Rabbi Nathan's blog

I imagine that some of you have read about the debate between the school of Hillel and the school of Shammai about the proper way to light the Hanukkah candles. In the Talmud the positions are laid out as follows: 

“The House of Shammai says: On the first day one kindles eight lights and, from there on, gradually decreases the number of lights until, on the last day of Hanukkah, they kindle one light. And The House of Hillel says: On the first day one kindles one light, and from there on, gradually increases the number of lights until, on the last day, they kindle eight lights. (BT Shabbat, 21b)”

Clearly we follow the ruling of the House of Hillel ‐ at least in our times. But, in good rabbinic fashion, I would like to suggest that there was a logic in the House of Shammai’s position and I’m glad that we have kept it in our textual history.

At its most simple interpretation, Shammai’s lighting strategy is forward looking ‐ helping us to remember how many days of Hanukkah remain by looking at how many lights remain. But there is more under the surface. There is also a sense here that light is a sacred resource, and like any other resource available to us in this world, we need to treat our resources as valued and not to waste them. It is a lighting strategy that reminds us to value each and every day of Hanukkah (and beyond) as something that is precious and limited. This is an important teaching to bring into our relationships, reminding us to value those we love around us in this season of diminished light outside. And this is a teaching that also reminds us to be thoughtful caretakers of the earth’s limited resources as well.

And yet, there is something powerful about increasing the light we light each day of Hanukkah. In commenting on the “great lighting debate” in that same section of the Talmud, R. Yosei Bar Zeveida says that Hillel’s ruling is based on the principle that in matters of sanctity, of holiness, one wants to keep elevating to a “higher level.”

I love this reasoning as well. We are given the gift of an eight day holiday (even if it was most likely originally a late 8‐day Sukkot style celebration of the rededication of the Temple), and R. Bar Zeveida’s reasoning suggests that we think about holiness as an expansive resource that can be nourished and increased over time. The framework of the Hillel position suggests to me that we are not living in a zero‐sum world where holiness is a limited quantity, but rather, we live in a world where we can create and expand light, both the lights of the Hanukkah candles and also expand our inner light as well.

For the Sfat Emet, the 19th Century Polish Hasidic Master, the Hanukkah candles not only reflect the holiness of the moment, they are also capturing and reflecting the first light of creation. He recalls the story when we first experience the primordial light on the first day of creation (light and darkness) and then later, on day 4, God brings forth the light of the sun and moon and stars to help us tell time and seasons. The sfat Emet suggests that the light that was missing between day 1 and day 4 is the light that we are bringing forth whenever we light the Hanukkah candles and when we engage in acts of righteousness in the world.

I think that this teaching and the teaching of R. Bar Zeveida are important to reach for at this moment as well. We need to see ourselves, in this time of darkness and uncertainty, as being able to expand our inner light and to ignite the light of love and compassion to those around us. And, when we do so, we can imagine that the light of our souls, like the lights of the Hanukkah candles, are drawing from deep ancient wellsprings that are part of our spiritual DNA.

So, as we light our Hanukkah candles this season may we all take in the blessings of humility, of valuing the preciousness of the world and our close relationships, and also the charge of seeing ourselves as beings that are capable of expanding or uncovering light in the world through our actions, and bringing it one step closer to redemption.