Fire and Light

Independence Park, Tel Aviv

The Camp Fire, the Woolsey Fire, the Hill Fire - California was ablaze. For what seemed like an eternity, the conflagration spewing smoke and ash was out of control with no end in sight. A hundred people died as thousands upon thousands of acres along with hundreds of homes were charred and consumed by the inferno. The Town of Paradise was decimated, it’s now gone, history. 

Needless to say, the awesome power of fire has been on my mind as of late. But so has the light that emanates from combustion. Why?

For eight nights earlier in December my family started a fire each night. No worries, it was a very limited, controlled fire. We started by striking a match to light one small candle then added another each night until eight were lit. We do that at this time of year, every year to mark Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights. The holiday celebrates the successful revolt over two thousand years ago of the Maccabees, a Jewish band of rebels, against the Syrian king Antiochus who outlawed Judaism in his empire and defiled the Temple in Jerusalem. After the Temple was cleansed and rededicated, its iconic candelabrum, the menorah, needed to be lit so it could burn through the night, and every night thereafter. Only pure olive oil could be used for this sanctified purpose. Search as they might, the Maccabees could find only one flask enough for but one night. As the story goes, miraculously the sacred fire lasted eight days, hence the eight nights of the Hanukkah festival.

But why is this fire and the light it sheds different from all others? 

Answer - As it is written, the fire is one that must only illuminate and not consume. Jewish texts make clear the candles need to be separated at least by a finger’s breadth to ensure the flames will not join together to be ‘like a bonfire’. Hanukkah lights must be distinct so each becomes a point of light set against the darkness. What better time to gaze into the flickering flames than at this time, the darkest of year.      

In contrast to the ominous glow of the California blazes which can be seen from far above Earth, the light emanating from fire which I’ve been gazing at and thinking about is one that does not consume and destroy, it only illuminates, it warms the heart, it inspires. 

With devastation from the other fires of war and hate raging on our planet, that seemingly impermeable darkness needs to be pierced by the illuminating light of Hanukkah. It’s light we need to bring into our world and sustain.

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all images © David Greenfield