Chanukah: The Light of Emunah Illuminates
Our Most Challenging Situations
Emunah’s Radiance Brightens Even the Toughest Times
Don’t Hold on to Bitterness
A central element of Chanukah is that the ohr of the חנוכה נר illuminates and brightens even the lowest places in our lives. We must allow the light of this Yom Tov to permeate our souls so that the challenges and difficulties we may be experiencing can become radiated through the light.
Sometimes, a person finds himself in an utterly broken situation. He was hurt by someone, and he lost his parnasah as a result... or there’s a family feud, and he’s truly torn up because of it... or he’s experiencing any other situation that makes him sad and unhappy. He’s really in a state of מעשרה" "למטה, or as one might say, “he’s really down, and deep underground.” He’s bitter and sad, and he wants to express his pain to anyone who will listen.
Shlomo HaMelech says that ישחנה איש בלב דאגה, if one has worry in his heart, he should speak about it to others. The purpose of speaking to others about problems is so they will provide guidance and counsel on how to let go of the problem. But there are some people who go overboard in the לאחרים ישיחנה. Some can’t stop talking about the pain and it makes one wonder if he wants to be helped at all.
We must be careful to follow the advice of Shlomo HaMelech, and utilize this tool only as a method of getting out of the problem. The point is to minimize the problem, not to exaggerate it and fixate on it.
