December 11, 2012 | 4:40 pm

The Menorah of Shammai

Posted by Emily Stern

Follow JewishJournal.com on

Emily Stern

I am  feeling so strongly that the world, energetically speaking, is perfect,

Shabbat is perfect. Not for any other reason than it is. On Shabbat, all is perfect.

The hair * on the head, the leaving one's house. 

a circuit already closed in its never ending openness. 

If now we see many, soon we see One.

if i get to be the shamesh **, the one who gets to CHANGE things,

to light these unlit lights of the world menorah, to "gather the sparks" as they say. ***

I would hope that the Hanukkah lights would go down in number like Shammai**** suggests so that all the expelled lights*** of the world were just so simply One, known and all. *****

----------

* See Laws of Shabbos: Shearing, Travelling, Lighting

** http://www.mazornet.com/holidays/Chanukah/menorah-shamash.htm

*** See kabbalah gathering the sparks

****the House of Hillel and the House of Shammai — on the proper order in which to light the Hanukkah flames. Shammai opined that eight candles should be lit on the first night, seven on the second night, and so on down to one on the last night. Hillel argued in favor of starting with one candle and lighting an additional one every night, up to eight on the eighth night. Jewish law adopted the position of Hillel. (Taken from Wikipedia)

It is said that in the "Future" we will light as Shammai suggests... 

***** G-d is One http://www.jewfaq.org/g-d.htm (And as Rabbi Andrew Hahn points out Sh'ma yisroel, Hashem Echad- G-d is One- is the tenant of jewish mantras)