In the wake of the pogrom in Sydney we have been hearing bold pronouncements that, “We won’t let the light of Hanukkah to be extinguished!” And “In response to the murders we shall increase the light tenfold!”
What is the Hanukkah light? Obviously it is not merely the tiny flame of a menorah’s candle or wick. The Hanukkah light represents something symbolic. But in order for the symbolism to be meaningful, it must remain faithful to the Hanukkah story itself and not be turned into some abstract call of freedom or some universal dream to shine the light of God in the world.
The key to the Hanukkah light is simply stated by the letters of the dreidel, which are not the same in Israel as in the Diaspora. Throughout the foreign gentile countries of our dispersion the letters nun, gimmel, hay, shin appear on the dreidel and are read Nes Gadol Haya Sham, meaning “A great miracle happened THERE.” There in the Land of Israel. The light of God goes forth to the world from the Land of Israel, as the Prophet exclaims: “From Zion shall go forth the Torah and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.” Not from anywhere else in the world.
Hanukkah celebrates the restoration of Jewish sovereignty over the Land of Israel and the restoration of Jewish worship in the Beit HaMikdash, may it be soon. Turning the Hanukkah light into an abstract symbol of light over darkness misses the essence of the holiday and diminishes the down-to-earth mission of the Maccabees who fought to bring the light of God into the world in the only place that God’s light can shine in all off its cosmic radiance. “For from Zion shall go forth the Torah and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.” Not from anywhere else in the world.
Gazing upon the Hanukkah lights is not merely a passive exercise in remembering Jewish History. Gazing upon the Hanukkah lights is a call to actively dedicate our lives to continue the struggle of the Maccabees - to restore Jewish sovereignty over the biblical borders of Eretz Yisrael, to cleanse foreign cultures and creeds from our Land, to reestablish the Light of Hashem to the Beit HaMikdash.
It is a call for action, for Aliyah, for settlement, for self-sacrifice for the good of the Israelite Nation over our private lives, for war against enemies who seek to prevent the Kingdom of God from being reestablished in the world through the up-building of the Nation of Israel in ISRAEL in all of its facets, physical and spiritual. Because the Israeli dreidel has the letters nun gimmel, hay, paiy, and those living in Eretz Yisrael read it Nes gadol haya po, “A great miracle happened HERE!”
HERE in the Land of Israel. Not anywhere else in the world.