A grandson of the Divrei Chaim zt'l was poor and was collecting money to support his family. At one home, the homeowner said, "I will ask you a question, and if you give a reasonable answer, I will give you a nice sum of money." He quoted the Gemara (Shabbos 151:), which says, "We have a kabbalah that a talmid chacham doesn't become poor...and if they become poor, they don't go around, door to door, collecting money." The wealthy person asked the grandson of the Divrei Chaim, "But here you are, a talmid chacham and a grandson of the Divrei Chaim, and you are collecting money door-to-door!"
The grandson of the Divrei Chaim replied, "You didn't read the Gemara correctly. It means, 'If you see a talmid chacham who is poor, it is because he doesn't go door-to-door to collect money.'"
The Beis Yisrael zt'l repeated this story and added, "Going door-to-door doesn’t exclusively refer to worldly doors. The Gemara is saying that if he is poor, it is because he isn't knocking on the doors of heaven. If he would daven, especially at times of eis ratzon (such as Zos Chanukah), he would receive everything he needs.
The words of the Gemara are מיהדר לא אפתחא אהדורי דמתעני איתא אם, "If you see that the talmid chacham became poor, he doesn't go door-to-door." The Ahavas Yisrael says that the Gemara is hinting at Chanukah....אהדורי מיהדר hints to hidur mitzvah, and אפיתחא is the doorway, where we light the Chanukah lecht. Chazal are saying, "If you see that someone is poor, it is because he wasn't cautious with Chanukah lecht, which is mesugal for many brachos, including wealth.
A hint that Chanukah is mesugal for wealth is in the custom of distributing Chanukah gelt.
A father brought his infant son to the Ribnitzer Rebbe zt'l, when the rebbe was in Los Angeles for Chanukah. The father told the rebbe that his son was born prematurely, and he was placed in an incubator, which has an intense heating light to keep the child warm. A bandage was placed over the child's eyes because the strong light is dangerous for the eyes. However, the bandage fell off, and the child went blind in both eyes.
The rebbe looked forcefully at the Chanukah lecht, then he looked at the child, again at the Chanukah lecht, and once again, at the child. After repeating this several times, the rebbe announced, "Baruch Hashem, the child sees with his right eye." The rebbe continued looking at the lecht and then at the child, and then he said, "The child still doesn’t see with his left eye, but eventually he will." Twenty years later, the rebbe received an invitation to the chasunah of this child, who could see well with both eyes.
Obviously, we aren't on the level of the Ribnitzer Rebbe zt'l; however, it is a lesson that the lights of Chanukah can lighten up the darkness and bring salvation to Klal Yisrael.
Reb Zundel Salant zt'l once spoke with people during Chanukah, and the conversation turned to something sad and disturbing. He told them not to talk about that matter because Chazal forbid hespeidim on Chanukah.
