The Bridge to Eternity - The True Miracle of Hanukkah Print
Written by Victoria Radin   

The Jewish sages teach that Hanukkah is an introduction to and preparation for the promised future redemption when the Messiah’s light will dispel all darkness. The true miracle of Hanukkah, they say, will be the transformation of the universe at the arrival of the Messiah when the wall between the physical and spiritual will become a bridge instead. As such, it is also called The Days of Eight, the days of transcendence from the natural to the spiritual.

The nine branched menorah used for the celebration is called the Hanukkiyah, loosely translated, “to begin again with G-d”. The oil lamps or candles are lit at twilight. The Hebrew sages say this points to the twilight of history. The number nine is a symbol of the end of all things, called ‘ketz’. Hanukkah, therefore, draws us into the final prophetic unfolding of the final deliverance from the final exile of the Jewish people. The lights are lit progressively from the first night to the eighth night, when all the candles are lit, producing an ‘explosion’ of brightness. The last night is called Zot Hanukkah, meaning, “This is it!” –– i.e. the new beginning with G-d, the time when the Messiah will create the Bridge to Eternity for the Jewish people.

G-d’s eternal enemy, Satan, has persistently tried to prevent the Jewish people from receiving the Holy Spirit, The Bridge that unites the physical with the spiritual in those who receive Yeshua as L-rd and Savior because G-d has said that when they do accept Yeshua, it will be “life from the dead” not just for them, but for the world as well. From Israel’s birth in Egypt, the devil has persistently tried to prevent her from reaching this destiny. With each onslaught, to the amazement of the world, victory was procured, not by the might of a small and weak people, but by Divine intervention in the face of certain defeat. Over millennia, Satan has used different strategies to overcome G-d’s chosen nation: Egypt and Russia tried to enslave them; Haman and Hitler tried to annihilate them; Assyria and Rome dispersed them throughout the world where most nations despised and persecuted them. Today, Muslims declare their intentions to “wipe Israel off the face of the earth”.

However, Antiochus, who called himself Epiphanes (G-d manifest), sought only to destroy their distinctiveness as Jews through assimilation into the Greek culture with its focus on the perfection of man and the beauty of Greek form, the antithesis of Judaism, which focuses on G-d and His beauty reflected in His creation and spiritually in imperfect man. The captivity of the Jews by the Greek General Antiochus was only a precursor, though, to a deeper, darker, more insidious captivity that would follow, the Captivity of Edom. The rabbis refer to Greece’s successor, Rome, (the carrier of Greek culture), as Edom. Edom epitomizes man’s final exile from G-d and that which will keep him from reaching the Bridge to Eternity.

Though the Hellenistic empires of Greece and Rome cease to exist, the spirit of Edom still rules the modern world. It holds much of mankind captive to a civilization that views itself as ethical, moral and humane, caring for knowledge, peace, life, and ecology––a civilization where man is primary and G-d or G-ds fit into man’s agenda. Historians say that there is almost nothing in our society that doesn’t have its roots in ancient Greece

The sages of Israel understood this kingdom of brass (Greece) that the prophet Daniel saw spreading through intellectual prowess out to the four directions of the world, moving swiftly like its image of a leopard with four wings, and ruling the whole earth (Daniel 7:6). It was revealed to Daniel that the ‘latter-time kingdom’ was the same one as this swift goat, the kingdom of Greece (Daniel 8:5-12 and 21-25). This vision exposed the fact that the spirit of Edom, transferred from Greece to Rome, would continue to empower the West until the last days. Its captivity would be the last one before Israel’s redemption and the coming of the Messiah.

The captivity of Edom is internal or spiritual exile from G-d. It causes individuals to be internally split, holding on to two conflicting, diametrically opposed cultures: the Greek or Western culture vs. the ethical and moral beliefs of Judaism. Where Antiochus failed in his attempt to destroy Israel through outward assimilation, Edom has succeeded to do inwardly to many Jews (and Christians), especially in the West.

The seven-branched Temple menorah was kept filled with oil, continuously burning to signify the presence of G-d in the midst of His people. Likewise, the nine-branched Hanukkiyah (the menorah used for Hanukkah) and its flames represent the light of G-d’s wisdom manifested in the soul of man. Antiochus, in calling himself Epiphanies (G-d manifest) sought to replace the Temple menorah with himself by extinguishing its lights and in its place, erecting a statue of himself. In like manner, the Captivity of Edom seeks to extinguish the Hanukkiyah, the light of G-d’s wisdom within mankind, erecting self in its place.

The light of the menorah is considered to be holy and is not to be used for worldly things such as for reading. It is the light that was created on the first day of creation. (The sun and stars were not created until the fourth day.) It is said to be the light that was preserved from the original creation for the righteous in the world to come. It is called ‘Primordial Light’, to be seen for the purpose of meditation only.

The New Covenant holds the key to the deep secrets of the Hanukkiyah. The ninth candle, a candle that is set higher than all the others, is called the Servant Candle, which must be used to light all the others. Yeshua is the Servant Candle, the living Torah, and the source of all wisdom and understanding. His light is Primordial, wisdom on which to meditate.

“The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light; they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.” (Isaiah 9:2 and quoted in Matthew 4:16 as applying to Yeshua)

In the Bible, pure oil is used to represent the presence or anointing of G-d, the Holy Spirit. Just as the Holy Spirit came upon Yeshua at His baptism in the beginning of His ministry, the Holy Spirit must fill each new believer. Yeshua can enlighten only those filled with the pure oil of the Holy Spirit of G-d. Then the Holy Spirit can speak and work through that individual. The oil of the Holy Spirit does not burn like ordinary oil but lasts eternally:

To end the spiritual exile of the Jewish people, we must pray for the salvation of Israel that they may “begin again with G-d”. Then we will see “life from the dead”, and walk with them on The Bridge to Eternity.
“O L-rd, save Your people, the remnant of Israel!” (Jeremiah 31:7b)

Barukh HaShem (Blessed is the Name of the L-rd)