Shalom u'bracha, !
Today I'd like to talk a little bit about Shabbat itself before Chanukah. One thing we all need to know is that Shabbat is a day for elevation more than anything (more than "rest" even)!
Our sages teach that
Creation could not have continued had Hashem not created the Shabbat. You may be surprised to know that many people have no idea of the greatness of Shabbat and the depth of its secrets!
Here is a little window of the secrets held within:
"First off, there's a Kabbalistic custom from the Ariz'l to take two bundles of myrtles (Haddasim), hold them together and say Zachor Ushamor Bedibur Echad Neemar, before doing Kiddush. Then, one says the Beracha of Atzei Besamim and smell them.
So, this is the order: first you say the bracha "Boreh Atzei Besamim", then you go round the table a second time towards the right side. In the end, we have two circles around the table; one time with the haddasim and a second time without the haddasim.
The reason we're going around the table is because that symbolizes the surrounding light (Ohr Makif) we are receiving from a higher plane, specifically ChaBa"D (Chokhmah, Bina and Da'at) of Netzach, Hod, Yesod of Bina on Shabbat. Just as we are surrounding the table so is God surrounding us."
, I hope you are having a bright Chanukah! The Lights are shining strong Now and we can receive much abundance and miracles from Heaven. This all depends on the vessel that we make to be able to hold the blessings.
Do you have a vessel to hold the blessings?
How to build the vessel? How can we rectify the world?
The kabbalah of the Arizal reveals deep deep secrets that in the beginning of creation there was what is known as the 'shattering of the vessels'. The original vessels from the creation, were not able to contain the massive light so they needed to be broken so that they can be fixed 'rebuilt' so that they can contain the light. in the right proportions. Then Hashem minimized the light to be proportional to the vessels until we are able
to to completely rectify the world.
We also need to have this same Ballance in our lives of light abundance and vessels so that we will not shatter. for example: a person with too large of a vessel and not enough light there is a good chance he will be depressed or sick.
Some one with too much light and too small a vessel may be to hyper or over inspired and not able to connect to the physical world.
In Chanukah we can learn how to make the right proportion between the vessel and the abundance that it needs to carry. As we fill our cups
with olive oil to light our Chanukah menorah, we have to make sure we don't put too much so that it will not spill and enough that the light will last half an hour after night fall and so on. This is a very important life lesson to know our real level in every stage of life, to be able to recognize how much we can hold, and deal with. Making a balanced life throughout changing times.
We need to learn how to use the resources that Hashem gave us in the best way to do Hashems will and when we get the right ratio, while understanding that everything comes from Hashem all we need to do is build the vessels and as much as we are capable Hashem will give us more. Sometimes people feel it is not this way they feel they are more capable
then what Hashem gives them, and they do not have what Hashem gives them. even though this may be right we must understand that Hashem has a masterplan and what Hashem gives us is what we need to use to do His will.
Accept the wonderfully things that Hashem gives us and be happy
with the amount of What Hashem gives us like in Chanukah we have one small candle the first night, but when we see it in the dark it makes a big difference between total darkness and one candle. when we appreciate that Hashem gives us one candle then Hashem will give us another the next night which is already double.... till we have eight candles when we fully appreciated what Hashem gives us.
