The Candles' Message
Hashem often uses candles and lamps to reveal to the Jewish nation that He loves them and that He loves their service to him.
The Kav HaYashar (96) writes, "We must praise Hashem's holy name for the great miracles Hakadosh Baruch Hu performed for our fathers during these days – back in the times of Antiochus, the Greek king. Antiochus decreed several bad things against the Jewish nation, and Hashem, with His compassion and immense kindness, which prevails forever, dressed Himself in clothes of revenge and, via the Chashmonaim, killed the two leading generals of the Greek army, Bagris, and Nikanor. All the soldiers of the Yevanim were delivered into the hands of the Jewish nation. May all of Hashem's enemies be destroyed in this manner. "Then, the Chashmonaim came into the Beis HaMikdash. They only found one jug of oil sealed with the kohen gadol's seal... It only had enough oil to burn for one day, and the G-d in heaven, Who resides in the Beis HaMikdash, performed a miracle, and the oil lit for eight days. To remember this miracle, in every generation, the Jewish nation lights the Chanukah lecht for eight days. These are lamps of a mitzvah. We have several sources that Hakadosh Baruch Hu loves lamps of a mitzvah, for it states (Yeshayah 24:15), 'ה את כבדו באורים, 'Honor Hashem with lamps.' Every candle lit for a mitzvah has immeasurable holiness. If we had ruach hakodesh, we would know the future when we light these lecht because the candles of a mitzvah tell prophecies, just like a navi giving over what he heard from Hashem's mouth.
"The gaon, the Maharshal z'l writes in the introduction to his sefer Yam shel Shlomo, 'Once, with a candle of a mitzvah, heaven gave me encouragement and opened the gates of light. Heaven told me, “Study Torah... Be like a lion in his den. Write sefarim... And after I received this message, I couldn't abstain from writing sefarim'."
The Maharshal revealed that he received from the candles of a mitzvah encouragement to write sefarim, but he didn't tell the details of the episode. The Kav HaYashar explains that he heard from the Yesod Yosef, who heard from scholars that this is what occurred:
"One night, Reb Shlomo Luria (the Maharshal) was studying and writing his sefer Yam Shel Shlomo with only a small candle before him, and it was about to go out. The candle remained lit for several hours – as if he had three or four complete candles... He understood from his candle that Hashem was with him." The miraculous candle told him that Hashem loves his Torah learning and chiddushei Torah, that Hashem wants him to continue learning and writing his chiddushim, and that encouraged him. The miracle that happened to the Maharshal is similar to the miracle of the menorah in the Beis HaMikdash on Chanukah” (Kav HaYashar).
One night, Rebbe Shmelke of Nikolsburg zy'a was learning Torah by candlelight, and a gust of wind blew out the candle. He didn’t have a match (or flintstone) to light his candle, so he went onto the porch to see if a passerby could light it. Someone came, lit his candle, and Rebbe Shmelke returned to study Torah. Rebbe Shmelke later thought, "How did he light my candle? I was on the porch of the second floor, and the man was on the street!" He realized that Eliyahu HaNavi had come to light his candle so he could continue learning.
The Alter of Novardok zt'l would study Torah and mussar in a small hut in the forest. One night, his lamp blew out, and he needed more oil. The Alter of Novardok told himself, “Hashem can do everything; Hashem can send me oil." For hishtadlus, he opened the door of his hut. Just then, a man came by. "Do you have oil?" the Alter asked. He did. The Alter was able to study Torah and mussar for the rest of the night. In the morning, the Alter took the remaining oil and stored it so he would never forget the miracle that Hashem performed for him.
Once, there was a fire in his home, and the jar of oil was consumed in the fire. The Alter said he was happy this happened because "Why should I remember this episode more than all the other miracles Hashem performs for me? Every moment of life is filled with miracles."
As we wrote from the Kav HaYashar, the lamps tell prophecies, like a Navi relaying what he heard from Hashem. We don't have ruach hakodesh to understand the prophecies, but one message comes through clearly: The lecht tells us that Hashem loves us, and He wants our Torah and mitzvos. That is the message of the Chanukah lecht, too. Regardless of our spiritual level, Hashem loves us and wants our service.
