Shulchan Aruch rules that one should not kindle the Chanukah lights before shekiah; rather one should kindle the lights at the end of shekiah. Mishnah Berurah explains that when Shulchan Aruch refers to the end of shekiah he refers to tzeis hakochavim – the emergence of stars. That is the time that people are in the streets and thus the miracle will be publicized.

He then notes that according to many Rishonim the intent of the Gemara is that one should kindle the lights at the beginning of the second shekiah which is about a quarter of an hour before tzeis hakochavim. Poskim write that if one kindles the lights within half an hour of sunset (shekiah according to Gaonim) and they remain lit until half an hour after tzeis hakochavim one fulfills both opinions.

Mishna Berura Yomi Digest
Halacha Highlight
“Lighting after plag hamincha”
Siman 672 Seif 1

That the spark of G-d within us will ponder G-d, what is the surprise?

But when the animal lifts its eyes to the heavens, when the dark side of Man lets in a little light, that is truly wondrous. How can darkness know light? How can earth know heaven?

Only with the power of He who is beyond both darkness and light, heaven and earth.

-Rabbi Tzvi Freeman
“Dark Knowing Light”
Based on letters and talks of the Rebbe
Rabbi M. M. Schneerson
Chabad.org

Yesterday’s “morning meditation” Shine was an attempt to reach some sort of thematic connection between the miracle of the light of Chanukah and Jesus Christ, the light of the world. I also brought up the rather important point that we disciples of the Master are considered by him as “lights to the world” as well.

“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. –Matthew 5:14-16

While it would be more convenient for us if Jesus could stay as that light or if we could let Israel carry the burden (Isaiah 49:6), the master specifically expanded the mandate to include all of his disciples among the nations. We, like the ancient Israelites lifting their eyes to Heaven that they might live (Numbers 21:4-9), are the darkness lifting our eyes to the light and seeking life. Now let’s “marry” this idea back to the quote from the “Halacha Highlight” for Siman 672 Seif 1 and accept the responsibility to “lift” the miracle of the Savior of the world with our light, just as the Jewish people announce the miracle of Chanukah by lighting the menorah.

In my commentary for Torah Portion Vayeishev, I addressed how it would be so much easier to shine that light if we didn’t have to deal with the problems and pitfalls of day to day life. However, God has determined that the value of the light we shine is especially great when it illuminates a life that struggles in the same fashion as our neighbors. I think that was His point when He caused the “Word to become an ordinary human being and to live among us” (John 1:14). My humble opinion is that Jesus did not come as King but as pauper the first time around, so that he could show us we don’t have to be freed of an ordinary life in order to serve Heaven.

Going back to the life of Joseph, before he became “king”, he was also a slave and then a prison inmate. In both of these situations (which were far more difficult than the average “ordinary” life of a person in America), he served God so well that, relative to his position, he was exalted to the highest status a slave and prisoner could attain. Before Moses could lead an entire nation and speak to God as one speaks to a friend, he had to live as a prince and then a shepherd. Before Jesus comes as King and Lord, he first had to come as carpenter and itinerant teacher among his people Israel, living a life not substantially different than any other Jew and associating primarily with what today we would call “the working class”.

I’m saying all this to show that the typical “wear and tear” we take on every day doesn’t absolve us from our responsibilities to God and to other people. Sure, we’re busy people, but we can hardly tell God, when he calls us, that we are too preoccupied with our work to respond to Him. And even if we are, we still have to do something about it.

When this question reached Rav Yosef Shalom Eliyashiv, shlit”a, he ruled decisively and also gave sound advice. “A doctor who treats patients when the time to light the menorah arrives should first finish his shift, and then go home and light. In the case of a doctor who works a long shift in the hospital which encompasses the entire time that it is possible for him to light the menorah… Since he cannot go home in the middle because he is busy working the entire time, he is absolved from the mitzvah. This falls under the category of one who is involved in a mitzvah who is discharged from other mitzvos during this time.

Rav Eliyashiv added an essential point. “This is only true regarding one who lives alone. If the doctor has family he should instruct them to light when the time comes and he is discharged even if he comes home while it is still possible to light. And even if he lives alone he is obligated to designate a messenger to light for him when the time comes.”

Mishna Berura Yomi Digest
Stories to Share
“Occupied with a Mitzvah”
Siman 672 Seif 1

I’m stretching my metaphor pretty thin here, but bear with me. The Rav rules that a doctor who is treating patients at the time when the Chanukah menorah is to be lit is absolved of the mitzvah because of his important responsibilities, but only to the degree that he does not have to perform the mitzvah personally. The important part of this ruling states, “even if he lives alone he is obligated to designate a messenger to light for him when the time comes.” Putting that back into the topic I’m presenting, even if we feel we are “too busy” to perform the will of God as we understand it, do we also have the responsibility to make sure God’s will is done “by proxy?” The Rav first says if the doctor is married, he can have his wife perform the mitzvah, but then he says the doctor is still obligated, even if he lives alone. If we are alone, perhaps we still have a duty to make sure that whatever we believe God requires of us at any point in time is still be performed.

Of course, we have examples of people who literally dropped everything when Jesus called and followed him.

As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” At once they left their nets and followed him.

Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him. –Matthew 4:18-22

We also have examples of people who were in the middle of important work and asked to wait until that work was done, sometimes even though it would take a number of years as with the following person.

He said to another man, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” –Luke 9:59-60

In the latter example, Jesus took a dim view of this person wanting to wait until after his father died (the guy was being a dutiful son and working to help his father, presumably on the “family farm”, so he was fulfilling the commandment to honor his parents) and he put his father’s affairs in order before being free to follow Christ’s calling (It’s examples like this that some Jews use to prove Jesus couldn’t be the Messiah, since it looks like Jesus is telling this son to abandon his responsibilities to his parents, but I digress) .

I’m probably muddying up the waters here saying on the one hand, that we actually might be too busy to answer the call to a mitzvot but we must make sure it is done, even by proxy, and on the other hand saying that we must follow immediately and any delay will be viewed by Jesus in a negative light. This is the struggle we face in letting our light shine every single second in our lives. As human beings, we can be distracted, confused, upset, grief-stricken, afraid, or experience some other circumstance or state that seems to take us away from being that “light to the world”. You’ve probably seen examples of people who you know are believers who, when set upon by difficult problems, retreat into a human response and away from God.

But you’ve also probably seen people of faith who, even when undergoing the most difficult hardships, still are able to shine with a kind of light that communicates peace and love surpassing all human understanding (Ephesians 3:19, Philippians 4:7). It’s possible for us to continue shining our light in the midst of the mundane and perhaps even when disaster seizes us.

What can I say to all this? Do your best? That’s a good place to start. We’re in a relationship with God as junior partners in Tikkun Olam or “repairing the world”. We can only do what is humanly possible. When we seemingly shine an “impossible light” it is not just us and it is not just God, it is both of us. As people, we do one kind act at a time, one generous deed, one word of encouragement, and during Chanukah, we light one candle a night, so that we might show the world the miracle of God. It’s never easy but with God, it’s always possible (Matthew 19:26).

Happy Chanukah.