Reflections in the Lights
Chanukah 5767
© Rabbi David Lapin, 2006
Magic Moments
We beautify our Chanukah Lights: we buy glamorous Menorot, and use the purest of oil or the most beautiful of candles. But we never get the joy of the splendor we create! Immediately after lighting, and singing Ma’oz Tzur, we rush off and miss the magic moments of savoring their beauty. We are in too much of a rush! We have too much to do!
Yet only moments before, we piously said: “Ein Lanu Reshut LeHishtameish Bahem, Elah Lir’ottam Bil’vad” (We do not have permission to make use of the Chanukah Lights, only to watch them). We are not intended to light the Menorot and then disappear, nor may we do our work by their light. The lights are there for aesthetic purposes Lir’ottam to watch them, reflect on them, and enjoy them.
It takes effort to create moments or objects of beauty. But the art is not only in their creation; it is also in knowing how to savor them and be nourished by them. That takes investment too. That requires time. Calm time; tranquil time to absorb the beauty into ones being. It is a little like the art of the enjoyment of good wine. It takes a lot of skill, effort, time and money to create a bottle of really good wine. But what is the value of that wine, if some undiscerning individual gulps it down like a soda? Good wine needs time to be enjoyed. You need to calm your mind and settle your thoughts as you focus on the wine’s color, its bouquet and the subtle complexity of its tastes as you sip it, slowly, holding it in your mouth for a few moments to fully experience its richness. Those are the magic moments of the wine experience that make the years of preparation worthwhile.
Too often we busy ourselves with the creation of the wine and other objects and moments of beauty, but then we miss the magic because our minds are distracted and we are simply too busy to nourish ourselves.
Too Busy for our own Nourishment
Isn’t that the story of so much of our lives? We invest fortunes of time, money and effort to create beauty and we do not allow our souls the opportunity to be nourished by the very beauty we have created.
Shabbat is a beautiful day that requires considerable sacrifice from us to make it happen every week. Yet how often does Shabbat come and go without truly nourishing us, because we are hyperactive on a day we are meant to be tranquil, at peace, and reflective. We entertain and socialize, we serve meals and we clear up after meals, we daven and we sleep. But when do we really enjoy the depths of the beauty and spirit of Shabbat? When do we just stop the activity the way G-d did on the first Shabbat, just to marvel at the Creation and the Creator and to reconnect with Him, with life and with ourselves on the deepest of levels?
We invest fortunes of time, money and effort in the creation of the most beautiful miracles of all that we call, our children. We educate them, feed and clothe them, we guide them and manage their lives. But how much time do we take out just to marvel at them, enjoy the wonders that children are, nourish ourselves with the beauty of their beings? Like the wine maker, we spend years producing them, and yet we gulp the experience of their enjoyment down with no real sense of deep nourishment each day.
All of these are symptoms of the Fast Food Generation: “Grab a sandwich”, “get a coffee”, “have lunch on the go”. We don’t even take the time to nourish ourselves physically, and certainly not emotionally and spiritually.
A Gift to Yourself
And so, after you light candles tonight, try not to rush off straight after Ma’oz Tzur. Pause, sit down a little, alone. Gaze at the lights and quietly reflect in their golden glow. What do you see in the dancing flames? Or more important, what do you feel in your heart as you watch those flames in their dynamic dances of bliss. What energy do you feel? Each night, write your feelings down in a journal, just write whatever your heart dictates to your pen as you meditate on the lights. Then, at the end of Chanukah read your pieces of writing….and, using the lights for nothing more and nothing less thanLir’ottam Bil’vad, you will give yourself one of the deepest, most meaningful Chanukah gifts you will ever have received.
