מצותה משתשקע החמה עד שתכלה רגל מן השוק...
עד שתכלה רגל מן השוק ועד כמה אמר רבה בר בר חנה אמר ר' יוחנן עד דכליא ריגלא דתרמודאי:…
ת"ר נר חנוכה מצוה להניחה על פתח ביתו מבחוץ אם היה דר בעלייה מניחה בחלון הסמוכה לרה"ר ובשעת הסכנה מניחה על שלחנו ודיו אמר רבא צריך נר אחרת להשתמש לאורה ואי איכא מדורה לא צריך ואי אדם חשוב הוא אע"ג דאיכא מדורה צריך נר אחרת ואי אדם חשוב הוא אע"ג דאיכא מדורה צריך נר אחרת:
Talmud Bavli Masechet Shabbat 21ab
The mitzvah (commandment) of Hanukah should be performed from the time the sun sets until ‘the last person leaves the market place’.
When is that? [i.e. how do we calculate when the last person leaves the market place?] R’Yochanan says ‘When the Tarmudai stop walking. Our Rabbis taught: The Menorah should be placed by door of one’s house on the outside. If one lives on the second floor of a building, one places it at the window near the street. But in times of danger it is sufficient to place it on the table.
Raba said: Another lamp must be lit in the room with the Menorah, because it is forbidden to ‘derive functional benefit from the Menorah’. If there is a fire blazing in the room, a second lamp is not necessary. However, if one is an important person, who is unaccustomed to using the light of a bonfire, even though there is a bonfire, they must kindle another light.
Who are the Tarmudai?! (Offered and translated by Rabbi Nelly Altenburger)
A. They are a nation of wood collectors who wait around in the market place until all the shoppers go home and collect leftover wood. When it gets dark and people need wood, they go and buy it from the Tarmudai. – Rashi TB Shabbat 21b Rigla D’Tarmudei
B. They are the descendents of the ten lost tribes who are of dubious lineage. Nevertheless, we consider them as Jews and not as bastards (mamzerim). For ritual purposes, they are considered nidot as Jews are. – Rashi TB Yevamot 16a Tarmud; Rashi TB Nidah 56a
The lifebreath of a person is the lamp of the LORD Revealing all one's inmost parts.
Sefat Emet (Rabbi Yehudah Leib Alter of Ger 1847-1905)
“Especially at this season, when lights were miraculously lit for Israel even though they did not have enough oil, there remains light even now to help us, with the aid of these Hanukkah candles, to find that hidden light within.” The Hanukkah candles are a spiritual symbol; the light of the commandments by which we search out our inner selves. We seek out the hidden divine light within ourselves; the mitzvot are light-seeking candles, instruments given to us to aid us in that search.
אמר רבי יצחק הרוצה שיחכים ידרים ושיעשיר יצפין וסימניך שלחן בצפון ומנורה בדרום ורבי יהושע בן לוי אמר לעולם ידרים שמתוך שמתחכם מתעשר שנאמר (משלי ג, טז) אורך ימים בימינה בשמאלה עושר וכבוד והא רבי יהושע בן לוי אמר שכינה במערב דמצדד אצדודי
R. Isaac said: One who desires to become wise should turn to the south, and one who desires to become rich should turn to the north. The symbol [by which to remember this] is that the table [in the Tabernacle] was to the north of the altar and the menorah was to the south. R. Joshua b. Levi, however, said that one should always turn to the south, because through obtaining wisdom one will obtain wealth, as it says. length of days are in her [wisdom's] right hand, in her left hand are riches and honour. But was it not R. Joshuah b. Levi who said that the Shechinah is in the west? — [He means that] one should turn partly to the south.
