Chanukah is the celebration of Light. A person celebrates it upon exiting the material world.

His life is very short and filled with worries, chores, and fear of the unknown. Man doesn’t know what he is living for and what will happen to him in the next instant. In truth, the whole world is being overtaken by terror, drug abuse, divorce, and depression.

But here, as the wisdom of Kabbalah explains, we receive an opportunity to come out to the Light, the sensation of eternity and completeness, the most exalted harmony. Having risen above the corporeal world, we begin to experience the spiritual world and suddenly discover a new reality.

It is as if you were driving a car on a highway when you suddenly ran out of gas and found yourself on the edge of an abyss. One more second and it will pull you in. But…nothing happens. Suddenly, this abyss dissolves and you continue your journey on a straight, smooth, wide road: From this grey, dull life you transition directly into the world of joy and illumination.

When this beautiful additional world is revealed to a person and he immediately starts living in it, he experiences the most exalted moment! He sees that he has received an enormous gift, and this is what Chanukah symbolizes. The name comes from the Hebrew word “Chanaya,” a stop on the path to complete correction, as well as from Hebrew “Chanukat Bait.”

Chanukah is celebrated as a historical event on three accounts:

1. The Maccabean Revolt, when few troops revolted against the regular army and won;
2. Illumination of the Temple, which in Hebrew means “Chanukat HaBait,” hence, the name “Chanukah” for the celebration;
3. The miracle of the Menorah burning for eight days on a single day’s oil.

In spirituality, “Illumination of the Temple” means that a person rises above his egoism to the property of Bina, the Temple, which is the place where the Creator is revealed.
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From Kabbalah for Beginners, “Hanukkah” 12/1/10

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