Antique Bezalel Judaica Candle Holder
Light also serves as a metaphor for Torah, mitzvot, and the human soul as the Proverbs teach, “A mitzvah is a candle, and the Torah is light” (Proverbs 6:23) and “A candle of God is the soul of man” (Proverbs 20:27). The mystical commentator, Sefat Emet, explains that performing a mitzvah is like lighting an internal candle. He writes:
“Doing a mitzvah is like lighting a candle before God — it is preparing a place where God’s glorious presence can dwell. By means of this you enliven your soul, the candle… The more light a person brings about in the physical darkness, through doing the mitzvot, the more that one will enlighten one’s soul from the light above” (Rabbi Yehudah Leib Alter of Ger, Sefat Emet, Parashat T’tzavveh ). The mitzvot become spiritual tools for opening our souls to God’s light and spreading that light into the world around us.
In this wintry season of darkness, we recognize both God’s role and our own human efforts in bringing light into the world. God’s light illuminates the universe with justice and righteousness. Each mitzvah we perform and each Torah text we study enables us to partner with God in shining that light through the world. This Hanukkah, may the burning candles of the menorah mirror the flaming candles of our souls, enlightened and enlivened by our commitment to God, to mitzvot, and to the study of Torah.
Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design (Hebrew: בצלאל, אקדמיה לאמנות ועיצוב) is a public college of design and art located in Jerusalem. Established in 1906 by Jewish painter and sculptor Boris Schatz, Bezalel is Israel's oldest institution of higher education and is considered the most prestigious art school in the country. It is named for the Biblical figure Bezalel, son of Uri (Hebrew: בְּצַלְאֵל בֶּן־אוּרִי), who was appointed by Moses to oversee the design and construction of the Tabernacle (Exodus 35:30). The art created by Bezalel's students and professors in the early 1900s is considered the springboard for Israeli visual arts in the 20th century.
