Chanukah Day #6: The Oil & the Wick: The Danger of Religion

[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 this class is brought to you by the achieve Annette please help us continue the classes make even a small contribution at triple w dot they ueshiba net / donate