“Every candle lit for a mitzvah (such as the Shabbos candles,
Chanukah, in a synagogue, etc.) is extremely holy. If we would have ruach
ha Kodesh (Holy Seeing – The energy that enables us to see deeply into
and beyond what the eyes are seeing), we would perceive the future when we
light the candles, because the candles lit for a mitzvah tell prophecies. They
are like when the prophet would speak (and tell us) what he heard…”
--Rabbi Tzvi Hirsh Koidanover ,
(d. 1712), an eminent Talmudic, legal, and kabbalistic master, author of Kav HaYashar
(Note: A contemporary Chasidic teacher comments: “We don’t
perceive these prophecies but we must know that the candles are speaking to
us…and on some level our soul does perceive the messages. What the candles tell
us make an impression in the depths of our sub-conscious and soul.”)
I learned about this in Chanukah and since then I place the
candles that my wife lights on Shabbos in a place where I will be able to have
constant view of them. I have found a way to have the oil burn until the
morning. The first thing on Shabbos morning, they are
there, surprising me each time with their brightness.
Sometimes I go to their place. I sit with them. I say brochas (blessings)
in front of them. I sing and I say Tehillim (Songs of King
David). I sit quietly and meditate, and always, I look at them. And if I stay longer, I start to ask
myself, What are these lights all about? What can they show me, teach
me, lead me to, bring me into? Will I discover a new world there, a new way of seeing reality, a new language? Will I understand the language, even be able to
speak it?
It sounds simple enough. All they ask for is for me to
be aware of my neshoma’s presence. And in return, if I am willing to
wait for their timing, they present a vision and sing a song. Coming from these
lights, my lights, I recognize the vision and the song as unmistakably mine.
And they are speaking in a language I understand, without words.
