Chanukah sameach! Chanukah is one of my favorite holidays. All about light. Reminding each of us how we must be a light to the nations, a light to our surroundings and shine light to others.
In the beginning of Creation, G-d shone a special Divine light into the world for 36 hours. Then He hid that light for the future, for the world to come, for the days of Moshiach. But during Chanukah that special light is within the Chanukah candles and we can access that special Divine light.
On Chanukah the light of kedusha is so powerful that automatically the darkness of the world and the realm of impurity is nullified because of the light. In front of light darkness cannot exist.
So may we all merit to light up the world and to publicize the miracles the Jews experienced in those days. May we all merit miracles in our personal lives now as well.
And what is the lesson we learn from the shamesh, the extra candle we use to light the other candles of the menorah?
The entire purpose of the shamesh is to serve others. It has no existence of its own. Its entire raison d’etre is to serve, to light another. And that is why it merits to be on a higher level than the other Chanukah lights. So we can learn that by lighting anothers neshomah and by worrying about another Jew, by having that mentality and purpose to do for others and be selfless, we can reach a higher level spiritually.