Now what?

Now that Chanuka is over and we are back to real life, let the diets begin! Until now I kept telling myself, its chanuka its a mitzva, this is what Hashem wants from me, I am supposed to indulge in oily donuts and latkes..not to mention the carbs..(but we are not mentioning them so moving along..) the real question is..besides the calories..what else did i gain in these 8 days. Yes, I played draidle, i sang the songs, watched the lights..but did it create a lasting impression..am i the same person i was 9 days ago? Has anything changed?

The role of candles/lights/fire is quite significant in Jewish life. Every week we light the Shabbat Candles, we have havdala, in memory of a loved one, in zchut of R' Meir Baalhaness..the list is endless. During Kiddush Friday night we are supposed to gaze into the candles as they restore the vision lost during the week. This of course does not take the place of your spectacles rather it gives you a renewed sense of purpose. It is the opportunity to re-focus and see the world the way we are supposed to..with the priorities that we know we should have but maybe have jumbled up during the course of the work week.

The flame symbolizes the Jewish neshama. It is forever reaching upwards, trying to gain more, striving desperately to achiever a higher connection with its Creator. During Havdala we light the candle, signifying the work that we are about to start again. On Shabbat we take a rest from all creative work, giving absolute testimony that we are not the ones running the show, rather it is our Father our King the ultimate Creator who is the one pulling the strings. On Shabbat we experience an influx of bracha both spiritually and physically. We just have to sit back and be open to receiving. Once that is over, when we light the Havdala candle, we are taking back the reins so to say and taking back responsibility for our greatness. Hashem has just given us a downpour of potential. Now we have to take action, and actively develop it and utilize it.

Shabbat is one day, Havdala is one day..Chanuka is 8 days! We had 8 days of candles, eight days of corrective vision work, 8 days of spiritual influx. The days of chanuka are supposed to last us through Purim. Its gonna be a dark winter, a cold one and hopefully not too depressing. But we have just been given the days, the time, the tools to make it through to the next round.

But we cannot just sit back. We have to actively decide to do it. We need to take steps to be like the Chashmonaim and separate ourselves from the Greek culture that we are so steeped in. We need to try to maintain the corrective lenses we have obtained. We have shabbat to recharge every week. But we have to plug in..otherwise the battery will run out and no one likes to have a dead battery. Cant do much with it now can you?

So take this shabbat as the first step in the marathon till Purim. Recharge, connect and soar with the growth that is possible if we just take the time.