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One lesson we can learn from Chanukah is that one's success
should come from mastering himself, by controlling his environment rather than
letting his environment control him.
In addition to the blessing that we make on the lighting ("...
that we are sanctified with
G-d's commandments in that He commanded us to light
the Chanukah candle"), Chanukah has a unique 2nd blessing. Since the focus of
Chanukah is its miracles, the Rabbis established a separate blessing: "...that You
made miracles for our forefathers in those days, in these times!" This
blessing tells us that through fulfilling the commandments of each holiday, we
are able to recreate the same spiritual environment that existed during the
original event - now.  | | " We will not allow the world to close down the Holy Temple that exists within each of us...." | | |
What happened then? The Greeks and the Jews that were influenced
by them wanted to drive the Jewish people away from the Torah and their special
connection to G-d. They did not object to the Torah as philosophy. They were
upset that we were in touch with the Torah's divine element.
This same struggle is happening today. Society is relentlessly
trying to impose its base values on our lives, secularizing us and replacing our
Jewish awareness that G-d runs the world and that our lives and actions must
reflect this through learning Torah and performing its commandments.
Technically, it would be enough to light one candle each night to fulfill the
commandment of the Chanukah lights. Yet, each year, the Jewish People fulfill
the Chanukah commandment and do so in the most exceptional way, by adding a new
candle each night, thus proclaiming that we recognize G-d as "the Boss" and
cherish His commandments. We will not allow the world to close down the Holy
Temple that exists within each of us, and we pray fervently that He will soon
allow us to do our part in building the physical Third Temple.
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