Shabbat Miqetz

The Talmud records a dispute between Beit Shammai and Beit Hillel regarding how to light Chanukah candles: “Beit Shammai says: Light eight on the first night, and subtract one each day. Beit Hillel says: Light one the first night, and add one each subsequent night.” (BT Shabbat 21b) Whereas Beit Shammai emphasizes the days which remain until the end of the holiday, Beit Hillel ticks off the days which have already been celebrated. When experiencing something unpleasant, we count the days until reprieve. On the other hand, during a celebration, we nostalgically and mournfully reflect on the days gone by. This explanation proposes a difficulty for Beit Shammai, who seem to anticipate Chanukah’s end.In the following lines, I want to propose an innovative explanation of the dispute between Beit Hillel and Beit Shammai:On Chanukah we talk about light a lot. Fire is the source of all light. Fire is a means; just as it can be used to provide light and other constructive functions, it can also burn and consume. ‘Light’ represents the positive result of fire, and therefore light has become a metaphor for all things positive.The two uses of fire represent two ways of dealing with reality. One way is through conflagration, attempting to absolutely destroy and annihilate evil. The second way does not wish to destroy evil, but to transform it into good by adding light. Undoubtedly, each of these approaches has its place in our lives. Sometimes we root evil out, and sometimes we work for its improvement. The question remains, however: which of them is primary and how do we choose which to use under what circumstances? Beit Shammai maintains that we light eight candles on the first night of Chanukah, and subtract one candle for each passing day. They adopt an approach in which the defeat of evil requires a great, burning fire to annihilate anything which disturbs of prevents good. As a result, the fire will start large but gradually burn down, as it has less and less to consume. Beit Hillel represents a different model for the defeat of evil, in which good, by constantly spreading light, gradually overcomes and transforms evil. The Maccabees employed both of these approaches: first they fought using the ‘conflagration’ of war in order to eradicate the impurity of decadent Greek culture which had reached its peak when it erected an idol in the Holy Temple. After the war, however, the Maccabees reverted to their primary tasks as Kohanim, rededicating the Temple and kindling its menorah, spreading the light of goodness far and wide.In both personal and public life, we face different situations, some which call for blazing and destructive fires, and others which call for guiding lights. Sometimes we, like the Maccabees, must start with a conflagration and then switch to the smaller light which can last much longer. The trick is to know when the fire must burn, and when it must provide light, as Yankele Rotblit famously wrote:“Man is like a tree on the banks of the river, with thirsty roots. Man is like a thorn bush facing the Heavens, with a fire kindled within.” Since it is impossible to build a life by emphasizing the evil side of it, since life cannot be built on negativity, we must find an alternative in which be defeat evil with light, not with stones. -From Tzohar