Chanukah: Sources on Light

By DP BLOG

Though most people have been writing beautiful, traditional divrei Torah, this blog was created with the hope that on occasion, writers would present alternative forms of expression.

This week, we present some words on Chanukah from a broad range of thinkers:

Blessed is the match consumed in kindling flame
Blessed is the flame that burns in the secret fastness of the heart.  ~Hannah Senesh

To me every hour of the light and dark is a miracle,
Every cubic inch of space is a miracle.  ~Walt Whitman

Just as a candle cannot burn without fire, men cannot live without a spiritual life.  ~Buddha

We have focused on the miracle-thing and I think we often overlook the message of Hanukkah.  To me, the core of the holiday is the cleaning of the temple.... The accomplishment was in restoring the temple to the purpose for which it was built.  Now think of the temple as a symbol.  Perhaps it represents my life.  The world has tried to use me for its own (perhaps good, but none-the-less extrinsic) purposes.  But now I can rededicate myself to my own original purpose.  ~Ralph Levy

Let the straight flower bespeak its purpose in straightness
- to seek the light.
Let the crooked flower bespeak its purpose in crookedness
- to seek the light.
Let the crookedness and straightness bespeak the light.  ~Allen Ginsberg

I ask not for a lighter burden, but for broader shoulders.  ~Jewish Proverb

Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.  ~Chinese Proverb

CHAG SAME'ACH!