First a story:
Not all jewelers are equally skilled. When Suri Greenberg received her engagement diamond, this fact became apparent in the way that no young newlywed wants to discover. After a long leisurely winter Friday night Shabbos meal, she noticed something wrong as she got up to help her new mother-in-law clear the table. Her ring was on her finger, but the diamond was missing, leaving a gaping hole in the middle of the setting.
Everyone in the house joined in the search. You would be surprised to see how tiny two carets can be when it was last seen in the kitchen before washing for bread, and from there may have moved to any of the rooms on the lower floor. When one of her brand new brothers in law, barely four years old, found the shiny object, he was rewarded by a warm hug and a large piece of chocolate. For everyone else, including the kallah, the sigh of relief was about the diamond, and the feeling of joy was about the circle successfully closing. For the f our year old, it was about the hug, and the approval that made him feel beloved.
End of story
Alternatively, is it?
The central miracle of Chanukah was the amazing victory of a small family against a great empire. In the course of a few days, the rest of the Jewish people woke up. Some joined the search for themselves, and others did not, but even the most integrated Hellenist could not act as though nothing happened. The day they entered the temple nobody really expected to find one vial of oil. So much had been destroyed and defiled, but they kept on looking. The the warm moment of embrace came. It was there. It wasn’t enough, but it was there. It stayed lit until the message of the miracle penetrated deeply enough for you to still feel it.
Sfas Emmes has something to say about it.
Hashem’s candle is the human soul. He searches for each Jewish soul. The word for search (chipus in Hebrew) has the same number value as the world menorahs. Your candle shows the light of Hashem’s candle, your soul. Your personal menorah has one thing to say to you every day- some of you say it in the morning tefillah. “The soul that you gave me is pure” and always will stay pure. When the Bais HaMikdash was with us, you would have felt the presence of Hashem’s life force within you. Today you have to do the equivalent of searching for His life force with a candle. You will find the diamond! The word for candle, “ner” in Hebrew can be seen as an abbreviation for the words nefesh (soul) and ruach (spirit). You have to use your soul and your spirit for this search.
