PMF Exoteric Site - Jewish Section
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B'S"D
During the 8 days of Chanukah, we celebrate the triumph of the few over the many, the weak over the strong and the pure over the impure in the Hasmonean battle to preserve the Jewish spirit threatened by Greek edicts and assimilation. This Festival of Lights is best known, however, for the miracle whereby one jar of oil, the only one not defiled by the Greeks, lasted a full 8 days rather than only the one day it was expected to last. Compared to the 10 plagues in Egypt and the splitting of the Red Sea this might not seem like much of a miracle but the implications are stunning nevertheless. Unlike Passover, the miracles of Chanukah were not a totally free gift from above but were, rather, incited by faith and action from here below. It takes faith and vision to attempt what to others seems impossible and it is for this and the purity of spirit that fosters such faith that we remember the Hasmoneans who, against all odds, defeated the Seleucid Greeks in battle. One of the traditional, Chanukah riddles asks: Why is this festival celebrated for eight days when the first day of oil was already at hand and only the next seven days of burning was miraculous? Should Chanukah not, then, be a seven-day festival? Probably the best known answer is that the miracle consisted of an heightened efficiency of combustion - eight times normal. Thus the first day 's burning was as miraculous as the eighth.But some Jews feel uneasy about making such a fuss over an extended burning of olive oil. After all, hydrogen bombs that transform a little hydrogen gas (much lighter than oil) into energy are rated in megatons and release the energy-equivalent of millions of tons of TNT. Now THAT is efficiency! Surely this eight-day celebration of the Creator 's greatness and love of Israel celebrates more than just an eight-fold increase?In Jewish tradition, existence is counted in millennia. The first two millennia concern Creation, the second two concern Torah and the third two concern preparation for the arrival of Mashiach and the seventh or "Sabbatical" millennium concerns the utopic, thousand-year reign of messianic abundance, well-being and spiritual revelation. The eighth millennium, reminiscent of the 8 candles of Chanukah, represents the ultimate manifestation of unity and perfection revealing the eternal and infinite gifts that the Creator has stored up for us. In addition, the Maccabean victory of the "weak over the strong" and the "few over the many" also hints at transformation and, thus, at the miraculous nature of Chanukah. It is noteworthy that, in mathematics, infinity is represented by a figure eight lying on its side.It is well known that Chanukah has messianic associations and is thought to be one of only two holidays (the other being Purim) that will remain towards the end of the Sabbatical Millennium. Surely it is the infinite abundance and joy of the Eighth Millennium that is hinted at in this joyous, eight-day "Festival of Lights." It is through similar faith that giants of spirit will turn this world of lack, competition, ignorance and suffering into one of abundance, harmony, knowledge and ecstasy. The light and limitlessness we think of as pertaining only to the higher worlds will be shown to have been meant all along for us in this world. For those who dare to dream, it is time to reveal the good, inherent in existence, that until now has remained, along with our greatest potentials, almost entirely concealed.Chanukah comes from the verb to establish or create something new (Lachnoch). Do we dare to hope, believe and envision in a bold new way?
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