Tonight was the 1st night of Chanukah, the Festival of Lights. This holiday recalls a war during the second century B.C. when, against all odds, a small group of Jews led by Judah Maccabee defeated the mighty Greek army. When the Jews went to rededicate the Holy Temple after the war by lighting the Temple’s Menorah, they found a single jug of oil that should have lasted only one day, but miraculously lasted for eight days.
What’s fascinating to me about this war is the goal of the Greeks. Unlike most other wars waged against Jews throughout history, the Greeks were not looking to destroy the Jews. They were looking to destroy their light, their connection to G-d. The Greeks during this time were focused on many “outward” qualities, such as beauty, science, and culture. They strove to deny the spirituality of the Jews they were fighting. The laws of circumcision, keeping kosher, and Shabbat flew in the face of all they held dear. They wanted to wipe out the Jews’ inner consciousness of a higher power and their connection to that power.
So what does all this have to do with us today and does it even matter?
The war waged between the Maccabees and the Greeks is a war we all fight on a daily basis. Think about it. We have the desires of our body, our “outer” desires. Things like beauty, money and recognition. Just take a look at the multimillion dollar beauty and weight loss industry and you can start to see where I’m going here. Then we have the desires of the soul, or our “inner” desires. These are things like kindness and goodness, helping those in need, charity, connecting to those around us. We also have more subtle “outer” desires, like power and control, being right, winning, as well as more subtle “inner” desires like making peace, kind speech, and standing up for our values even when it’s hard. Each day we are confronted with a million small choices. We can yell at our kids, or be patient and forgiving. We can jump to conclusions and assume the worst intentions of someone, or we can give them the benefit of the doubt. We can participate in gossip, or we can hold our tongue and change the subject. We can buy more, bigger, and better, or be content with what we have. These are just some of our daily battles, our personal war between our physical and spiritual parts. Which one will win today?
What “outer” vs. “inner” battle did you have today?
