Meaningful Moadim
  • Welcome to Meaningful Moadim
    • Tu BiShevat - The New Year of the Trees >
      • Bearing Fruit
      • Lesson of the Trees
      • Pri Eitz Hadar
      • Tu BeShevat – A Day of Perceptible Belief
    • Mishenichnas Adar Marbim BeSimcha >
      • A Purim Thought
      • Mazal Adar Dagim - The Month of Adar is Symbolized by Fish
      • More on Mazel Adar Dagim
      • The First of "the Four Parshiyos" - Parshas Shekalim
      • The Month of Adar and Purim >
        • Holiday of Unity?
      • Why Megillas ESTHER?
      • Purim and Prayer >
        • Prayer in the Megillah
      • The Most Unhappiest Queen of them all
      • Purim and Charity
      • Making Purim Last Throughout the Year
      • Story: The Purim of Saragosa
      • KISLEV - Great Expectations >
        • What is Chanukah? >
          • The Name of the Holiday >
            • Chanukah: Renewal
            • Why is Shehechiyanu recited only on the first night of Chanukah?
            • Biblical Allusions
            • Another explanation of the name Chanukah
            • Ve-Al Hnissim, not Al Hanissim
            • Mai Chanukah?
            • Bais Shamai and Bais Hillel (2)
            • Mazal Kislev Keshes
            • Why didn't the Kohanim themselves defile the oil if everyone was tamei, ritually impure due to the war? >
              • Chanukah Always has a Shabbos >
                • Chanukah Always Falls our Around parshas Mikeitz
              • Tu B'shvat and Shabbos Shira
      • We blow the Shofar Throughout the Month of Elul
      • Shofar Throughout the Month of Elul
      • Reconnecting with our Father in Heaven
      • Month of Teves: Catastrophic Events
      • Questions or Comments? >
        • TAKING A MOMENT OUT FOR A CHANUKAH THOUGHT >
          • TAKING A MOMENT OUT FOR A CHANUKAH THOUGHT
        • Calendar Converter
    • Chanukah: The Festival of Lights >
      • Are we celebrating the victory over the Greeks or the Miracle of the Oil? >
        • Miracle Oil?
        • The Jewish People Are Above Nature
        • The Light of the Jewish Soul Glows on Chanukah
        • Chanukah: A Winter Festival
        • Chanukah: A War of Conflicting Philosophies >
          • Alexander The Great and The Jewish Sages
          • Uphold Good or Destroy Evil?
          • LeHashkicham Torasecha U’LeHa’aviram MeiChukei Retzonecha
        • Why was a holiday established specifically for the war that led to the Chanukah miracle?
        • U’Leamcha Yisrael Assisa Teshua Gedola U’furkan K’Hayom Hazeh…
      • Give the Gift of LIGHT!
      • Customs, Symbols & Observances >
        • More Reasons for Doughnuts on Chanukah
        • The Letters on the Dreidel
        • More Customs >
          • More About the Dreidel
          • More on Dreidel
          • Chanukah Gelt
          • The Lesson of "Chanukah Gelt"
          • L'Hodos U'LaHallel
        • More Symbolism >
          • Symbolism of Olive Oil
          • The Greeks vs. The Jews
          • The Little Jug that Traveled Through Time
        • The Custom to serve Dairy and Cheese Products on Chanukah
        • Tzedaka - Charity
      • The Shamash >
        • The Secret of the Shamash
      • Putting Away the Menorah?
      • Recommended Reading

Chanukah Gelt:  A Lesson in the Potential of Chanukah


As you recall, Yaakov (Jacob) went back for some small jars and our tradition reveals two hidden meanings within that episode. First, there is the idea that those jars would somehow live again in the jar of oil found at the time of Chanukah, and second, there is the odd notion that righteous people value money more than their own well- being.

Money, as we have discovered, is actually potential. One person looks at a hundred dollar bill and sees a CD player, another sees a watch and yet another sees a bicycle for their niece's a bicycle for their niece's birthday. Money, in and of itself has virtually no value, but its potential is almost limitless.

The lesson that Yaakov valued money and the lesson of Chanukah are one in the same. Potential.

People look at money, but they see far more than is actually present; they see all sorts of potential.
 
When the Jews resisted the Greeks they did so because they lived in the world of potential, a deep and often hidden world that lies beneath the surface. On the surface, it was preposterous for the Jews to resist the Greeks. Greek culture was overwhelming the world, Hellenism was the wave of the future and militarily no one could stand in the Greeks' path, certainly not a band of renegade Jews. That, however, was the view from the surface. The view through the lens of potential was far different.

