A question I received: What is the meaning of the verse, “A commandment is the candle and Torah is the Light”?

My Answer: In the science of Kabbalah, a commandment means the correction of your intention from “to enjoy personally” to the intention “to let others enjoy.” How is this done? With the help of the Light called Torah, which “ignites” your desire like a fire ignites a wick inside wax or oil.

There are 613 desires in the soul. But the desires are only the wax or the oil. The wick in the desire is created by our efforts to change our intention to one of bestowal. Then, the Light ignites it.

We have to prepare our desires so each of them will become a candle. To the degree that we make efforts, the Creator will light up lights inside us like a magician, and suddenly there will be Light inside us and we will be similar to the Light, the Creator.

We constitute a material that cannot light up by itself. Wax or oil cannot burn on their own. You have to add a wick to them, which is our efforts to overcome egoism.

We need to have the right ingredients: the Upper Light, the screen (wick) and the desire to enjoy (the material that can burn). Then we will become the Light!

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