B"H
Monday, Kislev 16, 5778 / December 4, 2017
Chanukah, the holiday of lights, begins next week, Tuesday night, December 12th.
The Chanukah holiday is celebrated for a period of eight days. Each night of Chanukah we add an additional candle, thus, the number of lights represent the number of that day of Chanukah.
There is one opinion in the Talmud which says that on the first night we light eight candles and the second night seven etc. and on the last night, according to this opinion, we light only one.
According to this opinion in the Talmud, the lit candles represent the days which are left of Chanukah rather than the days that were already celebrated.
However, according to the Talmudic sage Hillel the Elder, we light the first night one candle and add one light each night. On the last night of Chanukah we kindle eight candles. Thus, the lights represent the Chanukah days already celebrated, rather than the days to come.
The Halachic (Jewish law) ruling is to light one candle the first night and continue adding a light each night. The reason for this is, ”In matters of holiness, we always go up,” say our sages. Our goal is to add light rather than diminish light. As Jews, we strive to bring additional physical and spiritual light into our homes and to the world at large.
This is why the mitzvah is to light the Chanukah light near a window or door, so that the lights of Chanukah will illuminate not only our home, but also the darkness of the outside.
I write this in connection with the UN resolution of Thursday, in which 151 countries voted that Jerusalem has no connection to Israel and the Jewish people.
As we prepare for the holiday of lights, to bring additional light to the world, the world at large (represented by 151 countries) is sinking deeper and deeper into darkness. There is no other country in the world that can claim their rights to any of their cities, as the rights which Jews have to the Holy city of Jerusalem, which G-d gave us over 3,000 years ago.
It is said, if you keep on repeating a lie enough times, people will eventually believe it. This is especially true when they come from the House of lies and darkness - the UN (Uneducated Nations).
The holiday of Chanukah celebrates the victory of light over darkness; truth over lies; few over many; good over evil; justice over corruption and holiness over impurity. Our sages say that the holiday of Chanukah will never cease. With the darkness, injustice, lies, corruption and impurity coming from the UN, the message and lessons of Chanukah are essential today as they were over two thousand years ago.
HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY & SUCCESSFUL DAY