גמ׳ אמר רב חנן בר רבא קלנדא ח' ימים אחר תקופה סטרנורא ח' ימים לפני תקופה וסימנך (תהלים קלט, ה) אחור וקדם צרתני וגו' ת"ר לפי שראה אדם הראשון יום שמתמעט והולך אמר אוי לי שמא בשביל שסרחתי עולם חשוך בעדי וחוזר לתוהו ובוהו וזו היא מיתה שנקנסה עלי מן השמים עמד וישב ח' ימים בתענית [ובתפלה] כיון שראה תקופת טבת וראה יום שמאריך והולך אמר מנהגו של עולם הוא הלך ועשה שמונה ימים טובים לשנה האחרת עשאן לאלו ולאלו ימים טובים הוא קבעם לשם שמים והם קבעום לשם עבודת כוכבים
GEMARA: Rav Ḥanan bar Rava says: Kalenda is the eight days after the winter solstice, and Saturnalia is the eight days before the winter solstice. And your mnemonic is the verse: “You have hemmed me in behind and before,
The Sages taught: When the first Adam saw that the day was progressively diminishing, he said: Woe is me; perhaps because I sinned the world is becoming dark around me and is returning to chaos and disorder. And this is the death that was sentenced upon me from Heaven. He arose and spent eight days in fasting and in prayer. Once he saw the season of Tevet, and saw that the day was progressively lengthening he said: this is the order of the world. He went and observed a festival for eight days. Upon the next year, he observed both as days of festivities. He, established these festivals for the sake of Heaven, but they, established them for the sake of idol worship.
(א) הַנֵּרוֹת הַלָּלוּ שֶׁאָנוּ מַדְלִיקִין, עַל הַנִּסִּים וְעַל הַנִּפְלָאוֹת וְעַל הַתְּשׁוּעוֹת וְעַל הַמִּלְחָמוֹת, שֶׁעָשִׂיתָ לַאֲבוֹתֵינוּ בַּיָּמִים הָהֵם בַּזְּמַן הַזֶּה, עַל יְדֵי כֹּהֲנֶיךָ הַקְּדוֹשִׁים. וְכָל שְׁמוֹנַת יְמֵי הַחֲנֻכָּה הַנֵּרוֹת הַלָּלוּ קֹדֶשׁ הֵם וְאֵין לָנוּ רְשׁוּת לְהִשְׁתַּמֵּשׁ בָּהֶם, אֶלָּא לִרְאוֹתָם בִּלְבָד, כְּדֵי לְהוֹדוֹת וּלְהַלֵּל לְשִׁמְךָ הַגָּדוֹל עַל נִסֶּיךָ וְעַל נִפְלְאוֹתֶיךָ וְעַל יְשׁוּעָתֶךָ.
We kindle these lights on account of the miracles, the deliverances and the wonders which thou didst work for our ancestors, by means of thy holy priests. During all the eight days of Chanukah these lights are sacred, neither is it permitted us to make any profane use of them; but we are only to look at them, in order that we may give thanks unto thy name for thy miracles, your deliverances and your wonders.
Looking into the Flame - Rabbi Dovber Pinson
Looking at the flames, what do we see? Noticeably there are three basic elements to the fire; the flame, the wick and the oil or wax. Says the Zohar; the body is similar to the wick, the flame itself is analogous to the divine presence that rests above the head, and the oil that fuses the two together, allowing the flame to join and remain connected with the wick is our ma’asim tovim-good and illuminating deeds. (3:187a)...In truth we are like a flame. The totality of who we are is reflected within the flame. The spiritual elements of self, the fire reaches upward, the physical body which gravitates downward is the wick, and our good deeds allows for a full integration among all aspects of self, body and soul.
The flame is who we are. Appropriately, the Hebrew word nefesh (spirit), comprised of the three letters, nun, pei, shin, is an acronym for ner (flame), pesilah (wick) and shemen (oil).
Penetrating a bit deeper we begin to notice the fire itself and become aware of the different shades of color within the flame. Essentially, there is the dark, intense blue light on the one hand, and on the other extreme a white luminous, almost transparent light.
