There were four candles burning in a room and they started talking to each other. The first candle said, “Hi, I am Peace. But at the present time, there is chaos and robbery everywhere, and it seems like the world does not want me anymore. I am sorry, I cannot stay here.” Just like that, Peace extinguished himself and left the world.
The second candle said, “Hi, I am Trust. Today, the world is filled with lies and deceit, and it seems like the world does not want me anymore. I am sorry, I cannot stay here.” Just like that, Trust extinguished himself and left the world.
The Third candle said, “Hi, I am Love. Today, everyone is so busy doing their own thing, no one has time for me anymore. People are even forgetting to love their loved ones. I am sorry, I cannot stay here.” Just like that, Love extinguished himself and left the world.
A little boy entered the room and upon noticing the three extinguished candles, he said, “Candles! Why didn’t you burn until the end? How can you leave like this?!” At that moment, the fourth candle chimed in and said, “Dear child, do not be sad. I am Hope, and guess what? While I am still burning, you can relight the rest of the candles again.” The child’s eyes lit up and his energy was revitalized. He took the candle of Hope and slowly began to relight the candles of Peace, Trust, and Love.
If there is one takeaway message from the holiday of Chanukah, it is this! We may live in Galus, in darkness, in a world of chaos, negativity, and impurity. But guess what? There is still hope! The candles of Chanukah remind us that there remains a ray of hope, a ray of light, and a ray of goodness.
In Parshas Miketz, Chapter 42, Verse 1, the Torah tells us: וירא יעקב כי יש שבר במצרים – Yaakov saw that there was grain in Egypt. The Midrash Rabbah (91:6) points out that up until now, when the Torah describes food, it uses the word אכל or בר, but here the Torah uses the word שבר (shever). Why is that so? The Midrash explains that homiletically speaking, the word שבר can also be read as שבר (seiver), which means “hope.”
Rashi (on 42:1) explains that Yaakov Avinu saw through a Holy lens שעדיין יש לו שבר – that he still has hope in Egypt. Yosef, his son, was in Egypt, which gave Yaakov the courage to know that he still had hope, even in the darkness of Egypt.
Egypt, from a Kabbalistic perspective, is the root of all exiles. The vision of Yaakov Avinu, to be able to see HOPE amidst the darkness of Egypt, still rings true today, thus giving us the strength to realize that we too can survive the travails and darkness of our current state of exile.
We just need to always have hope, and with hope, everything else is possible!
Have a holy Shabbos!
There were four candles burning in a room and they started talking to each other. The first candle said, “Hi, I am Peace. But at the present time, there is chaos and robbery everywhere, and it seems like the world does not want me anymore. I am sorry, I cannot stay here.” Just like that, Peace extinguished himself and left the world.
The second candle said, “Hi, I am Trust. Today, the world is filled with lies and deceit, and it seems like the world does not want me anymore. I am sorry, I cannot stay here.” Just like that, Trust extinguished himself and left the world.
The Third candle said, “Hi, I am Love. Today, everyone is so busy doing their own thing, no one has time for me anymore. People are even forgetting to love their loved ones. I am sorry, I cannot stay here.” Just like that, Love extinguished himself and left the world.
A little boy entered the room and upon noticing the three extinguished candles, he said, “Candles! Why didn’t you burn until the end? How can you leave like this?!” At that moment, the fourth candle chimed in and said, “Dear child, do not be sad. I am Hope, and guess what? While I am still burning, you can relight the rest of the candles again.” The child’s eyes lit up and his energy was revitalized. He took the candle of Hope and slowly began to relight the candles of Peace, Trust, and Love.
If there is one takeaway message from the holiday of Chanukah, it is this! We may live in Galus, in darkness, in a world of chaos, negativity, and impurity. But guess what? There is still hope! The candles of Chanukah remind us that there remains a ray of hope, a ray of light, and a ray of goodness.
In Parshas Miketz, Chapter 42, Verse 1, the Torah tells us: וירא יעקב כי יש שבר במצרים – Yaakov saw that there was grain in Egypt. The Midrash Rabbah (91:6) points out that up until now, when the Torah describes food, it uses the word אכל or בר, but here the Torah uses the word שבר (shever). Why is that so? The Midrash explains that homiletically speaking, the word שבר can also be read as שבר (seiver), which means “hope.”
Rashi (on 42:1) explains that Yaakov Avinu saw through a Holy lens שעדיין יש לו שבר – that he still has hope in Egypt. Yosef, his son, was in Egypt, which gave Yaakov the courage to know that he still had hope, even in the darkness of Egypt.
Egypt, from a Kabbalistic perspective, is the root of all exiles. The vision of Yaakov Avinu, to be able to see HOPE amidst the darkness of Egypt, still rings true today, thus giving us the strength to realize that we too can survive the travails and darkness of our current state of exile.
We just need to always have hope, and with hope, everything else is possible!
Have a holy Shabbos!
