This
evening we will light the eighth candle of Hanukah. Our
Menorah will be filled with eight regular candles and the Shamash. To us it
seems obvious that this is how we light Hanukkah candles. We should be aware
that the Talmud presents two contrasting ways of lighting the Hanukah lights.
“The house of Shammai maintains: On the first day eight lights are lit and thereafter they are gradually reduced by one each day; but the house of Hillel says: On the first day one is lit and thereafter they are progressively increased… the reasoning of the house of Shammai is that it should correspond to the days still to come, and that of the house of Hillel is that it shall correspond to the days that are gone. But another maintains: house of Shammai's reason is that it shall correspond to the bullocks of Sukkot (which decrease in number as the festival progresses) while house of Hillel's reason is that we increase in matters of holiness but do not reduce.”
Talmud
Bavli Shabbat 21b
Our custom clearly follows the position advocated by the house of Hillel. We also embrace the principle upon which the house of Hillel’s position stands, “we increase in matters of holiness but do not reduce.” We aim higher. We want to raise the spiritual level of our lives.
Franz Rosenzweig, a deeply influential Jewish thinker of the early twentieth century, saw his life as a journey along this path of “increasing in holiness".
Rabbi Louis Jacobs writes, “Rosenzweig’s approach was subjective also in connection with the mitzvot, Jewish observances. He …believed in the gradual approach in which the observances slowly made their impact by “ringing a bell” for him. Typical of this approach is Rosenzweig’s answer to someone who asked him whether he wore tefillin, “Not yet,” he replied.”
The word Hanukah means dedication. As we conclude our festival of lights, let us rededicate ourselves to leading lives that are ever increasing in holiness.