The Jewish people knew that they were an eternal people. A people whose way of life and whose message of values, morality and spirituality was destined not only to last forever but also to have a world-shaping impact. This was the world of Jewish potential: a tiny and ill-equipped people was prepared to take on the superpower of its day, all because the Jews believed in the potential of Jewish destiny. They believed that no matter how dire things looked, there existed within the Jewish people, within the Jewish soul, the ability to vanquish the mightiest of foes and eventually fulfill their own mission of being, in the words of the prophet, light unto the nations."
The Egyptian, the Babylonian and the Persian rose, filled the
planet with sound and splendor, then faded to dream-stuff and
passed away. The Greek and the Roman followed and made a
vast noise, and they are gone; other peoples have sprung up and
held their torch high for a time, but it burned out, and they sit in
twilight now, or hazy arnished. The Jew saw them all, Irat them
all, and is now what he always aus; exhibiting no decadence, no
infirmities ofage, no weakening of his parts, no slowing of his
energies, no dulling of his alert and axgressiee mind. All things
are mortal but the Jew; all other forces pass, but he remains.

​                                                                                    Mark Twain

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What Mark Twain understood in hindsight, the Jews at the time of Chanukah already knew because they lived not only in the world as it appeared but also in the world of potential.

When we light our menorahs we need to look closely at those tiny flames and contemplate the world of potential. Where others see darkness, we are called to see light. We need to look at our children, look beyond the problems and the quarrels, and see potential. We need to look at one another, beyond the faults and the foibles, and see potential. We need to look at life, beyond all the pain and struggles, and see potential. We need to look at our people, beyond the divisions and the hatred, and see potential. In everything we encounter, we need to look beneath the surface, to discover the soul, and to realize our ultimate potential.
From the Book, Inspiring Lights Celebrating a vision of life as illuminated by the lights of Chanukah and all they represent Khal Publishing. Distributed by Artscroll Mesorah Publications, Brooklyn, NY
Picture
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Photo used under Creative Commons from Muffet
  • Welcome to Meaningful Moadim
    • Tu BiShevat - The New Year of the Trees >
      • Bearing Fruit
      • Lesson of the Trees
      • Pri Eitz Hadar
      • Tu BeShevat – A Day of Perceptible Belief
    • Mishenichnas Adar Marbim BeSimcha >
      • A Purim Thought
      • Mazal Adar Dagim - The Month of Adar is Symbolized by Fish
      • More on Mazel Adar Dagim
      • The First of "the Four Parshiyos" - Parshas Shekalim
      • The Month of Adar and Purim >
        • Holiday of Unity?
      • Why Megillas ESTHER?
      • Purim and Prayer >
        • Prayer in the Megillah
      • The Most Unhappiest Queen of them all
      • Purim and Charity
      • Making Purim Last Throughout the Year
      • Story: The Purim of Saragosa
      • KISLEV - Great Expectations >
        • What is Chanukah? >
          • The Name of the Holiday >
            • Chanukah: Renewal
            • Why is Shehechiyanu recited only on the first night of Chanukah?
            • Biblical Allusions
            • Another explanation of the name Chanukah
            • Ve-Al Hnissim, not Al Hanissim
            • Mai Chanukah?
            • Bais Shamai and Bais Hillel (2)
            • Mazal Kislev Keshes
            • Why didn't the Kohanim themselves defile the oil if everyone was tamei, ritually impure due to the war? >
              • Chanukah Always has a Shabbos >
                • Chanukah Always Falls our Around parshas Mikeitz
              • Tu B'shvat and Shabbos Shira
      • We blow the Shofar Throughout the Month of Elul
      • Shofar Throughout the Month of Elul
      • Reconnecting with our Father in Heaven
      • Month of Teves: Catastrophic Events
      • Questions or Comments? >
        • TAKING A MOMENT OUT FOR A CHANUKAH THOUGHT >
          • TAKING A MOMENT OUT FOR A CHANUKAH THOUGHT
        • Calendar Converter
    • Chanukah: The Festival of Lights >
      • Are we celebrating the victory over the Greeks or the Miracle of the Oil? >
        • Miracle Oil?
        • The Jewish People Are Above Nature
        • The Light of the Jewish Soul Glows on Chanukah
        • Chanukah: A Winter Festival
        • Chanukah: A War of Conflicting Philosophies >
          • Alexander The Great and The Jewish Sages
          • Uphold Good or Destroy Evil?
          • LeHashkicham Torasecha U’LeHa’aviram MeiChukei Retzonecha
        • Why was a holiday established specifically for the war that led to the Chanukah miracle?
        • U’Leamcha Yisrael Assisa Teshua Gedola U’furkan K’Hayom Hazeh…
      • Give the Gift of LIGHT!
      • Customs, Symbols & Observances >
        • More Reasons for Doughnuts on Chanukah
        • The Letters on the Dreidel
        • More Customs >
          • More About the Dreidel
          • More on Dreidel
          • Chanukah Gelt
          • The Lesson of "Chanukah Gelt"
          • L'Hodos U'LaHallel
        • More Symbolism >
          • Symbolism of Olive Oil
          • The Greeks vs. The Jews
          • The Little Jug that Traveled Through Time
        • The Custom to serve Dairy and Cheese Products on Chanukah
        • Tzedaka - Charity
      • The Shamash >
        • The Secret of the Shamash
      • Putting Away the Menorah?
      • Recommended Reading