The Edenic Lights of Chanukah

25 Kislev 5773 (1st Light of Chanukah), 7:20 AM, Home


Dearest Sweet Beloved Divine Parent,

Thank You for this opportunity to commune with You. Usually, it isn’t my preference to do my daily written meditation on a computer. Yet, this morning I felt a strong tug to. I’ve learned over time and experience to give these inner tugs a chance. They might be a message from the deeper me that often knows what the surface me doesn’t.

Yet, the surface me also seems extremely important. On Chanukah, there’s a tremendous emphasis on publicizing the miracle; something that takes place on the surface level of human awareness. Seemingly, the deeper message of Chanukah is about religious freedom - the freedom to worship without societal imposed obstructions. In some sense this is not an inherently more valuable message than Purim’s message of a whole nation being spared from genocide or Passover’s message of a whole nation being freed from slavery or Shavuot’s receiving the Torah.

So why does publicity play out as central to Chanukah’s observance and not necessary so during the other Holidays?  Perhaps, because there’s something in the message of Chanukah that relates to all Humanity. The 36 lights of Chanukah represent the 36 hours that the father and mother of all Humanity enjoyed the Garden of Eden. The calculation of the 36 hours is that they were created early Friday morning of the sixth day. They ate from the fruit on that day. Then the You did not have the heart to kick them out of the Garden before they experienced their first Sabbath on the seventh day of creation. In compassion, You simply didn’t want to ruin that experience for them. So 12 hours of Friday plus 24 hours of Sabbath equals their 36 hours of bliss.

What was it that they enjoyed in the Garden? A very special hidden spiritual light reserved for the messianic era - meaning, special states of intimacy with You. In these states of intimacy, spiritual gifts like universal love, deep inner peace, soul knowing, prophecy and holiness are simply an automatic. It’s like a woman who marries a fabulously wealthy man, in true love. Yet, so many more resources are simply added to her disposal as automatic gifts of her new union.

These lights weren’t totally lost when our earliest ancestors exited the Garden. They were hidden in two places, in the Torah and in time. They were deeply buried in the mysteries of Torah, so those who are truly ready, even in the pre-messianic era, can already taste these lights and they were hidden in time, hidden in waiting for a future period when Adam and Eve’s descendants will be ready. The lights hidden deeply in Torah, are the private reserve of a select few. However, the lights’ revelation in a future period is designed for the pleasure of all Humanity, as the Biblical prophets emphasize that during this period the entire world will be filled with the knowledge of You, as the waters cover the sea bed.

A temporary revelation of these hidden lights allowed the Hasmoneans to defeat the Syrian-Greeks. Another (though very minor) revelation of these lights ended World War II, as a great Torah giant of the last generation told me that the atomic theory was a revelation of the very edges of these lights. Then he added, “That’s why the Creator really wants them hidden, until Humanity is ready.”

To me it seems like the publicity of the festival of lights is sending a message to all of Humanity. The message is that tolerance and religious freedom is the pathway that will eventually bring everyone around to these lights. Nobody has to be forced out of their style of worship to eventually come around to the ultimate Truth. As history progresses there will be a voluntary intellectual/spiritual migration to certain deeper truths.

In a day and age when we see religious forces in conflict, Chanukah comes along to reinforce that peace and brotherhood really does the job. Yes, back then in a different era, religious war was necessary. However, today we show the Chanukah lights to all Humanity is a spirit of festivity and celebration to proclaim that these lights await us all. We just need to demonstrate that we’re responsible enough to be peaceful. Then we can behave responsibly with these Edenic revelations. That’s truly a far bigger consideration in allowing the revelation of these lights than what religion(s) most of Humanity currently subscribes to.

Please Sweet Beloved Divine Parent help this message sink into the minds and hearts of Humanity.

Thank You for this moment in prayer and for the insights You opened along the way.

Love and Kisses ...