It is customary to light eight candles during the Jewish festival of Hanukah, one per night. The question is this: In which order should they be lit? On this issue two famous rabbinic schools of the first century CE disagreed. We read in the Talmud: “Beth Shammai maintains: On the first night eight lights are lit and thereafter they are gradually reduced. However, Beth Hillel says: On the first night one is lit and thereafter they are progressively increased” (BT Shab. 21b).
What is Shammai’s justification? They argue that the candle lighting should correspond to the sacrifices offered during the festival of Sukkot with one less each day (cf. Num. 29). The school of Hillel, however, argues that in matters of holiness we must increase and not reduce.
The difference between the two schools has to do with the way in which each views the festival. Shammai considers the whole picture, whereas Hillel wants to emphasize the potential, the ever-increasing power of the mind, of the human will, of God’s blessings. Today, Jewish communities around the world follow the pattern of Hillel. We, therefore, add one more candle each night to the Hanukah Menorah, called, Hanukiyah.
Hillel’s message makes sense to me. When it comes to questions of religion and spirituality, we need to take things one step at a time. Ultimately faith, which is certainty of one’s convictions, requires a leap of faith. For, we are all fallible. However, as we absorb more knowledge about the universe and as we engage in a variety of spiritual exercises, our sensitivity increases, and with that comes a deepening sense of sanctity and wonder for all existence.
The adding of the candles reminds us that religious conscientiousness is broadened slowly. We build one block upon the other. At times, we stumble, we are burdened with questions, we struggle with doubts and with answers that do not satisfy the mind. But, with faith based on a positive attitude, we plug along, and discover glimpses of lights here and there, finding deeper meaning and purpose in our existential condition that we never knew existed before. And that spells human growth.
Rifat Sonsino
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
HOW HAVE THE MIGHTY FALLEN?
It seems as if every time we get a newspaper or listen to the news on TV, we learn that another American soldier has been killed in Iraq or in Afghanistan. Their families are devastated, loved ones mourn in profound grief, and we, as a nation, suffer deep pain. We recall the words of King David, “How Have the Might Fallen?” (II Sam. 1: 25), words he allegedly wrote in reference to his beloved friend Jonathan and his father, King Saul, who had died in battle against the Philistines.
In our days, we have just started to learn how appreciate the sanctity of human life, and therefore are capable of sharing the agony of every family member who looses a son or a daughter in war. This is the reason why on Oct. 29, 2009 President Obama flew before dawn to the Dover Air Force Base in Delaware to welcome the 18 Afghan war soldiers who died recently. It is also the reason why Israel is agonizing as it tries to obtain the freedom of one single Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, who had been abducted by Hamas on June 25, 2006 during a cross border raid, even if it means releasing hundreds of Arab murderess from Israeli jails. Human life counts.
By comparison, a cursory survey of past wars presents such a dismal image of human loss that it is utterly unimaginable for many of us now. Just look at these figures: During our Revolutionary War, 4435 soldiers died, and 6188 were wounded. During the Civil war, the number dramatically went up, for both North and South, to 191,963 dead and 354,805 wounded. At the end of the World War II, they have counted 291,557 US dead with 671,846 wounded. These numbers are beyond belief, but still not as bad as what happened to the rest of the world. It is estimated that between 50 to 70 million people died during this war, with the USSR losing around 26 million, Germany between 6 to 8 million, and Jews alone 6 million.
Some of these atrocities are attributable to some individuals or governments. Stalin alone was responsible for the dead of 17 million of his compatriots in the Soviet Union, and the Chinese cultural revolution of 1965-1968 caused the lives of about 30 million. In our time, starting in April 1994, and for the following 100 days, about 800,000 Tutsis were murdered by Hutu militias. These numbers are unfathomable. It is beyond comprehension in any civilized society.
Ancient Rabbis proclaimed the sanctity of every human being, and declared that “if a man causes the death of a single human being, Scripture imputes it to him as though he had caused a whole world to perish.” And, conversely, “when a person saves another one, Scriptures imputes to him as though he had saved a whole world” (M Sanh. 4: 5). Every human being, I maintain, is sacred, and deserves to be treated as such. No one has the right to take another person’s life, unless it is in self-defense or to stop the carnage caused by this individual. And that includes, the death penalty imposed by governments. Life is sacred and a gift from God. When will we learn this lesson, and internalize it so that it becomes part of our nature? I don’t think we are there yet. Maybe, some day.
Rifat Sonsino
In our days, we have just started to learn how appreciate the sanctity of human life, and therefore are capable of sharing the agony of every family member who looses a son or a daughter in war. This is the reason why on Oct. 29, 2009 President Obama flew before dawn to the Dover Air Force Base in Delaware to welcome the 18 Afghan war soldiers who died recently. It is also the reason why Israel is agonizing as it tries to obtain the freedom of one single Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, who had been abducted by Hamas on June 25, 2006 during a cross border raid, even if it means releasing hundreds of Arab murderess from Israeli jails. Human life counts.
By comparison, a cursory survey of past wars presents such a dismal image of human loss that it is utterly unimaginable for many of us now. Just look at these figures: During our Revolutionary War, 4435 soldiers died, and 6188 were wounded. During the Civil war, the number dramatically went up, for both North and South, to 191,963 dead and 354,805 wounded. At the end of the World War II, they have counted 291,557 US dead with 671,846 wounded. These numbers are beyond belief, but still not as bad as what happened to the rest of the world. It is estimated that between 50 to 70 million people died during this war, with the USSR losing around 26 million, Germany between 6 to 8 million, and Jews alone 6 million.
Some of these atrocities are attributable to some individuals or governments. Stalin alone was responsible for the dead of 17 million of his compatriots in the Soviet Union, and the Chinese cultural revolution of 1965-1968 caused the lives of about 30 million. In our time, starting in April 1994, and for the following 100 days, about 800,000 Tutsis were murdered by Hutu militias. These numbers are unfathomable. It is beyond comprehension in any civilized society.
Ancient Rabbis proclaimed the sanctity of every human being, and declared that “if a man causes the death of a single human being, Scripture imputes it to him as though he had caused a whole world to perish.” And, conversely, “when a person saves another one, Scriptures imputes to him as though he had saved a whole world” (M Sanh. 4: 5). Every human being, I maintain, is sacred, and deserves to be treated as such. No one has the right to take another person’s life, unless it is in self-defense or to stop the carnage caused by this individual. And that includes, the death penalty imposed by governments. Life is sacred and a gift from God. When will we learn this lesson, and internalize it so that it becomes part of our nature? I don’t think we are there yet. Maybe, some day.
Rifat Sonsino
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