The Menorah Files

LIGHT VII: THE BATTLE

Flaming Wonders knew they had two tough acts to follow. But they figured their presentation had it made.

A flurry of high-distortion, heavy-metal sound, a blinding flash of light and the whole of heaven was on fire. Hollywood-style flames were dancing out of the coffee mugs of every member of the court. With a mighty whoosh, one giant flame appeared at center-floor. A sales rep stepped out. Elegantly, he stepped over to a solid gold Menorah (real, physical gold), squeezed oil from olives into the cups (natural, earth-grown olives), and with a flourish of his wings set flames dancing across the cups.

And then, in the 3D-projection area, appeared an image for which all the angels rose in reverence and awe. It was the image of none other than Moses himself, staring at one of the Flaming Wonder flames dancing within a bush. In utter awe, he could be heard whispering to himself, "I must turn from my present, humanist mind-set to attain cognizance of this new observation: that this bush is aflame yet there is no combustion of its carbon!"

As the ear-ringing music reached its apex, all the flames in the chamber rushed together over the heads of the audience and in magnificently choreographed motion converged into the Flaming Wonders logo, with a subtitle, "Do We Have Your Attention Now?"

The entire heavenly court applauded, ecstatic to see that, yes, there was a solution, and one that could satisfy even their hyper-rigorous human consultant. Or so it seemed.

The sales rep, remained there, smiling. "Need I say more? I believe you have seen with your eyes, we have filled all the requirements."

"No," sighed an exasperated Yosef Karo. "You need say no more. You have already said it. Or at least, we have all heard Moses himself say it."

"And what better authority on Torah-compliance than that?" ventured the sales rep.

"Quite correct," added Yosef Karo. "And since he clearly acknowledged that you fail to fill a basic requirement, I suppose you can take your little presentation and go back to your desk."

"But, Rabbi Karo!" pleaded a stunned senior judge. "You insisted that the oil not be consumed, and these angels are providing just that. What could now be lacking?"

"Moses said clearly that the bush was not burning," answered Rabbi Karo. "No combustion of its carbon."

"And that's just what you wanted," countered the sales rep.

"So if the bush is not burning, then where is the flame coming from?" demanded the Rabbi.

"It's just there!" the sales rep exclaimed, obviously having lost his cool already. "What do you care where its coming from?! Do we really need a whole new technical discussion with the charts and schematics and more talk about infinite light and spiritual engineering? It works. It has worked in the past. It fulfills everything you've talked about until now! It even provides a constant miracle at every moment! So just go with it!"

Yosef Karo took a deep breath and replied, "The Torah states, '...pure olive oil, crushed in order to be a luminance, to raise up an everlasting flame.' That irrevocably implies that the flame must be produced by the combustion of the oil. Now his voice rose again. But, in your case, as Moses clearly stated, there is no combustion at all!"

"But that's what you asked for!" exclaimed a row of angels in unison.

"I asked for halachic compliance, and I have not budged!" was the firm reply.

Now the whole court was in an uproar. Consternation and bewilderment were on the faces of many as they waved their wings to each other in frantic discussion. Some, such as the ChairAngel, tried to justify Rabbi Karos position, but in vain.

"How could you please such a man?" they argued. "First he tells us the cups must be full each day with the very same oil as was originally placed in them. Then he demands that the oil be burning. Burning. That means being consumed. Its mass diminishing as it is produces heat and light. So is the oil to burn or is the oil not to burn?! The man has to make up his mind!"

That's when the Sar Shel Yavan saw his chance. Amidst the commotion, he crept surreptitiously forth towards Rabbi Karo. At about two meters, he began his attack.

"This," he stabbed, "is precisely the attitude that has gotten you stubborn Jews into all your trouble until now. Cannot you relent and see? If the stick is too long to hold at both ends, then grasp one end alone!"

His eyes began to shine, the polish of his marble glistening in the sharp light of the Chamber. One moment he was a dramatist, the next a philosopher. "Even I would be ready to accept what you call a miracle. It would take some convincing and explaining, but as long as there is some semblance of internal logic -- albeit not the logic of our world, perhaps the logic of a higher realm -- I am always open to hear anything that could make sense.

"But you," he pointed accusingly at Yosef Karo, "you Jews will not suffice with common sense!"

He paused. His tone became more civil. "You profess wisdom and rationality. Yes, I have admitted many times that your Torah is full of jewels of insight into human nature, a marvelous system of critical analysis that -- although quite distinct -- nevertheless compliments our own. It is, as stated within, '...your wisdom and your understanding in the eyes of the nations.'"

His tone suddenly changed. "We could have blended so beautifully together!" He began to cry. "A Judeo-Hellenist Ethic! Your spiritual wisdom, coupled with our Science of Nature..."

The power of Greek drama in its pristine source now unleashed in all fury. "But no! Like the olive oil we discuss today, you refused to mix! You refused to recognize your Torah for the marvelous pinnacle of human wisdom that it is, clinging to this archaic, primitive doctrine that it is something G-dly, something that defies -- as if it were at all possible -- the very Laws of Logic that set the parameters of the universe, of nature, of the gods and of all that is.

