Our political mission, the calling to light up the public domain, is fulfilled specifically at the doorstep of the home.
“The (Chanukah) lights must be placed at the doorstep of the house, facing outwards” (Shabbos 21b). This basic formulation of the obligation to kindle Chanukah lights is reminiscent of the second-wave feminist slogan “the private is the political.” Our political mission, the calling to light up the public domain, is fulfilled specifically at the doorstep of the home. This motion, moreover, encapsulates the core idea of what it means to be Jewish.
It is no coincidence that the Chanukah is a winter holiday, celebrated during a season when no Torah festival occurs. The Torah festivals represent how Divine light enters our human domain. The open miracles of Yetzias Mitzaryim, the follow-up of Shavuos with the giving of the Torah, and the Divine providence of Sukkos, are times when we encounter the brilliant glow of Hashem’s presence in the world. The Seder Night is lit by His light; we bask in the revelation.
In contrast, Chanukah knows no such Divine revelation. The wars of the Hasmoneans were long and arduous. Our best and finest were killed over years of guerrilla warfare until victory was finally achieved. It was a miraculous triumph, to be sure, but the miracle inhered in eminently human events. The light of Chanukah is holy, Divine, yet it must be kindled by mortal men and women. Absent our lighting, the world is enveloped by the total darkness of winter nights.
Chanukah, therefore, is a weekday festival. On Torah festivals, the Divine revelation calls us to desist from the most basic human activities—going to work and performing everyday labor. On Chanukah, however, the revelation occurs within the human activity itself, which is perhaps why the Rambam notes that the mitzvah of Chanukah lights is somehow more cherished than any other (Chanukah 4:12). We cherish the mitzvah because it is ours. Our wars, our kindling, our Chanukah enactment.
In this sense, Chanukah is a microcosm of the great Jewish mission to the world. Chazal note that our world is a place of darkness from which Hashem is fundamentally hidden (see Pesachim 50a; 2b). The role of the Jewish People is thus as the moon to the Divine sun—to reflect Hashem’s light into the darkened world: “This nation I have created for Myself, My glory they shall tell” (Yeshayahu 43:21). We tell Hashem’s glory with human words; we bring His light with our own lighting.
Our Unique Light
It is thus fitting that our lighting takes place at the door to the home, where we are most profoundly human. There is no deeper humanity than the relationships we live; and the closest of relationships inheres at home, amid husband and wife and the Shechinah between them, who together kindle the Chanukah lights: ner ish u’beiso (see Rosh, Shabbos 2:8). The most brilliant light emerges from our most profound humanity, elevated by our unique relationship with Hashem as embodied by the Torah. The Jewish private sphere becomes the Divine political arena.
Launching this new Shabbos publication specifically on the week of Chanukah is a special privilege. There is something universal about our humanity. We all have homes; we all kindle the same lights. Yet, our humanity is also exceptional and particular. Each home is different, each relationship unique. Each of us must have his own light because only when we bring ourselves, each with his particular nature and disposition, can the light of the Jewish People be complete.
Though “made in Israel,” the light of this Torah publication shines through the vehicle of the English language. While the Torah is available for all to study, the language of learning is more than a technical detail. It represents a culture, a set of values and preferences, a disposition that distinguishes the Torah life of Ashkenaz from Poland, Morocco from Yemen, and the USA from South America.
We—ourselves, our parents, our grandparents—are all Olim. We are deeply privileged to join the great Divine movement that has gathered Jewish light from around the world back to the Land of Israel. Yet, the great light of Torah that emerges from Zion shines true with the full variety of lights ingathered from all corners of the earth. This publication celebrates our unique “private light” that forms part of the great Divine political.
