On Wednesday evening, December 6, Jackie Bitton, a well-known speaker, spoke at Ohel Sara about Chanukah. The shiur was titled, “Time to Bring More Light into the World,” and was hosted by Chazaq in memory of Eliezer ben Bella Bracha a”h.
Jackie Bitton began the shiur by sharing something her four-year-old daughter said about Chanukah last year. She told her mother that the reason that she loves Chanukah so much is because there is so much more light in the world.
“That is the subliminal overwhelming message of Chanukah,” Jackie shared. We light only when it is dark. Hashem is telling us that the world is very dark now, and the world, the nation, our personal lives, all need light. It is our responsibility as the chosen nation to create light in the darkness. The only way to do this is to fill yourself up with light. So, how do we become a person infused with light?
We have so many things we want to accomplish, but we aren’t doing them. We find it easier to choose the path of least resistance because it’s hard to work on ourselves. The bigger issue we face is that we don’t believe we can change. The yeitzer ha’ra has power. This is our biggest cause for giving up. There’s this voice inside that says, “You can’t do it.”
On Chanukah this year, we are going to knock out that voice and say, “I can!” She shared a powerful story about a girl who was a couple of grades ahead of her in high school. This girl had a lot of talent and was very pretty. She had everything going for her, but she had one difficult character flaw. She had a terrible issue with anger. Jackie explained some examples of how this girl would react to things with a lot of anger. After high school, the girl’s friends asked Jackie to speak to her and to encourage her to go get help for her anger issue. Jackie described how she went and tried to convince her, but the girl reacted with terrible anger. She said, “This is G-d’s problem for making me this way, and this is who I am.” Then she told her to leave. The friends and Jackie all decided that all they could do for this girl was to daven for her.
The Vilna Gaon taught that the reason we are in this world is to be the best humans we can be and to expand on our naturally good qualities. If a person couldn’t change, then there never would be the mitzvah of t’shuvah.
Sadly, this girl wasn’t receptive to this idea at all. Jackie shared that she cried for this girl who was locked into such a negative reality. There is no such thing as “can’t.” Rav Noach Weinberg zt”l taught that it is avodah zarah to say you can’t. You hurt your emunah in Hashem when you say that. We can say, it’s challenging, but I can do it with Hashem’s help.
Years passed. One day, this girl called Jackie to tell her she was engaged. Then she told her how she had decided to change.
She remembered the teaching, that if you open for me an opening as small as a hole in a needle, I’ll open an opening as large as a huge wedding hall. The girl shared what caused her to change. It was the fifth night of Chanukah, and she was in such a dark place. She realized the destruction she had created with her anger problem, and she sat and stared at the Chanukah lights and said I want to give light. The Or Ganuz is visible to us only once a year – on Chanukah. We see it in the flames of the menorah and it’s healing for the neshamah and the psyche just to gaze at the Chanukah lights. She cried while looking at the lights and said to Hashem, “I need help.” She didn’t leave until the lights burned down. The next morning, she told herself, “I believe in myself and that I can change.” That Chanukah changed her whole life.
Her shidduch came the next day. She described how she told him on her sixth date about her anger issue and he asked her two questions. One: Was she doing something about it? The second was: Did she believe she could conquer it? She cried and said she did believe she could, and then he said he was on board with her.
The Rambam teaches that when a person does t’shuvah, he or she has a new neshamah. Chanukah is a holiday of miracles. To change reality, we need to believe in the power and strength in every inch of Chanukah. Every night, don’t wait to pray and daven for your salvation.
The night that Potifar’s wife tried to seduce Yosef and he resisted was the 25th of Kislev. It was Chanukah. Chanukah is a time that transcends nature. It’s a time a person can tap into things he or she normally can’t tap into. Every day of Chanukah is a gift. Every day of Chanukah is strength, and every day is miraculous!
She shared the teaching of the holy rabbi, Levi Yitzchok of Berditchev, who taught that each night of Chanukah is an auspicious time to pray for something different.
She then listed each one. The first night, pray to not be lonely or depressed. The second night, pray that you or someone you know should find a spouse and/or pray for your shalom bayis. On the third night, pray for happy, healthy children. On the fourth night, which reminds us of the Imahos, pray to access their strengths and to be healthy, successful women. The fifth night reminds us of the five books of the Torah. Pray that your husband and sons are b’nei Torah. On the sixth night, pray for joy, and on the seventh night pray to have beautiful Shabbasos. On the eighth night, which is above nature, pray for your miracle – whatever salvation you need. She added to pray every night for Eretz Yisrael, the soldiers, the hostages to be freed, and for the safety of klal Yisrael.
“We should be zocheh to tap into the light of Chanukah and to create our own inner light to give light to the world.”
The community is so grateful for this beautiful, inspiring shiur. Thank you, Jackie, for all the light you are spreading!
By Susie Garber
