One of the big misconceptions about the lights on the chanukiya, Chanukah Menorah is that they are to compensate for the shortness of winter days.
True, the Chanuka holiday occurs when daylight is shortest, and here in the Holy-Land it may rain, though very rarely snow. But we are forbidden to use the light for anything practical. It is not supposed to be the light for the room, or the street, or for reading, cooking or anything else one needs light.
The light of the chanukiya, Chanukah Menorah is to publicize the miracles that Gd performs for us, even more often than we may notice. Yes, specifically, on Chanukah, we celebrate the fact that time and time again, Gd is on our side. When the odds and the experts say that we're about to be defeated, such as when the powerful Ancient Greeks invaded our Holy land and forbade us to observe Judaism, we defeated them and returned Jewish worship to the Holy Temple.
Over the millennia, this has happened time and time, again. Also, please remember that the Modern Greeks aren't ruling and occupying the Holy Land any more. None of our ancient enemies exist today. They may have won many battles, but we, with the help of Gd, the One True Gd, have won the war.
עם ישראל חי
Am Yisrael Chai
The People of Israel Live
That is what the lights of the chanukiya, Chanukah Menorah shine and broadcast to the world.
2 comments:
Babylonian Talmud, tractate Shabbat, page 21B:
Our Rabbis taught: The Chanukah lamp
[Menorah] should be placed near
the door of your house, from the outside.
If you live on an upper floor, place it
in a window that faces in the public domain.
In a time of danger, place it on your table,
and that is enough.
===================================
Rabbi Steven Pruzansky of Congregation
Bnai Yeshurun in Teaneck, New Jersey:
“…the [ancient] Greeks, against whom the
Maccabees fought and prevailed, were avid
supporters of and indulgers in homosexuality.
It was just one of the immoral practices
of the Hellenists that the faithful Jews
found so repugnant, and therefore went
to war in order to purge the land of it.”
SOURCE: Another Mistake on Chanuka
by Rabbi Steven Pruzansky, 2012/12/13
===================================
Harvard Law Professor Alan M. Dershowitz said:
“It is true that the American legal system
derives much of its content from the Old Testament
[also known as the Jewish Bible or Tanach]…
When we were growing up, my friends and I would
take great pride in discovering the Jewish sources
of American laws, such as: the privilege against
self-incrimination, the requirement of two witnesses
for certain types of crime, and the very idea that
punishment must be proportionate to the crime committed.”
SOURCE: Chutzpah by Alan M. Dershowitz
(chapter 10, page 318) published in year 1991
by Little Brown & Co ISBN: 9780316181372 ISBN: 0316181374
===================================
NEW: Pittsburgh Synagogue Massacre Aftermath:
https://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2018/11/massacre-aftermath.html
===================================
Time Magazine vs Truth:
https://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2018/08/time-magazine-vs-truth.html
===================================
Who are the Palestinians?
https://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2018/06/who-are-palestinians.html
===================================
How Torah Can Defeat Terrorism:
https://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2017/08/defeat-terror-with-torah.html
===================================
Did Captain Kirk believe in negotiating with terrorists?
http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2016/08/can-jews-learn-from-captain-kirk.html
===================================
How to Pray for Tzahal-IDF:
http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2016/09/how-to-pray-for-tzahal-idf.html
===================================
Rambam Rejected Childless Messiah:
http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2016/08/rambam-rejected-childless-messiah-by-mr.html
===================================
Was Daniel an Orthodox Jew?
https://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2018/03/if-daniel-were-alive-today.html
good points
thanks
Post a Comment