Chanukah Day #8 | We Can Be Authentic to Ourselves While Truly Attached to Others

[music] It was on the eve of last Passover. A man was shopping at an Israeli supermarket right before [music] Passover. Very busy, very hectic. He bought what he needed to buy and he [music] went outside to unload everything into his car. And then he notices a huge dent in the door [music] of his car. He was obviously very upset. What happened? And then to his surprise, he notices there was a note on the windshield. He opens the note and this is what it says. I am so sorry. I dented your [music] car by accident. Here is my telephone number. Please call me and I'll pay whatever it costs to fix. An [music] honest man. He calls the number and the man apologized profusely [music] for hitting his car by accident as he was going out of the parking lot. After offering to pay for the damages, the caller [music] asks him a very strange question. Do you have the money to pay me for the damage you caused to the car? The person was confused and surprised by the question. Why are you asking me if I have the money? And the caller says, I'll tell you the truth. I noticed that the note you have left on my car was on your bank statement and when I looked at your bank statement, I [music] saw that your account is empty. He tells [music] the man, he says, "So, let me tell you what I did. I just wired $3,600 to your account. Happy holidays." The minora, the sevenbranched candalabra that stood in the holy temple in the beta mikdash was almost impossible to craft because the Torah says that it needed to be hammered [music] out of a single block of gold. Mik Zohov, not made of composite [music] pieces and then welded together. Now you need to understand the minora was a deeply complex and intricately designed article. flowers, goblets, [music] branches, knobs. To hammer this out from a single ingot [music] of gold was nearly impossible. Why then did the Torah not allow craftsmen to construct the [music] minora from separate pieces of metal and then you weld them together? The answer is profoundly [music] relevant. You see the minora in the temple had seven branches, seven lamps, seven flames, [music] not one big branch with a massive torch inside of it. Why seven? The answer is the manora represented the entire nation of the Jewish people. And each of us has a unique flame and light that we cast [music] on ourselves and on our environment in the world. The seven physical [music] flames kindled each evening in the holy temple were reflective of seven distinct and unique spiritual flames [music] kindled by every soul, by every life. Being different is the one thing we have [music] in common. And yet the Torah says that all the flames ought to be facing the center [music] of the manora. There is unity among them all. They are not only branches of one manora but the very flames are facing [music] in the same direction. They're telling a singular story. But that seems contradictory. How can that be? How can I be both an individual loyal to my true authentic [music] essence and individuality and so deeply connected to others? How can you be so deeply attached with authenticity and yet truly loyal to your individual self-expression? [music] It's because the manura was hammered out of a single slab of [music] gold. If we were made of distinct entities, individuality and cohesion would undermine each other. [music] But since we are really Misha, our distinctions all originate in the oneness of Hashem who is one infinite and all-inclusive. Even as we are hammered out [music] into distinct branches and lamps, we can unite authentically and deeply. It's like in [music] a successful marriage. Wives and husbands don't need to be similar and identical to enjoy a blissful relationship. When we discover our innate soul oneness and trust, our differences don't undermine safety [music] and connection. On the contrary, they become such rich expressions of an underlying oneness. >> [music] >> This is what a nation that is inherently one looks like. He didn't send the money out of duty, guilt, shame, or to get something in return. [music] It was an expression of his essence in a very deep place in his soul. He knew that he was connected with his fellow Jew and he just wanted to help him. Since in my most authentic being I am part of infinity and in your most authentic being you are part of infinity. Even as we emerge as such different people with different perspectives, different characteristics, we can truly connect. [music] I shine my flame, you shine your flame, but we're telling [music] the same story. To love a person is to learn the song that is in [music] their heart and to sing it back to them when they have forgotten it. Happy Kaneka.