In dark times, re-connect to the power source and choose light
IWAS ONCE travelling cross-country in the days before mobile phones. Then, a train journey was an opportunity to catch up on some essential study and I brought a small library with me. I was gently interrupted by the gentleman behind me who was intrigued at my Hebrew volumes, particularly by the fact that in Hebrew we read from right to left. “Do you translate as you go along?” he asked. “Yes I do,” I responded.
“It must be very difficult to have one eye move from right to left and the other move from left to right,” he said.
As Jews, we have often viewed the world from an alternative vantage point. This is especially true when it comes to historical events.
The 20th century educator and thinker Rabbi Eliyahu Dessler describes how historical dates can be classified in one of two ways — linear and circular. In the linear model, time moves in a straight line. Anniversaries are simply moments of recollection of what once was. The event recedes into the past, year by year. The anniversary conjures memories, stimulates nostalgia but no more.
The circular model is built around a deeper perspective of time. We exist simultaneously in two dimensions, the physical and the spiritual. As human beings, we comprise body and soul. In classic Jewish thought we are constantly functioning with this duality.
Circular time expresses the idea that there are spiritual seasons with latent metaphysical energy. Just as within the agricultural year there is a “time to sow and a time to reap”, so too, within the spiritual year there are different junctures presenting varied opportunities for soul replenishment. Pesach, for example, is the time for freedom. It is an invitation to explore our spiritual inhibitions and a chance for personal liberation. Rosh Hashanah is for genuine self-improvement.
Time is more akin to the spiral staircase. On the one hand we more forward, yet we constantly re-encounter “touch points” on the circle. The power of the past is rejuvenated in the present.
We are only a few days away from the festival of Chanukah. It is one of the most powerful weeks of the entire Jewish year, if we know how to access its energy. First we must identify its essence.
The basic story line is well known. The Greek empire dominated the civilised world. This was not just military mastery but a cultural revolution. The then Jewish State was overwhelmed, the Temple ransacked and Judaism under threat. This was the first time in our history that we were attacked not as a race but as a religion. There was an option on offer, namely adoption of the Hellenistic culture. Otherwise we faced the sword. The Maccabees fought against overwhelming odds. On paper their mission was nothing short of suicidal, yet they succeeded. They recaptured the Temple, only to find the sacred oil for the seven-branch menorah, kindled daily, had been defiled. It would take a week to prepare more. One jar remained pure and it was sufficient for one day only. They elected to use it anyway and miraculously it burnt for eight days.
In life we all face moments of darkness. Perhaps at times it feels overwhelming. Then comes Chanukah. There is a beautiful expression in Jewish thought: “A tiny ray of light deflects the deepest darkness”. This is the season of the year in which we can overcome the forces ranged against us. We can access an energy not available at other times. The tiny candle spreads light disproportionate to its size. The Maccabean forces won through — “the many in the hands of the few”.
In the dark months of winter, for eight days there is a power in the spiritual stratosphere.
In Judaism, historical dates are not just about “recollection”, but more about “reconnection”. We relive the moment and it enlivens us in the here and now. We cannot always choose the challenges we face but we can often decide how we respond and, with a positive word or action, we can choose light. It could change the course of history.
Rabbi Malcolm Herman is Seed’s associate national director