SPIRITUAL GUIDANCE:

I would like to share with everyone the spiritual significance of the numerology of Hanukkah. The only candle lit every day of Hanukkah is the Shamash candle, the one that lights all the other candles.

It is higher than all the other Hanukkah candles. The Shamash candle lights the eight days of candles totaling 36 candles, (the word “life” two times) significant of both our physical and our spiritual lives.

We claim God as a part of our lives and have a spiritual purpose in life. When we light the candles of Hanukkah, we attach ourselves to those lights.

When God said “let there be light” in Genesis, the word in Hebrew has the numerical value of 25 “let there be,” and then the word light, is the 25th word in the account of the creation story in the Bible. This shows the connection between the hidden light of Jewish Law and the Hanukkah lights.

The Hanukkah lights are an indication of the Rabbinic Law and reveal the light contained in the Bible, which we apply to our lives. Did you know that Hanukkah is the only Jewish festival without explicit mention in the Bible? It also is the only Jewish holiday that occurs in two Hebrew months.

Hanukkah begins on the 25th of the Hebrew month Kislev, which means “a package from the heart.”

Imagine a dark and cold room with no light. Then light a match to illuminate the Hanukkah menorah. The light fills a dark room and represents hope of a modern-day miracle for each of us, stemming from the original theme of the Bible’s first sentence, “let there be light.”

Light the menorah. Make a wish. It might come true. No matter how dark it is in your life, Hanukkah represents the “light of Hope.” We share with our Christian friends, “peace on earth and goodwill to men.”

Let us light the Hanukkah menorah together this year. The Hanukkah light ends with us in our day with the appropriate prayers said each day and shines through us to family and friends.

With pride, all Jews this week declare themselves to be part of his people and this rich and rewarding religious tradition. This brings us joy, light and good feelings of the hope of achieving happiness in our lives.

RABBI MARC RUBENSTEIN, Temple Isaiah of Newport Beach.