The Menorah, the Maccabees, and Us: A Spark of the Divine

 On Hanukkah the central religious action we undertake is the lighting of the candles. The tiny candles have always stirred powerful feelings among us. As Dr. Paul Romanoff^[1] wrote:

For centuries the Menorah burned constantly.

          In its light a nation walked,   

          By its inspiration a people lived.

The lights of the Hanukkah menorah^[2] are kindled by the shamash,^[3] the service candle. Every menorah has such a special light, set off from the actual Hanukkah lights themselves. Its sole purpose is to provide the spark for the Hanukkah candles.

How important is the shamash? The following story illustrates this:

A young apprentice to a blacksmith learned during the period of training

• how to hold the tongs,
• how to lift the hammer,
• how to smite the anvil, and
• how to blow the fire with the bellows.

Having finished the apprenticeship, the young man was accepted for employment at the royal smithery. What an honor! Yet the young blacksmith’s delight soon turned to despair when he discovered that he had failed to learn how to kindle a spark. All of his skill and knowledge in handling the tools were of no avail because he had not learned the most elementary principle–to light the fire.

Unless we are fired with the conviction of what we do, then what we do will be essentially meaningless. Unless we find that we are warmed by enthusiasm, any project in which we engage will eventually cool off. The spark that kindles a world, a people, or a person, illuminates the causes in which we are involved and fires us with the energy to carry through. The Maccabees of old proved that people who possess a spark of the Divine Will leave the brand on history.

May we, too, be among those who spark others–to awaken their curiosity, passion, empathy, and their best, sweetest selves.

Hag Hanukkah samei-ach. May you have a joyful, and meaningful, Hanukkah.

Rabbi J. B. Sacks

^[1] Dr. Paul Romanoff (1898-1943), was an esteemed scholar of biblical and semitic languages, an archaeologist and the curator of the Museum of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America (JTS). JTS is the ideological and intellectual center of Conservative Judaism.

^[2] A menorah is a generic term for a candle holder. A menorah designed for use on Hanukkah is technically known as a Hanukkiah.

^[3] The shamash is also known in Yiddish as the shammes.