The Wick

I have been looking into the scriptures these last few days with Chanukkah on my heart.In Isaiah 60:1 it says,"Arise, shine for your light has come, And the glory of the L*RD has risen upon you, in 62:1 it says, "For Zion's sake I will not keep silent, And for Jerusalem's sake I will not keep quiet, Until her righteousness goes forth like brightness, And her salvation like a torch that is burning."

Each of Psalm 119's chapters begin with a letter from the Hebrew alef-beit. The letters on the dreidle we spin at Chanukkah are, nun, hey. gimel and shin, pey if you live in Israel. Nun corresponds to verse 105, "Thy word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." Hey corresponds with verse 33, "Teach me, O L*Rd, the way of your statutes, And I shall observe it to the end.". Gimel to 119:17, "Deal bountifully with thy servant, that I may live and keep thy word." The letter shin corresponds with verse 161, "Princes persecute me without cause, But my heart stands in awe of Thy words." And the pey, verse 129, "Thy testimonies are wonderful, therefore my soul observes them. The unfolding of Thy words gives light, It gives understanding to the simple."

As we gaze and meditate on the pure light from our candles this Chanukkah beloved let the words of HaShem's Torah touch our heart. Proverbs 20:27 says, "The spirit of man is the lamp of the L*RD, searching all the innermost parts of his being".
Some friends wrote a simple niggun that we like to end our Torah study with, it is taken from Proverbs 6:23 which says, "For the commandant is a lamp and the teaching is light." The niggun goes, "You are the light of the world let your light shine before all men, that they may see your deeds and glorify thy Father in heaven. The lamp is the mitzvah, the light it shines is the Torah, the lamp is the mitzvah the light it shines is the Torah. Repeat, You are the light.........................Tziv Freeman says, "When light pushes away darkness, eventually another darkness shall come to take its place, but when darkness itself is transformed into light, it is a light that no darkness can oppose".
Shabbat Shalom, Happy Chanukkah, take up the challenge in the film below, go light up your world. Enlarge it for the best effect.
Much Ahavah, Elisheva

http://www.chabad.org/786958

The Wick
By Michoel Gourarie
One of the many lessons of the Chanukah lights can be derived from a law that the flames must burn through a wick. This is one of the reasons why gas burners or electric lights are not kosher for Chanukah lights.

Our sages teach that the flame represents Torah study (knowledge) and the wick stands for mitzvot (action). The knowledge of morality and spirituality becomes the shining light that guides and illuminates our existence. But knowledge alone is insufficient—it must translate into action. Theory that fails to change the way we live is empty and meaningless. What we learn must attach itself to something tangible, just like the flame is connected to the wick.

In the Chanukah story, the Syrian-Greeks were great academics. They had great centers of learning with huge libraries filled with literature. But in practice they were entirety different. They lived and promoted hedonistic and immoral lifestyles. They idolized the physical body and pursuit of material pleasure with no higher purpose or value.

The victory of Chanukah is expressed in the fact that we don't just study. This is the lifestyle that they wished to impose on the people of Israel. The Greeks had an appreciation for Torah study and allowed the Jews to pursue its teachings, provided that it remained theoretical.

The Chanukah candles must be a combination of flames and wicks. The victory of Chanukah is expressed in the fact that we don't just study. We allow our knowledge to change the way we live.

Each day when we kindle another flame we also add a wick. Every little bit of learning will change us for the better.