We Need The Wick!
This Chanukah in the Tri Valley has been a true festival of lights. From the hundreds who joined together at the “Ice Menorah” to the exuberant crowd that inaugurated Livermore’s new menorah with the mayor – the warmth of Chanukah has pierced through the dark and the cold.
Though there are so many lessons that we walk away from this Chanukah with, allow me to share one powerful insight.
According to Jewish law the flames of the menorah must burn through a wick. And it is for this reason that gas burners or electric lights are not kosher for chanukah lights.
Our sages teach us that, metaphorically, a flame represents Torah study and the perpetual pursuit of knowledge. The wick, on the other hand, stands for mitzvot, ie: our actions and good deeds. For it is our actions that, like a wick, keep us grounded.
And herein lies Chanukah’s powerful message: We need a wick! For even though our study creates the shining light that guides and illuminates our existence, 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 Assyrian Greeks were great intellectuals. They had centers of learning and libraries filled with literature. Yet none of their lofty study translated into a more G‑dly lifestyle. They lived and promoted hedonism. They idolized the physical body and pursuit of material pleasure with no higher purpose or value.
And it was this lifestyle that they sought to impose upon 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 therefore contain a combination and harmony of both flame and wick. 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.
And so, each evening as we kindle another flame we also add another wick. For with each day of Chanukah we commit ourselves to a practical change; to actually performing another mitzvah. Thus allowing every spark of our studies to be grounded and change us for the better.
Wishing you a Shabbat Shalom and a Happy Chanukah,
Rabbi Raleigh Resnick
