One day, a young boy came home excited: he had excelled in his studies and received a gift from his teacher. Overcome with excitement, he called the entire family to see the gift he had received. Then, the boy went and turned off the light. They were puzzled. “If you want to show us your gift, why are you darkening the house?” they asked. “Wait, and you’ll understand,” the boy replied. To their surprise, the house was illuminated by a beautiful and special light. But the light did not come from the ceiling; instead, it emanated from the boy’s hand. He held a powerful flashlight that lit up the entire room. He explained, “To understand the power of the light, I had to darken the house. Now you can truly see and appreciate it.”
Chazal established the days of Chanukah as times of praise and gratitude. To commemorate and publicize the miracles that HaKadosh Baruch Hu performed for us, they ordained lighting neiros—specifically after dark. If one lights the candles during the day, they do not fulfill the mitzvah. This is somewhat puzzling. Chazal could have instituted an act to commemorate the miracle in the middle of the day, which might have resulted in even greater pirsumei nisa (publicizing the miracle). But they didn’t. Instead, they specifically set the lighting of the candles after dark, indicating there is a deeper reason for this timing.
We often think of the night as a challenging time, a time we might prefer to do without. But if we reflect deeply, we will see that HaKadosh Baruch Hu did us a great kindness in creating the night. Without it, people would sleep at different times, and there would be no order in the world. But because everyone sleeps at the same time, we awaken to the day refreshed and renewed.
Similarly, Chazal ordained the lighting of the Chanukah neiros specifically during a time of darkness to illuminate it. This hints to us that even the challenges and difficulties that seem like complete darkness in our lives are, in truth, for our eternal benefit. Those who strive to bring light into the darkness will discover points of light within it.
All we need to do is to believe that it is precisely within the darkness that we can see the unique light—the hidden light that is reserved for the righteous in the world to come.
