Mekimi Episode 3: Hanukkah

Our Rabbis taught: It is a commandment to place the Hanukkah candle at the entrance to one’s house on the outside. If he lived upstairs, he places it in the window closest to a public space. And in a time of danger,he places it on his table and that is sufficient to fulfill his obligation.

The light which was established under Mattathias was an illumination of the light which was created on the first day of creation, a miraculous light in those days which continues into ours as an emanation of the premordial light stashed away after creation but illuminated every year at this time. This hidden light was stashed in the Torah, which is why as both light and candles are references to the Torah. The Greeks wanted to nullify the light of the Torah, and therefore the miracle of this holiday was done through oil, which is a reference to wisdom, and through a menorah, which is also a reference to wisdom.

The breath of a person is God's candle, searching all his inmost parts.

Sefat Emet- Reb Yehudah Leib Alter of Ger (1847-1905) - Translated by Art Green

It is written: “The breath of a person is God's candle, searching all his inmost parts” (Prov. 20:27). The Gemara notes that searching requires a candle.

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. Hiding takes place mainly in the dark; we need the candles’ light to seek and to find.