Living Lights

a Chanukah message

By Yaakov Shapiro

Rabbi Sholom Dovber of Lubavitch was once asked, “What does it mean to be ‘righteous’?” He answered: To be righteous is to be a ‘lamplighter,’ going lamp to lamp – soul to soul – igniting wicks which do not need ‘your’ permission to exist, through Divine inspiration within you which is not ‘your’ gift to the world, but G-d’s. 

And G-d said, “Let there be Color.” That first tiny dot of light burst into the infinite spectrum of diversity that surrounds us, fills us, is us. A single color can be bright. But beauty is only found in the balanced harmony of opposites, in our collective colorfulness, in humble testament to the genius of our shared Designer and our common source in the Artist’s soul. Only through the beautiful blending of human unity can G-d’s bold masterpiece called “hUmaNITY” be unveiled. 

Rabbi Sholom Dovber’s son, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak of Lubavitch, once wrote: The world says that where a light is thrown you can see hidden blemishes… Chasidic teaching says that when a light is shone you can see another’s hidden beauty.

Never before in history has the rich light G-d invested within humanity “flooded the earth, like water floods the sea.” Our lives are filled with never-ending opportunities to make waves of goodness and kindness, to increase brightness and warmth in our own lives, and in the lives of our families, our communities, and the entire human race. One need only acknowledge that the light is right there inside you, inside the person standing next to you, and in the person sitting on the other side of the screen.

When we go back all the way to the beginning, it takes us back to light. G-d created light first, before darkness, endowing creation with an undying positive charge and a natural instinctual impulse to seek out our source and search for the light no matter how dark things might appear. Light, not darkness, was the first creation, and light’s imprint remains as the essential fabric of our existence. Darkness exists not to be “canceled,” but to be returned to its own origin, transformed into greater light.

Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak’s son-in-law and successor, The Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson of Lubavitch, encouraged every human being to share their gift of light, the eternal flame of their Divine Spark, no matter how small they might imagine their wick to be. In order to share, one must believe one has what to share. To “Love your neighbor, like you love yourself,” you must first learn to see and love the infinite goodness which G-d hardwired into your soul, and not cancel that goodness on account of small bits of darkness which are there solely to draw out your strength to transform them into healing. When we stop canceling ourselves, we feel no need to cancel others. And when we humbly celebrate G-d’s gift to the world in the form of ourselves, we joyously celebrate G-d’s gift to the world in the form of our neighbors. It all begins with opening our eyes to focus on the light – not the darkness – within ourselves and all those around us.

So let us start right now. This very moment. Step up, step forward and stand tall, and unite your light with the person standing next to you – your brother, your sister, father, mother, grandfather, grandmother, son, daughter, grandson, granddaughter, cousin, aunt, uncle, niece, nephew, father-in-law, mother-in-law, son-law, daughter-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, neighbor, employer, employee, coworker, friend, or “foe” – in vibrant living light, shining through the prism of the menorah, revealing before the eyes of the whole world the infinite piece of G-dliness that lives and shines within all of us, without exception, equally, as one. 

A little bit of light dispels a whole lot of darkness. This holiday season, let us search out each other’s light, digging beneath the surface and combing through the archives to discover and celebrate the brightness and beauty each of us has to bring to G-d’s picture. For it is the revelation and reveling in that light – our light – which automatically cancels the darkness within us and around us, turning the Creator’s vision into reality for a world filled with goodness, blessed with peace, flooded with color, elevated by light.

#lightcancelsdarkness