"When I saw your rituals, I learned many things from their wisdom. But there were those I could not fathom. When I inquired about them, your reply always boiled down to the same irrational, 'Because our G-d, the G-d of Israel has so commanded.'

"I begged you to describe for me this G-d we could not see, a G-d who commands things beyond the intellect of his subjects. You told me He has no description. No explanation. He just is, you said.

"'That which cannot be described and cannot be explained cannot exist!' I exclaimed. And you persisted. You claimed that existence cannot be explained either -- despite all I had taught you of science and philosophy.

"When I saw those things, I felt moved to enlighten you. I had mercy upon you by abolishing those commandments that perpetuated this crude, backward doctrine of yours. But, like little children, you couldn't swallow the medicine the doctor prescribed for your own well being! You forced me to take an extreme position. I decreed upon you, 'Engrave upon the horns of your oxen that you have no portion in the G-d of Israel!'

"But that drove you only further. You abandoned logic and good common sense, as though all this Torah of yours had nothing to do with that, as if it were no more than an irrational bond between you and something that cannot exist. You sacrificed your very lives and the lives of your loved ones as though nothing else mattered but this nonsensical, blind vision!

"So you see, I too sincerely desire that your light should shine forth! Let the oil of your wisdom burn and illuminate the entire world! But first we must ensure that it complies with human reason. At the very least, it must fit neatly within the realm of logic, and not step beyond."

Yosef Karos eyes widened. The Sar had enlightened him. "So you defiled the oil on purpose," he uttered.

The Sar smiled. Karo went on. "You wanted the Maccabees to light the Menorah with impure oil, as a symbol of Torah compromised with human intellect. This would have been your underhanded victory!"

"And tell me," the Sar countered, "not using the oil simply because a soldier may have touched it with a ten foot pole makes sense?"

"Reality does not require the approval of your common sense!"

"THERE YOU GO AGAIN!!"

"Excuse the interruption." A hand waved from amongst the engineers' bench, accompanying the polite Danish accent. "My job is empirical science, especially in the area of quantum physics, and I must say I am forced to agree with the rabbi."

LIGHT VIII: DARKNESS SHINES

The Sar turned with an imposing glare, but the scientist meekly continued.

"We don't use philosophy. We are empiricists. Meaning that we accept the data, whether it fits our current conceptions or not. Once we have the data, we try to make sense of it -- not the other way around.

"As a matter of fact," the scientist grinned slightly, "we have observed certain phenomena very basic to the common reality that appear to counter common sense altogether."

"But they are measurable, nonetheless."

"Yes, but with a caveat. You see, as soon as we start measuring anything, the reality is impacted by our act of measurement. After all, just by saying that we are going to measure something, we are already bifurcating the reality. We're saying, there's us, and there's the thing we are measuring -- and then, of course, there's our act of measure­ment, which is a third thing."

"So therefore?"

"So nothing can really be known in an absolute sense. That leaves a lot of room for what they call miracles -- when you are dealing with unknowable states, well just anything could happen. There's no absolute rule of cause and effect, as you Ancient Greeks like to believe."

The Sar now demonstrated his mastery of sophistry, able to debate even on another's ground. "But it is measurable none­the­less -- perhaps not precisely, but measurable."

"Everything, to be a something, must have some sort of measure to it," the scientist conceded.

"Idiot!" The Sar shouted. "Is then what these Jews believe empirically observable in measurable terms?"

The scientist was unperturbed. "A scientist's job is to measure according to what he is able to perceive with the tools available to him," he observed. "The job of the rabbi is to heighten the consciousness of the observer so that the inner world also becomes perceptible."

"And therefore?" insisted the Sar.

"In a strictly material world it is true there is no perception of ritual impurity or purity in the oil. But up here, in the inner world..."

"But they believe in things that are inherently immeasurable!! Not in their world and not in any world! Because they implicitly deny measurement!"

"Such as?"

"They themselves admit that this G-d of theirs is immeasurable. And they believe in a Beginning! Creation ex nihilo! Now, go ahead, tell me you can measure and observe that the entire cosmos came out of nothing!"

"Nothing is immeasurable."

"Precisely. And now, have him tell you about the Holy Ark they claim to have, that is 2.5 cubits wide but takes up no space whatsoever in the Chamber of the Holy of Holies."

The court members looked at each other with widened eyes. They knew about that chamber, and on occasion certain beings were permitted entry. But they were never allowed to measure. That place was strictly His territory.

That chamber was twenty cubits wide. The Holy Ark, measuring 2.5 cubits sat in the middle of it. The measurement from the left wall of the chamber to the left side of the Ark was 10 cubits. The measurement from the right wall of the chamber to the right side of the Ark was also 10 cubits. With the width of the Ark, the distance from one wall to the other should have come to 22.5 cubits. Yet, when measured, it came to only 20 cubits. The Ark took up no space. Yet it measured 2.5 cubits. It took up space and it did not take up space. This, the Sar Shel Yavan could not accept. And the members of the heavenly court were entirely bewildered.

