Since way before Sir Isaac Newton discovered how light works with vision, human beings have been using light as a metaphor for understanding and clarity of thought. We have always seen light as a carrier of information, even if we didn’t quite know how. One aspect of that metaphor was presented by the 18th-century rabbi Moshe Haim Luzzatto, in his Mesilat Yesharim (Path of the Just). He indicated that there are two types of darkness: darkness that is void of light so we cannot see at all; and darkness with minimal light in which we can see images but insufficient to see clearly, which often means we see things in a distorted way. Luzatto argues that this kind of darkness is particularly dangerous because it misrepresents the world to us. The same can be said, he suggests, for our thinking. Sometimes a little bit of knowledge can warp our ability to truly understand something because we believe we know what we are seeing when we really don’t.
Chanukah, the Festival of Light, is centred around this concept. The encounter the Jewish people had with the Greeks in the second century BCE was terribly confusing. The Greeks, unlike any nation they had ever exp, presented to our people what seemed like viable realities that not only rivalled our own but, in some ways, had considerable advantage. They, like we, studied the nature of reality seriously and systematically. They saw high value in living purposeful lives and questioning its meaning. It caused a great many of our ancestors to question whether Jewish life, practice, philosophy and belief were worth holding to. Large numbers of Jews left in favour of Greek culture and society. For, not only did the Greeks seem to have a full wisdom tradition, they also had sports and beauty pageants. This was a crisis of unprecedented gravity for our people. There was not enough “light” to recognise the difference between Israel and Greece.
Yet, the family of the Matitya, Yohanan, mustered the courage to assert the light of our unique identity. The small Maccabee rebellion was not destined to be victorious. But it succeeded and the Jewish people lived on under our own sovereignty in the Holy Land. Chanukah marks that victory. The sages charged the Jewish people to kindle a light each night. Aside from the miracle of one day’s oil lasting for eight, Chanukah also represents the light of clarity. Back then, it was the clarity of identity. But for all subsequent generations, it has been the symbol of light that teaches us the importance of a true understanding to enlighten our thought and wisdom.
As we emerge from Chanukah, there are three points we take. First, that the light of wisdom is not equal to information. In this information age, we are at no loss for data. Information is literally at our fingertips everywhere. But we are still at a terrible loss for understanding.
Because we know a lot, we forget that knowing is not the same as understanding. True wisdom is acquired through diligent and painstaking study. There is no replacement for the toil that is necessary to fully grasp the reality of a situation or concept. But today, due to the convenience of a Google or TikTok search, fewer people accept that they don’t know or don’t understand. We are thus in a sea of darkness faintly lit by the over-abundance of information that obscures real, robust wisdom. The light of Chanukah is symbolic of the light of wisdom, not information. It encourages us to do the work of studying truth so that we might see the world in clear and full light.
Second, the festival reminds us that, yet again, there is confusion as to who we really are. The confusion we all experience about our own identity today against the weltanschauung (world view) of the West is arguably far more confounding and muddled than it was when we faced the Greeks. Countless Jews have left the fold in favour of alternatives over the centuries. So today, as we again find ourselves sovereign in our homeland, we struggle not only to hold ourselves securely upon it, but also to clearly and unequivocally assert our very right to exist there.
The light of our identity, indeed, the blazing glory that is the people of Israel, must shine brightly in us all. May the light of Chanukah’s victory escort us through the coming days as we fight for the light that is uniquely ours in the world. Finally, the festival reminds us that, as a people, we do overcome. We do survive. We do find hope in adversity. And we do find the light.
Rabbi Joseph Dweck is the Senior Rabbi of the S&P Sephardi Community of the United Kingdom
