lighting up?

It’s been awhile since I posted something about the weekly Torah portion (the parsha) and thought it was a fitting week as this is the portion that G-d gives Miriam leprosy. As there aren’t many places in the Torah where illness and isolation due to illness are discussed, I thought I could make some brilliant connection. When that failed to appear, I decided to use my good friend Google for inspiration. I wound up on Chabad.org reading something by Nechoma Greisman, about a different part of the Torah portion, the part where Aaron is told to light the menorah in the temple on a daily basis.

Ms. Greisman notes that the text in the Torah, apparently, uses an unusual expression and writes “when you will raise up the lamps,” instead of simply saying “light the lamps.” Rashi, a noted commentator, explains that Aaron, the high priest, had to “coax the flame until it burned on its own.” She then further notes that Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi explains that each of the seven lamps of the candelabra corresponds to one of the seven holy character traits.

But then she didn’t list all 7 traits, which I now needed to know, so I went back to my friend Google, and after much searching, I found that these seven holy character traits are “Chesed (kindness), Gevurah (severity), Tiferet (beauty), Netzach (endurance), Hod (splendor), Yesod (foundation), and Malchut (royalty).”

With this in mind, I returned to Ms. Greisman’s article. She writes that the Lubavitcher Rebbe points out that the seven lamps of the menorah symbolize the different paths in living a godly life. These are different ways to be and just as the candelabra brings light to others, you can use your quality to be a metaphorical candelabra of your own. So it’s okay that we’re all different and do things differently. It’s okay that we’re not the same. The real issue is what you do with your trait… Are you just lit or are you someone who uses your light to raise others up? Do you, like Rashi explained, “coax” the light to burn more?

So getting back to recurring themes of previous posts, why we are here and what we do for others, I hope you’ll indulge me and think of what your positive prominent character trait is and how you use it to inspire others or help others be their best. Although not one of the listed godly traits, I think I am a respectful questioner; I hope I inspire or cause others to question themselves the way I question myself in a way that builds you up to being a better person. If I had to pick one of the 7 traits, I think it could either correspond with Yesod/foundation (building oneself needs a strong foundation) or Netzach/endurance (becomes like the Energizer bunny, I keep going).

On this Thankful Thursday here are a few things we are thankful for this week. As always, feel free to comment and let us know what you are thankful for.

Meri’s list:

1. People who inspire me and challenge me to be a better person.
2. Being able to laugh (appropriately!) during serious situations (that’s for you Laura if you’re reading; I really enjoyed our conversation this past week)
3. Google… The search possibilities seem endless!

Sandy’s list:

1. Aarp.org/games
2. Wordwhomp
3. Raspberry Lemon Blended Chobani