"But you have lost!" retorted Yosef Karo. "The Maccabees did not fall for your ploy! They refused to do the rational and searched instead for the impossible -- for an untouched flask of pure oil!"

"One more small defeat in battle," the Sar sighed. "But the war I shall still win. For you have gone too far. You are attacking the very basis of logic, and that battle you cannot win.

"Let me explain something," he continued, "since it is I who is the master of mathematics and logic. In our world, one plus one is two. I am ready to accept that a world could have been created where one plus one could be three, or five, or seventeen, or whatever its Creator wishes it to be. I can even accept a world where two conclusions, or even more could be drawn from one equation, as your friend the quantum physicist here wishes to posit. As I said, as long as there is a logic, whatever that logic might be. As long as there are true statements and false statements, there is logic and there is reality.

"But what I cannot accept is that one plus one should equal two and the same one plus one should not equal two. That a statement should be both true and false at once. That is a denial of logic. If that could be so, then you and I and all our world and all that exists has no true substance!"

Now he began to scream again, in a maddened, desperate shrill tone. "And that is precisely what you are demanding! You want that oil should burn, yet not be burning! That the laws of nature be preserved, yet a miracle occur! You are demanding darkness to shine and yet remain darkness! But it cannot be! You cannot defy the very binary foundation of reality, of being!!"

"Yes," the scientist piped in. "Reality is definitely binary. The whole cosmos is built on is and isn't. If the Rabbi wants us to abrogate that to have his miracle, well, it just cant be done. Not even by Heaven, Inc."

Yosef Karo swung around in royal form to face and command the court. "Esteemed masters of judgment!" he declared. "Empowered to do the work of the Infinite Master of All Being! Could it be that the hand of heaven is limited in any way? Perform the Miracle of Chanukah in utmost perfection as the Torah so demands!"

Silence was all he received in response. Quietness, the echo of his own voice and a room of pale faces. His eyes flashed from one angel to the next, to the next, this one in tears, another's face covered with shame, some shaking their heads in sorrow, wings drooping, the glow of heaven all but gone from their countenance. Finally, the ChairAngel spoke up.

"Illustrious Rabbi." He forced out his words, as though reading from a script, a glistening tear rolling over his cheek. "We thank you very much for coming today, and enlightening us with your unique perspective. It is with deep regret, however, that we inform you we are unable to process your request. We refer to the advice we have received that for a flame to both burn and not burn, for the same oil to be consumed and not be consumed, to preserve the laws of nature and defy those very same laws at once, abrogates the very basis of reality. We in heaven can make anything be. Or we can make it not be. But nothing can both be and not be at once. However, we assure you we will do our best to hire the applicant who comes closest to fulfilling the requirements you have laid out before us."

For a moment, Karo was still. He bit his lip, perhaps he shivered -- it would be hard to tell. Then he turned ever so deliberately towards the center of the assembly and stepped in awe and trembling towards that point in the epicenter that transcended place, time and consciousness. The Divine Spirit of the Infinite Light And Beyond overcame and enveloped him, as he raised his hands and cried out in a piercing, mighty voice, like the massive waves of a storm crashing upon the shore: "You Who dwells in darkness as You do in light, Who is found in concealment as in revelation! Beyond Being and Not Being, You who unites all things and for Whom all things are one!"

And then, even louder, unbearably, tortuously... "Almighty Father in Heaven, have compassion upon your children who have given their lives to the slaughter for the sake of Your Great and Awesome Name!"

The echo of his voice pounded the walls of the chamber, shaking them to the ground. The supernal beings of the heavens stood in their places as though stunned. All mouths were closed, all wings held their place in readied stillness.

And then the glory of the Holy One, Blessed be He rose in all worlds. A light that shone with equal intensity in all places, in all realms, for it knows no place or time.

"It is the Ohr haGanuz!" exclaimed the ChairAngel in reverence. "The light of the first day of Creation that was hidden until the Time to Come! We must all descend below to see from whence comes this light!"

So it was that the entire Supreme Court of the Heavens descended into the Holy Chamber of the Temple in Jerusalem -- the physical one on this earth -- to witness the miracle of the Menorah, as the oil burned to produce a flame, but did not burn; combustion occurred, but did not occur; oil was consumed and none was consumed; transforming darkness into light while remaining darkness.

Silence reigned. And the silence was also Light.

"This is my G-d," whispered Yosef Karo. "This is my G-d and I will praise Him."

And all the heavenly court and the whole host of heaven, indeed all of G-d's creation and infinite emanations burst into the song of Hallel, the praise of the Ultimately Infinite.

Including, noted Rabbi Karo, the Sar Shel Yavan.

Darkness shone.

Sources: See the thesis Mai Chanukah, based on the Lubavitcher Rebbe's examination of the miracle of Chanukah (Kehot Publication Society, NY, 1994)