Increase the Light

“When a person lights one candle from another, neither flame is diminished.” 

(Bemidbar Rabbah 13)

Tziporah:

My favorite night of Hanukkah is the last night, when each of us lights our favorite menorah. That’s 45 candles: 8, plus 1 server to light the others, times 5 family members, burning for at least 30 minutes.  My spouse usually remarks that our dining room resembles the nave of a cathedral, which conjures memories of my childhood visit to St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City.  In the text that I quoted, the early rabbis use the physical properties of a candle’s flame to focus on light as a metaphor for wisdom. This is one message of Hanukkah, the celebration of which involves adding candles each night to increase the light.  Many religions prescribe candle lighting and singing to dispel the darkness of the winter solstice. When we light a flame in our own homes and houses of worship, and we keep one another in our prayers, I have no doubt that we will increase the light in the world and the warmth in our hearts.  

Grace:

Tziporah, your delightful family tradition on the last night of Hanukkah makes me smile as I imagine all that flame! It also brings to mind these words from a familiar song: “If everyone lit just one little candle, what a bright world this would be!” That same song makes the connection you make between the light of a candle and a prayer that brings light into dark places. How much we need to heed that call to prayer in our world today: Darkness and evil can never be eliminated, I think, but I also believe with people of every faith tradition that darkness cannot prevail where the light of God shines. A favorite verse of mine from Christian scripture affirms, “The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” (The Gospel of John 1:5) In another account, Jesus speaks words that I see as applying to people of good will everywhere: “You are the light of the world.” (The Gospel of Matthew 5:14, emphasis mine) What an awesome calling to be light for one another!

Yasmina:

Although the Islamic tradition does not call for physical lighting of candles, the notion of sharing and increasing the light brings to my mind many positive associations. I recall immediately the beginning of a Hadith that I have memorized. It is a Hadith about charity; the type of charity that is not limited to financial giving, but encompasses any form of voluntarily sharing one’s knowledge, time, advice and emotional support: “Charity does not in any way decrease the wealth.”* Many verses of the Quran and other Hadiths emphasize the superiority of light over darkness and the many forms in which each is manifested. Light is wisdom and blessings, and all that is of benefit to us. Light is also equated with prayer, guidance, knowledge, piety and righteousness; these noble qualities will all take the form of physical light on the Day of Judgment. There is one last, unique depiction of light that is visible to the angels and attracts them to visit its source: it is the light that emanates from houses where the remembrance of God is fundamental.

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* Charity does not in any way decrease the wealth; and the servant who forgives, God adds to his respect; and the one who shows humility, God elevates him in the estimation of the people.” (Sahih Muslim, Book 32, Hadith 6264)

Giving

“those who spend their wealth to increase in self-purification (yatazakka)”

(al-Layl 92:18)

Yasmina:

Giving of one’s wealth is not unique to Islam, but the Arabic word yatazakka—from zakat, which means both to purify and grow—has a particularly beautiful connotation. Zakat is often compared to the pruning of a shrub, where the trimming actually causes the plant to grow stronger. Similarly, the trimming of wealth through the giving of alms purifies and strengthens the soul. In Islam, to use the trust given by God—here, personal wealth—in the proper manner helps rid a person of his/her worldly attachments. The Quran describes this quest to purify one’s soul, tazqiyat an-nufoos, as a lifelong process: “To a happy state shall indeed attain he who causes [this self] to grow in purity, and truly lost is he who buries it in darkness.” (al-Shams 91:9-10) The examination of one’s heart, practices and desires leads a person to see tribulations as opportunities for the cleansing of the soul and the attainment of insight and understanding. I cannot but marvel at the beauty of the Arabic language, in which one word in the Quran encompasses the complex concept of spiritual growth.

Grace:

It is interesting, I think, that Christian scriptures almost always pair discussions of wealth with cautionary warnings, such as, “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” (Mark 10:25; Matthew 19:24; Luke 18:25) Similar to the Quranic text you cite, Yasmina, this verse does not condemn wealth, but warns against worldly attachments. In a particularly poignant illustration, Jesus speaks of a poor widow who placed two small copper coins in the Temple’s alms basin. Contrasting her with those who gave more but did so ostentatiously, Jesus observed, “This poor widow has put in more than all the others, [for she] put in all she had.” (Luke 21:3) Yatazakka seems an apt description of those who, in quiet generosity and humble sacrifice, discover the meaning of heavenly treasure.

Tziporah:

It will not surprise you that the Jewish concept of charity, tzedakah, is similar to zakat as you explain it, Yasmina, and to the verses of the Gospels that you quote, Grace. While the English word “charity” derives from the Latin root for love and caring, tzedakah is from the biblical Hebrew root for righteousness.  Tzedakah is the obligation in Jewish law to share a portion of one’s wealth with others in need.* Inherent in this commandment is the recognition that everything we possess—both tangible things like money and intangible things like intelligence—is on loan to us for the duration of our lives.  God allows us to feel as though we personally possess these gifts, as long as we strive to share and distribute them fairly among the entire community. When we give tzedakah, we are restoring righteousness in the world by returning the gift to its rightful owner.

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* For example: “Because there will not stop being indigent [people] in the land; on account of this I command you, saying, you shall open your hand to your brother, to your poor and indigent in your land.”  (Deuteronomy 15:11)