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Chanukah Day #6: The Oil & the Wick: The Danger of Religion
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Chanukah Day #6: The Oil & the Wick: The Danger of Religion - The Piano Needs the Pianist; the Pianist Needs the Piano. A video a day by Rabbi YY Jacobson To watch more classes & to read Rabbi YY's articles visit: https://www.theyeshiva.net Follow Rabbi YY Jacobson: Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/c/TheYeshiva Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheYeshiva Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yyjacobson Twitter: https://twitter.com/YYJacobson Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yyjacobson/ #judaism #chanukah #rabbiyyjacobson
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Transcript
Auto-generated transcript. Not time-synced to the video.
[Music]
what am i holding on to I have her a
glass container filled with oil inside
of the oil there's a wick and a tap the
wick you could see the glowing flame
there is deep spiritual symbolism here
you see in the Jewish world today there
was a tension between spiritual Judaism
and institutionalized religion some jews
call themselves spiritual but not
religious they say I can relate to
meditation transcendence cosmic oneness
love passion spiritual ecstasy
experiencing the divine but I can't
relate to all of the daily routines and
laws of Judaism they restrict rather
than expand the spirits while for other
Jews all of Judaism is comprised by
their adherence to the 613 precepts of
Torah they in day out following all of
the nuances all of the traditions all of
the houses all of the laws that is what
Judaism is when you speak to them about
spiritual transcendence or experiential
Judaism or experiencing the divine many
of them don't even know what you're
talking about
tell me what to do 1 I will do it can we
create reconciliation between these two
groups and here is one of the great
symbolisms of the menorah and here is a
beautiful teaching that I want to share
with you from the great master of the
ballot Anja rabbi schneider's Owlman of
Lea Adi the alter rebbe in his work
Torah or on Chanukah and he says take a
look what it takes to create a beautiful
glow of fire you can't have only the oil
and you can't have only the wick you
need both you see oil on its own is not
flammable it can't catch on fire what
about a wick on its own the wick can
catch on fire but it catches on fire and
then a few seconds later the fire is
extinguished it doesn't last it's the
combination
it's the synthesis between the oil and
the wick that creates a steady beautiful
glow and that is the essence of Judah
and the Jewish people you see King
Solomon tells us and proverbs chapter 6
and chapter 20 two very different verses
he says nay rush em knishmas Adam the
soul of a human being is the lamp of God
he also says name it cerveteri our Torah
and mitzvot are a lamp which one is it
says the altai repetier is the oil and
there's the wick the human soul is
represented by the wick Torah and
mitzvot is represented by the oil the
wick could catch on fire we often get
inspired we wake up in the morning we're
full of ecstasy and love we want to
change the world we see the oneness in
the world but how often does that
inspiration die as fast as it's born
sometimes we have a great high and then
we have a great down my heart is on fire
and then my heart is lifeless numb cold
and dead we need the oil the oil is what
feeds the wick and allows the flame to
be persistent to continue burning
throughout our lives
what is the oil the oil is represented
by the Torah and emits us the Torah and
the mitzvahs give concrete manifestation
to spiritual ideals observing the laws
of Shabbos allows the ideals of family
spirituality community to be concrete
eyes in our lives on a weekly basis it's
not subjected to our whims and our ups
on downs
praying in the morning in the afternoon
in the evening allows our spiritual
sensitivity to the wonder of the
universe to be able to be concretize
every single day when we wake up and
when we go to sleep we come out of the
bathroom and in Jewish law we make a
blessing why we do not take the miracle
of our biological system for granted you
want to bite into an orange you make a
blessing we don't take the miracles of
botany for granted sunrise we say a
prayer sunset we say a prayer all of
Judaism allows us to concretize the
greatest spiritual transcendental
feelings of cosmic oneness and the
divine energy
that vibrates through the universe on
the other hand what if you only have oil
and you don't have a wick the oil makes
sure that the fire doesn't get
extinguished but oil itself can't catch
on fire Torah and mitzvot
are divine but because they're
manifested in very physical concrete
acts laws and behaviors often they could
lack warmth they can lack passion I can
do all the mitzvahs but I'm robotic its
mechanical its monotonous there's a
boredom there and that is where we must
have the wick wick is the human soul
with all of its passion and dreams and
emotions and creativity that's what
could catch on fire that's what allows
the oil to burn it's the human passion
in yiddish gott it's the human soul it's
our imagination our depth and all of our
internal ecstasy that gives the oil the
power to catch on fire together the oil
and the wick you create a divine belong
in this world maybe we could compare it
to the musician and the piano the piano
is an amazing musical instrument but on
its own it's just a piano but then when
Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart sits down
by the piano and starts playing the
piano suddenly he unleashes all of the
tremendous musical genius brilliance
power and ecstasy that is inherent in
those keys what happens if he wouldn't
have a piano
I don't know how magical it would be the
combination between the physical piano
and the human talent and genius is what
creates the miracle we call music the
combination the synthesis between the
Torah and the mitzvos and the human soul
that internal eise's them
serves them studies them and celebrates
them brings the divine light the divine
flame into our world have a Happy
Hanukkah
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