In the very beginning of this week's Torah portion, B'Haalotcha, we read the command to Aaron, "When you light the lamps..." This is a clear instruction that a Jew has to "kindle lights" to illuminate the surroundings. In this, too, a Jew has to emulate, so to speak, the Creator, Who, immediately after creating Heaven and earth, gave the order, "Let there be light!"
The essential thing about a candle (in the ordinary sense) is that it should give forth light and illuminate its surroundings. An unlit, or extinguished candle brings no benefit and has no meaning in that state per se. Only when it gives light and shines does it fulfill its purpose, which is to serve man by enabling him to see by its light everything around him. In this way it illuminates his way so that he will not stumble in darkness, and generally helps him to do and accomplish what he must.
The nature of a candle is that when one puts a flame to its wick, even a small flame--so long as he does it effectively--the flame catches on, and then it continues to give off light on its own. This, too, is indicated in the text, as our Sages comment: When you light the lamps [of the menora]--"[light them so] that the flame goes up on its own."
The instruction is thus: G-d has endowed the human being with a soul, a Divine "lamp," as it is written, "The soul of man is the lamp of G-d"--to illuminate his or her path in life, and to illuminate the world. But this soul-lamp, or candle, has first to be ignited with the flame of Torah in order that it should shine forth with its true light, the light of "a mitzva is a candle and the Torah is light." (Proverbs)
And this is the task and purpose of every Jew: to be a brightly shining lamp and to kindle, or add brightness to every Divine "lamp"--Jewish soul--with which he or she comes in contact. And one must do this to completeness, in a way that the lamps they light likewise continue to shine brightly on their own, and also become "lamp-lighters," kindling other souls, "from candle to candle," in a continuous chain.
Needless to say, though the instruction to light the menora was given to Aaron the Priest, it includes all Jews, in their spiritual life, since every Jew is a member of the "Kingdom of Priests." Moreover, there is the exhortation: "Be of the disciples of Aaron...loving the creatures and bringing them closer to Torah." To be a disciple of Aaron one must be permeated with love for every Jew and one must be involved in transmitting Judaism.
Adapted from the works of the Lubavitcher Rebbe.
