Vayeshev
Genesis 37:1-40:23
Zechariah 2:14-4:7
Albert Einstein once famously said that, “There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” Somewhere inside of me a potential exists to sense miracles in everything. And yet, the world itself does not make it so easy, regardless of how much potential I may feel or contain inside.
War, disaster, economic upheaval and the ability for people to treat others as nothing but mere objects to use and take advantage of all strain to quash my optimistic outlook to see the world as wholly miraculous. For this challenge, thank God, we have Chanukah and its lights.
An interesting point of Jewish practice regarding the chanukiah (the Chanukah candelabra) is its placement in the home. The Talmud teaches us in the Tractate Shabbat, 22a:
The obligation is to place the Chanukah candles in the handbreadth closest to the door. And where (exactly) does one place it? R. Aha b. Rava says: On the right side (of the doorway). R. Shmuel from Difti says: On the left side (of the doorway).
The decided law is that the Chanukah candles are placed on the left side (of the doorway), so that the Chanukah candles will be on the left and the mezuzah will be on the right.
I learned a lesson from Rabbi Michael Gold, who explained that at first glance, this talmudic debate smacks of irrelevance to the religious or spiritual needs of Jews during Chanukah. Why should which side I place the chanukiah and how close it may or may not be to the door matter at all? I am lighting it, I am performing the essential action of the mitzvah and I am making the miracle known to others — the underlying reason for lighting the chanukiah.
But like many of the debates found in the Talmud, the surface argument can often obscure the fundamental issue. In this case, based on the last line of the text above, I think the question the rabbis may be responding to is: How can we position the space of our homes on Chanukah to give us the best possible chance to let the candles penetrate us? How does the physical space of mitzvah impact the spiritual plane of mitzvah?
The answer lies in the Talmud’s resolution. Place the candles on the left side of your entrance. When one stands in the presence of the Chanukah light, just over to the right hangs the quintessential tangible expression of Jewish identity in the home — the mezuzah.
What a striking image! Envelop yourself in God’s teaching and commandments! It is also realistic. If one really wants to experience the world as wholly miraculous, or enhance opportunities to see the many hidden miracles God places in front of us, many senses have to be employed.
The chanukiah serves to help us lift our eyes to the miracles often within eyesight, the wonders we see. The mezuzah contains inside of it mini-scrolls of parchment with the words of the Sh’ma (Hear!) handwritten on it. Each time we enter and exit our homes the mezuzah harkens us to listen for major and minor moments of transcendence.
On Chanukah, the holiday whose only active obligation is publicizing the miracle of Chanukah by lighting candles, we need both. We need our eyes to see what our ears may miss, and our ears to hear what our eyes are closed to.
Recognizing that many Jews, for good reason, no longer are able to place their candles in the doorway, or directly in public view, our challenge is even greater.
So I ask, how will you create the space of your light this Chanukah? What will you surround the chanukiah with to support you in opening yourself up to the miracles that often lie right in front of you but go unnoticed?
Surround yourself with holy reminders, and you may end up rousing the spark inside of you that experiences the wonders that do exist in our world.
Rabbi Larry Raphael is the senior rabbi of Congregation Sherith Israel in San Francisco.