What do these colors represent? The Zohar describes the following;
“In the flame itself there are two lights: one white and luminous, the other black or blue. The white light is the higher of the two and rises steadily. The black or blue light is underneath the other, which rests on it as on a pedestal. The two are inseparably connected, the white resting and being enthroned upon the black…This blue or black base is in turn attached to something beneath it which keeps it in flame and impels it to cling to the white light above. This blue or black light sometimes turns red, but the white light above never changes its color. The lower light, which is sometimes black, sometimes blue, and sometimes red, is a connecting link between the white light to which it is attached above and to the concrete body to which it is attached below, and which keeps it alight. This light always consumes anything which is under it or which is brought in contact with it, for such is its nature, to be a source of destruction and death. But the white light which is above it never consumes or destroys and never changes.
(1 Zohar. p. 51a.)
So there are two differences, one is that the darker light continually fluctuates and changes colors, whereas the white light is a constant. Another variant is that the darker fire, unlike the white light, needs to consume and destroy another to exist.
This lower more dense fire is a reflection of all of physical life, in which life feeds off death and everything in nature is continuously altering and putting on different coats. In the physical plane of existence, in order for one living organism to survive it must consume another form of life. After the body has served its purpose, it slowly rejoins the earth and transforms into the soil upon which new life grows. Mineral becomes plant, plant becomes animal, animal man, and man in turn returns to earth.
White Fire - Higher, white fire is our spirituality, that which does not need to overwhelm or negate the other to exist. The whiter and more transparent the shade of fire becomes the deeper the level of soul it represents until the peak of the flame, a point in which the transparent fire becomes almost invisible and dips into the infinite space and merges.
Within the human psyche there are levels of varying consciousness. The outermost manifest surface self is our autobiography, that which is in a constant state of motion and movement, so long as we are sensing this part of self is expanding, much like the lower fire that fluctuates, jumps around, changes colors depending on the heat. Higher and deeper within us rests the core of self, the essence of soul. The self that is the unchanging that registers the changing, the continuous that observes the discontinuous, the uninfluenced that informs the influenced.
The ecstatic dancing flames as well as the more subdued gentle flames mirror life itself. Every moment we live, and with every breath we take, we are constantly moving, shifting back and forth, inhaling and exhaling, expanding and contracting. Meta-physically speaking, every moment of life we are continually being recreated, becoming embodied and expiring and then re-embodying again.
The movement upwards and beyond is ratzu–a deep desire to expire and lift off, whereas the movement downward and within is shuv–a deep awareness that the purpose is within the here-and-now. The constant flickering of the lower flames jumping and leaping higher is the ratzu. Shuv is the more settled and clearer whiter light. The spiritually less evolved levels of self desire expiration, to transcend world, and in the process neglect body, yet the deepest awareness is one that is in total harmony with its divine purpose, which is to be within the world, as you are intentionally embodied, and there catapult a transformation. Obviously, the shuv reality is a profounder level and state of bitul-negation of separate self, as one is more in tune with the divine reality and the ultimate purpose.
(ג) בחנוכה ופורים אומרים כאן ועל הנסים: עַל הַנִּסִּים וְעַל הַפֻּרְקָן וְעַל הַגְּבוּרות וְעַל הַתְּשׁוּעות וְעַל הַמִּלְחָמות שֶׁעָשיתָ לַאֲבותֵינוּ בַּיָּמִים הָהֵם בִּזְּמַן הַזֶּה:
