Moshiach will bring to the world.

What does that have to do with Chanukah? 

The core lesson of Chanukah isn’t so much about what G-d did for the Jews, but about what the Jews did for G-d: The Hellenists weren’t unabashed, Hamas-like Jew-haters. They actually saw themselves as high-minded, tolerant progressives. They just wanted – in the name of their ‘high-minded’ values – to tweak Jewish practice. They wanted to ‘help’ the Jews, by forcing them (on pain of torture and death) to change some practices the Hellenists considered ‘outdated’.

Many Jews agreed, or played it safe, and gave into their demands. After all, the Hellenists weren't indiscriminately murdering them, or professing blind Jew-hatred. They were still able to remain Jews; just with toned-down practices.

But the Maccabees knew this didn’t pass their souls’ sniff test. They weren’t going to concede one iota of Jewish identity. They fought back, putting everything on the line, even though the odds of victory made no sense. Their tradition, their heritage, wasn’t up for negotiation.

They dug deep into their souls and connected with their core Jewish identity. G-d reciprocated by ‘digging deep,’ beyond nature’s parameters (represented by seven), and gave them a miraculous victory, and lights that kept burning even when they had no scientific basis for combustion.

Jews are presently facing turbulent times. We have each other, we have our glorious ancestry, and – most importantly – we always have G-d.

The Menorah’s light - especially today, the last day of Chanukah, when all eight lights are burning brightly - calls us to strengthen our connections. Do Jewish. Stay strong. 

We’ll make it through this.

 We always do.

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