Shining our Light Upon the Nations

We Jews have a special appreciation for drinks of different kinds. Every Jewish holiday has a unique liquid with which we celebrate it: On Rosh Hashana, honey; on Purim, alcohol. On Pesach, it’s wine, on Shavuos, milk and on Chanukah—oil! Each of them carries nostalgic sentimental value as well profound spiritual directives associated with the energy and potential of the holiday. On Chanukah we celebrate not just the fact that the oil miraculously burned for eight days in the newly rededicated Temple, but the spirituality of oil that inspires us each year on this spectacular Festival of Light.

Oil is different to all other liquids in the way that it influences its environment. Most other beverages just keep to themselves, but oil quite literally lights up the entire room! Even those who are far removed from the oil are touched by its presence as it replaces the darkness with light, once kindled. Our sages explain that the nature and chemistry of the Chanukah oil represents an exciting spiritual meditation that is critical for us to employ each year at this time.

They explain that in fact, this extraordinary aptitude of oil to illuminate its surroundings is a direct result of its paradoxical nature. On the one hand oil is the solution of choice for getting into hard to reach places like door hinges that creak or bicycle chains that have rusted. This is because oil is the ultimate mixer, with no limits on where it’s able to reach. On the other hand, when mixed with other liquids, oil always stands alone as it rises to the top. This is why you always need to shake your salad dressing before serving, as the oil will have otherwise inevitably taken all the flavor to the top of the jar.

Like oil, we too strive to make our mark as we positively influence the world around us. The lesson we learn from the Chanukah lights is that only when you are unique are you able to influence change. Only when you have the courage to be different, can you lead. You stand out from the crowd only if you have the courage to stand alone. When you blend in with everyone else, no one sees you.

Our mystics tell us to listen to the messages that the Chanukah lights tell us. What a beautiful and relatable meditation this is for us to share with our loved one as we unite each night to light. Oil is the antidote to herd mentality. It’s the friend of everyone but the follower of no one. He wants to be popular but never on the account of his values!

Chanukah is the celebration of miracles—then and now. It celebrates Jewish endurance against the mighty Greek empire that threatened us to face impossible odds of survival. The oil that lasted for eight days, has been fueling the flames of Jewish survival for over two thousand years!

As Jews we are undoubtedly the survivors of mankind, having outlived more enemies than any other nation in history. This didn’t happen by trying to blend in with our surroundings. It was the result of Jews with spine—having the courage of their convictions to stand proudly as Jews. Why blend in when you were born to change the world! If we were born to be great, then why are we hiding? If we were born to stand out then why are we trying so hard to fit in?!

Listen to this Song by the Chassidic Rock Band “8th Day” as they tell the story of a simple traveler who had a first class train ticket, but decided to follow the other fare dodgers at the train station who were hiding under the seats! If you have a first class ticket on the train to success—why are you hiding in stowage?!

Admittedly, this is not an easy stance to simply take for granted. Not all Jews are of the opinion that we need to change the world. Many Jews far prefer to sequester themselves in Jewish enclaves where they live their lives in relative peace and calm invoking the “live and let live” approach to life.

In fact, this is precisely what lay at the core of the emotional drama that we encounter in the Torah between Joseph and his brothers. When Joseph had told his brothers of his dreams of power and influence they were infuriated and tried to kill him. At the last minute, they chose to sell him as a slave instead “so that they could see what would become of his dreams.” Our sages explain that the brothers, who were full time shepherds, were intimidated by Joseph’s metropolitan aspirations. They felt that the only path for Judaism to survive was in the quiet pastures and lush meadows, far from the hustle and bustle of the economic powerhouses of the modern world. They genuinely felt that Joseph’s desire to branch out in the secular world was an existential threat to the continuity of everything that they and the founding Fathers of Judaism had worked so hard to achieve. Thus they decided to kill him. At the last moment, they decided to sell him as a slave, just in case Joseph might have been correct. Ultimately, Joseph emerges as both ruler of Egypt, as well as a fully observant Jew—just like the oil that maintains the paradox of integration and segregation simultaneously. Indeed, the fledgling Jewish nation was saved only because of Joseph’s extraordinarily balanced leadership, paving the way for the Jewish future.

Like Joseph, Jews today are no longer the requested Jews of the proverbial shtetl—we are the Jews of Joseph’s Egypt. We are fully integrated into our modern society in every aspect of our lives, as professionals, professors, political leaders and even presidents and prime ministers. The lesson we learn from the Chanukah oil is that the only way we can shine is when we have the courage to retain our identity as Jews, no matter where we find ourselves.

When modern day Jews proudly display their Mezuzahs and Kippahs, building Shuls, schools, kosher grocery stores and mikvahs to fuel Jewish life where they live, they are being just like oil. Whilst the herd mentality is to choose what’s popular over what’s right—Jews that survive are those that choose what’s right over what’ popular. 

“I am the Lord; I called you with righteousness and I will strengthen your hand; and I formed you, and I made you for a people’s covenant, for a light to nations.” (Isaiah 42:6)

Our mission statement as Jews is clear in the Torah—to be a light unto the Nations. For thousands of years we were a “light,” but we were unable to be “unto the nations,” since we were prohibited from integrating with the secular societies in which we lived. Whether by choice or by law, we lived in segregated communities, ghettos and shtetls. The Pale of Settlement was a western region of the Russian Empire that existed from 1791 to 1917 in which permanent residency by Jews was allowed and beyond which Jewish residency was mostly forbidden.

Since the early 20th century, Jews were allowed to integrate with secular cultures in both Europe and in America. Unfortunately, we enthusiastically dove into the opportunity with such gusto, that we forgot who we were, becoming more American than the Americans. It’s only today, that we have the ability to truly be both “a light” as well as “to the Nations.” Today we can Leverage our freedoms to shine our light. Today we can fuse our strengths together with our opportunities into a sensational collaboration that will change the world!

Steve Jobs said that “the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.” Why settle for boring when we were sent here to change the world!

Rabbi Dovid Vigler
Chabad of Palm Beach Gardens
6100 PGA Blvd, Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33418
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