The rabbis of old lived in a time of darkness. The Temple in Jerusalem had been destroyed, there were people who were starving, and the Roman rule was harsh. It was a time of asking, “Where is the light of God?” and a time of forming a new understanding – that God’s light is always with us, in our hearts, in our hands, in the way we help others.

For the rabbis, life was about revealing the or ganaz, the hidden light of God’s presence. They taught about acts of kindness, about the importance of tzedakah, and about the importance of being good to each other. But mostly, they began with a question.

The rabbis noticed that God created light on the first day, but the sun and the moon weren’t created until the fourth day. “What was the light that God created on the first day? And where did that light go?”

The rabbis taught that the light of the first day was the light of God’s presence, a light thousands of times brighter than the sun. But when Adam and Eve sinned, God became concerned. God realized that there would be evil people in the world, and that they might misuse the power of God’s pure light. And so, the rabbis tell us, God put away His light for the righteous of future generations.

This has been our task ever since – to find the or ganaz, the hidden light of God’s presence and to bring that light into the world.

There are wonderful Midrashim chronicling Adam and Eve’s time in Eden – how they were created on Friday morning and sinned in the afternoon, and how God allowed them to enjoy one glorious Shabbat. And then finally, as Shabbat ended, God hid away his light. Fifty-two hours of paradise, the rabbis taught. Fifty-two hours hours of trying and failing, and then Shabbat ended, and darkness entered the world.

This year, before Chanukah begins, open the box of candles and count them. And when you count them, you’ll discover a great mystical secret.

We’re used to thinking of Chanukah as eight nights. But according to Bnei Yishakar, one of the early Chassidic masters, what’s more important is the number of candles. Each box of contains exactly fifty-two candles – one for each hour that Adam and Eve saw God’s light.

Each candle, says Bnei Yishakar, contains a little bit of God’s light. But when candles sit in the box, they are only lumps of wax. Each of us must light a candle. And each of us must put our candles where others can see them. And together, with our candles, with our communities, with the light that we create together, we reveal the light of God. Ultimately, he teaches, this is the miracle of Chanukah – that in times of darkness we are able to come together and reveal God’s light.

There’s a Jewish physician named Rachel Naomi Remen who wrote a book about her grandfather – a Kabbalist who died when she was very young. In one story, she describes the first Chanukah she spent with her grandfather, and how she was fascinated by the menorah:

May we bring light into the world so that God’s light shines forever.