“We bless you, Source of Life, who made miracles in those days, at this season – bazman hazeh. Thank you for giving us life to enable us to reach this moment – lazman hazeh.”
These are the words we recite after lighting our Hanukkah candles. The rabbis have long taught that hidden in these words are the understanding that the miracle of light did not just happen once a long time ago, but is renewed each and every year during this Solstice season.
As we kindle the candles of the hanukkiah, our eyes are bathed in light from another dimension, from the timeless place where miracles happen.This is healing for our sense of sight so that we can truly see beyond the trivial and the ordinary into the essential.Just as the olive oil for the menorah in the temple represented the distillation of the essence of the olives, so the light of theHanukkah candles brings the essence of our souls to awareness.
Our spiritual sight is renewed as we gaze into the candlelight.We see our life as it is fundamentally a – miraculous, mysterious, sometimes challenging, but often joyful – gift from the Divine.So, this Hanukkah, let our intention be to look at each other and at our universe with renewed wonder – to see the soul and not the garment.
I hope to see you Saturday night at our communityHanukkah party (if not in body, please be with us in spirit).
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