CHALLENGE

Dear Family,

I hope that everyone is well and enjoying Chanukah.

Tonight is the eighth night of Chanukah and all eight candles are burning brightly.

But why do our Chanukah menorahs have eight lights when the Menorah of the Bet Hamikdash only head seven lights?

The Rebbe explains this in a letter dated seventh of Teves 5740, and further in a Sichah, volume 10 page 291 as follows.

As explained in our sacred sources, there is an inner symbolic significance in the numbers seven versus eight.

Seven represents the natural order as reflected in the seven days of the week.

Eight on the other hand, represents the supernatural, and beyond nature.

Every Jew has hidden deep within himself or herself a fiery love of G-d. As it says in Tanya chapter 14, "Even the most unworthy among the worthless (of Jews) is capable of sacrificing himself for the sanctity of G-d."

Although a person might not uncover this internal connection to G-d under ordinary circumstances of his life, there comes a point, WHEN CHALLENGED, that this power will surface.

It is called mesiras nefesh, i.e. to sacrifice one's life for Hashem, and this is supernatural and beyond nature, as occurred with the Jews against the Greeks.

The Greeks were not interested to eradicate the populations that they conquered. Their goal was to assimilate the population into their culture (to Hellenize)

the Greeks appreciated the wisdom and the beauty of the Torah, and were happy for the Jewish people to study Torah, but in an intellectual manner only.

What they opposed was the idea that Torah and Mitzvos are a unique means of connecting to Hashem, which takes us beyond human limits.

And that is why, when they entered the Sanctuary of the Bet Hamikdash, they defiled all the vessels of pure oil that they found (i.e. they weren't interested to destroy it, only to defile it)

But this set off the fury of Mattisyahu and his sons and the subsequent victory of the few over the mighty Greek army.

And the subsequent search and finding by a miracle, of the one cruse of pure oil, which was re-instituted back into the service of the Temple.

It was this beyond- nature response of our Jewish people to protect our connection to Hashem, which brought about the significance of the number eight into Chanukah.

And we can all tap this resource within ourselves, EVEN WITHOUT A CHALLENGE!

Gut Chanukah and Gut Shabbos to all.