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| menorah inside the synagogue |
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| menorah `outside` the synagogue (in the window) |
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| Our menorah at home |
וְעַל הַגְבוּרוֹת, וְעַל הַתְּשׁוּעוֹת,
וְעַל הַנִפְלָאוֹת, שֶׁעָשִׂיתָ לַאֲבוֹתֵינוּ
בַּיָמִים הָהֵם בִּזְמַן הַזֶה.
Not only is it my first time coming `home for Chanukah` in all these years, but its also the first time I have gone to the synagogue for lighting the candles, as far as I can remember. It is so wonderful to drive there at just before sundown, as the sun is going down. There is a divine perfection in the timing.
Just as the light in the sky goes down beyond the horizon, the lights of the menorah are `lifted` and lit up!
I am reminded that the menorah in the Tabernacle and the Holy Temple was to be lit continually and that is part of the Chanukah miracle, that the first thing to be done after the victory over the Greek and Syrians who desecrated the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, was to consecrate the oil so that the light could be lit with the pure oil until a new oil was made. A vial of oil for one day extended to 8 so that the temple could be `re-dedicated` to the God of Israel. Of course, it is not just the temple but it was the hearts of the small group of the Maccabees, a small number of untrained Jewish people who would rather fight for their God and the Torah than give in to the ways of the world and assimilate to the Greek. It was their hearts and spirit that were burning with `zeal` for the LORD and not to allow the desecration of the holiness of a life lived for Him.
Thus he burned with zeal for the law, as Phinehas did against Zimri the son of Salu.
Then Mattathias cried out in the city with a loud voice, saying: "Let every one who is zealous for the law and supports the covenant come out with me!" 1 Maccabees 2:26~27
I am also reminded that the word used in the Torah for lighting the menorah is `lifting up` the lamps. (where it says `erect` in English, or light up, in Hebrew the verb actually means to ascend, lift, go up)
Adonai spoke to Moses saying,“Speak to Aaron and say to him: When you erect the lamps, the seven lamps are to illuminate the area in front of the menorah.”Aaron did so. He erected the lamps facing forward so they illuminated the area in front of the menorah, just as Adonai had commanded Moses.Numbers 8: 1~3 TLV
This `ner tamid` , the eternal light, is expressed in the `lifting up` of the wicks to light the menorah by the High Priest. What I was seeing in the sunset drive to the synagogue on the way to the candlelighting, was as God brings the sun to go down, we then are there with the wicks ready to `lift them up` and to be in a continuum with Him so that in that the light is always lit!
That is the miracle of Chanukah , the spirit that will never go out and that burns continually. The light of Torah and the light of Messiah.
With You is the source of life, by Your light we shall see light. (Psalm 36:9)
Yeshua is the `shamash` the middle candle that lights all the others. We are `lit` by His light!
Yeshua is the light of the world.
You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden!
I pray
In these 8 days of Chanukah there is this extra time of light as we lift up the lights just after sunset, when ordinarily it would be darkness but we remember the miracle of light and are stirred up in our zeal for the LORD and in recalling the miracle we are `lifting up` that light. It is a prophetic moment as we express our readiness for the Light of Messiah to arise and shine, and bring in the eternal light of Redemption.
Also I have this sense this year of the menorah and Chanukah from the `Temple` to the home. It is in the temple where the 7 branched menorah was always to be lit by the High Priest, and yet the Chanukah menorah, called a Chanukiah, is an 8 branched menorah. In every Jewish home, and now many non-Jewish homes too, a channukiah is lit. It is a special commandment of bringing the light into our homes. So it is an 8 branched menorah, each one a little different and unique, all lit by One fire. Put it in the window to shine our lights to the world.
A city on a hill cannot be hidden.
Of course, there will be a time that we will not need either the sun or the moon because the Lamb himself will be the lamp! So there is all this excitement and antipation as we light one more light each night.
One more testimony of arriving to the synagogue this trip!
When I got to the synagogue on the Shabbat evening before Chanukah, two different people said `You are just on time. ` And after the second, the person said ` Its about to begin`. Just then the doors swung open and the evening service began. As if on divine cue. I am dramatizing it a little with the `swinging open of the doors` but the effect on my heart was like that. There was a timing that was particularly highlighted after making the trip from Japan and getting here `just in time` for the Shabbat eve and for Chanukah!
As we light up each candle , in ever increasing light may we come closer to that joyous day of Messiah Himself returning and He Himself will be that Light, Emanuel , God with us.💛💛💛
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Each night increasing light Chag Sameach! 💛🕎💛 |
