Light and Grace on the Seventh Candle of Hanukkah

What Is Special About Seven? You may have a question. Eight we understand. Eight stands above nature, above the ordered chain through which Hashem brings the world into being. The eighth candle is the new thing that Hanukkah brings. It is the open miracle. But seven is the completion of the natural order. There are the seven days of Creation, the seven character traits of the soul, and the seven years of the farming cycle that ends in the year the land rests. So what exactly is the seventh candle? What new thing does it bring? The seventh candle does not rise above nature. It is nature’s completion and its wholeness. And wholeness is not just “more of the same.” It brings with it a completely different inner quality. The seventh stands for the seventh trait, the quality of kingship. As is well known, kingship “has nothing of its own.” It does not act. It receives. And in this receiving lies a tremendous power that no amount of doing can produce. Grace: Not Persuasion but Light There are people for whom things simply open up. The right door, the right person, the right moment. It is as if everything arranges itself. You know people like this. Perhaps deep in your heart you wonder: what is their secret? It is grace. Grace is not magic. It is not charisma, and it is not the power to persuade. Grace is a light that shines from Above. It is a higher will that causes something to be accepted, to open up, to be seen with favor. The Bible says of Queen Esther: “Esther found grace in the eyes of all who saw her.” Before there was any explanation, before anything was done, there was grace. She was accepted before any reasoning came into play. And of Joseph the Torah says that Hashem “gave him grace in the eyes of the prison warden.” It says “gave.” Grace is a gift from Above. It is not the result of effort. The Hasidic classic Likkutei Torah explains the same thing. It looks at the Priestly Blessing: “May Hashem shine His face upon you and grant you grace.” The words “grant you grace” mean that a special light is drawn down. It is the hidden light, which has no measure and no limit and is not bound by the rules of nature. Kingship, Setting the Self Aside, and the Vessel Now we come to the living nerve. You, as a young married man, know this pressure. Earning a living: you have to push. Raising your children: you have to push. Peace at home, your values, everything: pushing. “My own strength and the might of my hand,” as the Torah puts it. It feels as if everything depends on you and on your effort alone. The seventh candle teaches us that there is another way. The way of kingship is not a way of doing. It is a way of preparing the vessel. Water leaves the high places and flows down to the low ones. This is what the Torah teaches us. Blessing does not settle on the high place. It does not rest on the person who is full of himself, who is sure that everything is in his hands. It flows down to the low place, to the person who makes room. Setting the self aside is not weakness. It is the only vessel that can hold a “surrounding light,” a light too great to fit inside us, which embraces us from outside. This is because the light of grace comes from beyond the ordered chain of creation. It does not come in through the mind, through explanations, or through effort. It comes in by itself once you remove whatever blocks it. And what blocks it? The “I.” It is the feeling that says: “I am the one who does it. I am the one who has to solve it. I am the one who must convince.” This “I,” which you think is your strength, is sometimes exactly what is blocking the way.

Putting It into Practice

On this day, the seventh day of Hanukkah, when you light the candle, take one moment of letting go. Not laziness. Not giving up. Letting go. Set down the pushing. Set down the feeling of “I have to make this happen.” Stand before the candle, and remember that this light already exists. It is only waiting for an empty vessel. When you remove the “I,” the light will come in by itself. This is not a promise meant to comfort you. It is simply how kingship works. May it be Hashem’s will that we find grace in places where we never expected it. May doors open by themselves. And may the world welcome our presence gladly and with a warm face, through the working of Hashem’s light of grace.

Questions and answers

Q: What is the meaning of the seventh candle of Hanukkah compared to the eighth?

Rabbi Landau answers: You may have a question. Eight we understand. Eight stands above nature, above the ordered chain through which Hashem brings the world into being. The eighth candle is the new thing that Hanukkah brings. It is the open miracle. But seven is the completion of the natural order. There are the seven days of Creation, the seven character traits of the soul, and the seven years of the farming cycle that ends in the year the land rests. So what exactly is the seventh candle? What new thing does it bring? The seventh candle does not rise above nature. It is nature’s completion and its wholeness.

Q: What is special about the number seven on Hanukkah?

Q: Why do things simply open up for some people, and what is their secret?

Rabbi Landau answers: There are people for whom things simply open up. The right door, the right person, the right moment. It is as if everything arranges itself. You know people like this. Perhaps deep in your heart you wonder: what is their secret?

Q: What is grace, as in "Esther found grace in the eyes of all who saw her", and how is it different from persuasion?

Rabbi Landau answers: Grace is not magic. It is not charisma, and it is not the power to persuade. Grace is a light that shines from Above. It is a higher will that causes something to be accepted, to open up, to be seen with favor. The Bible says of Queen Esther: “Esther found grace in the eyes of all who saw her.” Before there was any explanation, before anything was done, there was grace. She was accepted before any reasoning came into play. And of Joseph the Torah says that Hashem “gave him grace in the eyes of the prison warden.” It says “gave.” Grace is a gift from Above. It is not the result of effort. The Hasidic classic Likkutei Torah explains the same thing.

Q: What should I do when I light the seventh candle of Hanukkah?

Rabbi Landau answers: On this day, the seventh day of Hanukkah, when you light the candle, take one moment of letting go. Not laziness. Not giving up. Letting go. Set down the pushing. Set down the feeling of “I have to make this happen.” Stand before the candle, and remember that this light already exists. It is only waiting for an empty vessel. When you remove the “I,” the light will come in by itself. This is not a promise meant to comfort you. It is simply how kingship works. May it be Hashem’s will that we find grace in places where we never expected it. May doors open by themselves.