(ד) לחנוכה: בִּימֵי מַתִּתְיָהוּ בֶּן יוחָנָן כּהֵן גָּדול חַשְׁמונַאִי וּבָנָיו. כְּשֶׁעָמְדָה מַלְכוּת יָוָן הָרְשָׁעָה עַל עַמְּךָ יִשרָאֵל לְהַשְׁכִּיחָם תּורָתֶךָ וּלְהַעֲבִירָם מֵחֻקֵּי רְצונֶךָ: וְאַתָּה בְּרַחֲמֶיךָ הָרַבִּים עָמַדְתָּ לָהֶם בְּעֵת צָרָתָם. רַבְתָּ אֶת רִיבָם. דַנְתָּ אֶת דִּינָם. נָקַמְתָּ אֶת נִקְמָתָם. מָסַרְתָּ גִבּורִים בְּיַד חַלָּשִׁים. וְרַבִּים בְּיַד מְעַטִּים. וּטְמֵאִים בְּיַד טְהורִים. וּרְשָׁעִים בְּיַד צַדִּיקִים. וְזֵדִים בְּיַד עוסְקֵי תורָתֶךָ. וּלְךָ עָשיתָ שֵׁם גָּדול וְקָדושׁ בְּעולָמֶךָ. וּלְעַמְּךָ יִשרָאֵל עָשיתָ תְּשׁוּעָה גְדולָה וּפֻרְקָן כְּהַיּום הַזֶּה: וְאַחַר כֵּן בָּאוּ בָנֶיךָ לִדְבִיר בֵּיתֶךָ. וּפִנּוּ אֶת הֵיכָלֶךָ. וְטִהֲרוּ אֶת מִקְדָּשֶׁךָ. וְהִדְלִיקוּ נֵרות בְּחַצְרות קָדְשֶׁךָ. וְקָבְעוּ שְׁמונַת יְמֵי חֲנֻכָּה אֵלּוּ. לְהודות וּלְהַלֵּל לְשִׁמְךָ הַגָּדול:
(3) (During the season of Hanukkah add: And we praise You for the miracles and for the redemption and for the mighty deeds and for the victories and for the battles that You performed for our ancestors in those days at this time:
(4) In the days of Mattisyahu, the son of Yochanan the High Priest, the Hasmonean, and his sons, when the wicked kingdom of Greece rose up against Your people Israel to make them forget Your Torah and to stray from the laws of Your will, You, with great mercy stood by them in the time of their distress. You fought their fight, judged their cause and avenged them with vengence. You delivered the strong into the hands of the weak, the many into the hands of the few, the impure into the hands of the pure, the wicked into the hands of the righteous and the arrogant into the hands of those engaged with Your Torah. For Yourself you made a great and holy name in Your world, You performed a great deliverance for Your people Israel on this day. After these things, Your children entered into the Holy of Holies of Your House, cleansed Your Temple, purified the place of Your Holiness, kindled lights in Your holy courts and established these eight days of Hanukkah to express thanksgiving and praise to Your great name.)
Bney Yissachar, Kislev/Tevet #2: Torah is a Light
Tzvi Elimelech of Dinov (18-19c)
59b: Torah comes from Hochmah (wisdom, the ontological root of Torah), and the Greeks wanted to destroy the light of Torah, therefore the miracle was done with oil which symbolizes wisdom.
60b: At the end of the period of Greek reign, God shined a little bit of that light after prophecy had been cancelled, in order that that light would stand by us in this lightweight exile instead of prophecy, because "a person could look with this light from one end of the earth to the other," Therefore it is called the candle of 'Hanukkah,' the candle of education (hinuch) and accustoming to the infinite light in the future redemption, when the hidden light of which it was said "let there be light" will shine.
61b2: Every time a person sees a new light in the Torah, it comes from the hidden light. Therefore the Torah is called light- everyone according to their labor and exertion in Torah. And by means of the hidden light one can every time see secrets from the end of the world, something which is not true of a prophet.
from Hope in the Dark, by Rebecca Solnit
To hope is to gamble. It's to bet on the future, on your desires, on the possibility that an open heart and uncertainty is better than gloom and safety...
I say all this to you because hope is not like a lottery ticket you can sit on the sofa and clutch, feeling lucky. I say this because hope is an ax you break down doors with in an emergency; because hope should shove you out the door, because it will take everything you have to steer the future away from endless war, from the annihilation of the earth's treasures and the grinding down of the poor and marginal. Hope just means another world might be possible, not promised, not guaranteed. Hope calls for action; action is impossible without hope. At the beginning of his massive 1930s treatise on hope, the German philosopher Ernst Bloch wrote, "The work of this emotion requires people who throw themselves actively into what is becoming, to which they themselves belong." To hope is to give yourself to the future, and that commitment to the future makes the present inhabitable.