Most people who have read a little about Kabbalah know that it talks a great deal about light – especially OHR EIN SOF – the Endless Light. Kabbalah teaches that through our actions, we either increase Divine Light in the world, or else we diminish its presence.

As a way of explaining this concept, let me ask you to imagine that you’ve walked into a magic store, and that there are special flashlights equipped with lights of different kinds. For example, you can buy the light of science, and when you point that flashlight at your hand, you see it as cells, blood vessels, tendons and ligaments. Or, you can buy the light of art, and when you point that flashlight at your hand, you see it as if it were a painting by Da Vinci – form, color and texture. And then you see a flashlight labeled "the light of Chanukah". What will you see in that light?

According to Jewish law, when we light the Chanukah Menorah, we’re prohibited from making use of its light. Instead, we’re commanded to simply look at the light. All year long, we make use of light. But on Chanukah, we focus on seeing the light itself. We fill our eyes with the light of Chanukah, so that when Chanukah is over, we’ll continue to see our lives in this special light. What’s so special about the light of Chanukah?

When King Solomon said, "everything is vanity … there’s nothing new under the sun," he was talking about what it’s like to see the world in the light of the sun – the light of nature. But the Zohar – the chief work of Kabbalah – teaches us to see the world in the light that lies beyond the sun.

The light of Chanukah IS this light beyond the sun. It's the light beyond nature. It's the light of miracles. And what does the world look like in the light of miracles? In the light of miracles, the world itself is a miracle. In the light of nature, nothing is new. But in the light of miracles, everything is new.

In the light of science, in the light of art, we see aspects of what is. But in the light of Chanukah – in the light of miracles – we see all that is, and all that can be. In the light of Chanukah, we see that everything is a miracle – and that anything is possible, for any one, at any time.

So – in the face of the dark and challenging times in which we live, we light lights – the lights of Chanukah, the lights of Shabbat, the lights of Yontiff, the lights of Havdallah – so that we can remind ourselves: never to give up; never to despair; never to lose faith; never to lose hope. We must dare to hope that eventually there WILL BE a brighter future – for us, for Israel and for all of humanity everywhere.