Two Types of Light

Tonight instead of lighting Chanukah candles AND Shabbat candles,why couldnt we just combine them somehow ? The truth is that there is a unique dynamic at play tonight,there are two sets of lights being deployed into the world,each unique and neccesary. The Shabbat candles represent the light that G-d wired into the world for Shabbat from the very begining of creation.As with the electricity that gets pre wired into our homes,all we need to do to benefit is to flick the switch,so too the aura of Shabbat is steady,predicatable,and available to us weekly and the Shabbat candles act as the switch that releases the sacred Shabbat glow into our homes. The Chanukah candles are an entirely different story.They represent the way in which we discover and bring new and original lights into the world.True we are drawing from the same source,but the wiring is new.This represents the spiritual awareness that is borne from the unique sets of circumstances of each of our lives,and the way our personal experiences lead us to a higher consciousness. The Torah is set up this way as well. The written Torah-Scriptures is the light that Hashem wired into the world. Torah She baal Be-The oral Torah on the other hand represents the light that we are able to spinoff of that,and though divinely inspired, still borne entirely from our human endeavors and spiritual creativity,which is what we are reffering to when we say” Torah Lo bashamayim hee, Torah is not developed in heaven. Tonight as we light the Chanukah lights and the Shabbat lights we celebrate both the light that we have been given,and the light we needed to discover on our own. Shabbat Shalom and Happy Chanukah Yo

The lights of our spirit

PLEASE TUNE IN TO THESE EIGHT “LI(GH)TE BYTES” FOR EVERY NIGHT OF CHANUKAH Candle number two THE CANDLE OF SPIRIT A story about creation and light. G-d Shares a deep infinite light with the world at the very beginning of creation.After the divine realization that this light was too“intense”,there is a massive energy”recalibration”and Hashem quickly withdraws most of the light and stores it in the celestial warehouse to be enjoyed exclusively in the upper realms by all the metaphysical residents of the heavenly community of angels,souls and the occasional seraph here and there. What of the rest of the light though ? According to our mystical tradition Hashem gathered the remainder of the light and buried it in the Hebrew letters and words of Torah! The war that the Greeks waged on the Jews was not on the culture of Judaism, they actually enjoyed that, but rather it was an assault on the spirit of Judaism,what we might call “YIDDISHKEIT.They said “keep your bagels and lox” and we’ll even incorporate “oy vey” and “kvetch”into our Greek language but forget about G-d and spiritual light” ! The miracle of Chanukah on the books is that we won the war and the oil lasted for eight days.The Kabbalah/inner miracle of Chanukah is much deeper though.The Jewish people proclaiming loud and clear their truth, “we are all about light and discovering the light that was implanted inside of Torah and our heritage,we are not interested in the hellenization of Torah that seeks to pretend that there is no light”, was equally miraculous and significant. When we light our menorahs tonight that is a reflection of OUR desire for a deeper awareness and a light/spirit oriented experience with Torah and Judaism,one that feels real and fosters a sense of true connectedness The renaissance of Jewish life and awareness that we see today,both here on the North Shore and throughout the Jewish world is our modern day Chanukah miracle. As we gather around the menorah tonight, surrounded by the people we love we realize that G-d had yet another hiding place for his light,right inside the upper realms of each and every one of us! Sending out much love and light Yossi

Eight LIght Bytes

PLEASE TUNE IN TO THESE EIGHT “LI(GH)TE BYTES” FOR EVERY NIGHT OF CHANUKAH Candle number one THE CANDLE OF HOPE Sometimes the complexity of our life experience has the effect of smothering the spirit,purity,and tranquility that we all yearn for.As we gather around the Menorah tonight we might ask ourselves the following question. Do I truly believe that my tired soul can still radiate a hopeful light”? Will the areas of my life where I am “stuck” become the place where my light gets buried,or the spot where I give birth to a new and stronger light? Try this tonight. This is a meditation based on a Chassidic teaching on the hebrew word NER,candle.The letter Nun stands for Nefesh the seperate self that is totally identified with the body.The letter Resh stands for RUACH, the level of self that is open to spirit. Before you light the candles close your eyes for a few moments.Try to visualise your soul as the one remaining container of oil left untouched lying submerged beneath the rubble of the greek destruction.Now fast forward to our own lives,to our bodies,our own personal temples,and our neshamas,our own personal pure container of olive oil,the untaintable core of our being.How might the circumstances of our life have led us to a state of seperateness,from being cut off from our own inner Neshama truths? Now try to focus on your breathing. When you breathe out,try to concentrate on releasing the built up toxicity that is strengthened by fear,and supported by the ego. When you breathe in think about reconnecting with and rediscovering your inner soul light,lying sweetly,innocently, buried beneath all the mental chaos,intact though,ready to be lit.Now imagine drawing your highest ruach self,your Shamash into your space of nefesh/awareness.Imagine the Ruach /Shamash/divine consciousness kindling the Nefesh/human consciousness first candle,allowing the oil of our souls to fuel a new light. Sit with that briefly and then open your eyes and recite the blessings,and transfer/beam that inner lighting to your loved ones as you physically light the first candle! The story of Chanukah is the story of our own souls.Please join me over Chanukah on a spiritual journey of rediscover,and celebration as we rekindle our soul lights. With much love Yossi