Light in the Dark

by | Dec 2, 2015 | Soul

I am a soul

Chanukah is a most powerful time for prayer. Here are some tips I heard from Rabbanit Yemima Mizrachi on how to utilise the tremendous light that Chanukah brings into our lives. 

 
Segulot:
As she says- “A segulah has no essence of its own; it’s a practical expression of hard work, intentions, and learning.” 
.To eat food dripping with oil every night so we will be dripping with Parnassa (sustenance) and miracles. 
Just like oil goes up- as if it’s above nature- miracles are also above nature. 
 
. Sit for half an hour after lighting candles and pray! 
Sit and pray and make requests! And shed tears!! And dream!! 
When you pass by the candles, each time you see them, make a request. The gate is open to accept your prayers
 
 
. Say perek  צא seven times- “yoshev beseter elyon”- This is the tehillim that the macabim said when they won the war- and an 8th time (beyond nature) quietly- it’s a segula for protection- it pushes away the harmful forces from our body and soul.
 

. Also, say the end of perek צ seven times.  …ִוי ִהי ֹ נ ַעם הי  May the pleasantness of Hashem our God be upon us; establish the work of our hands upon us; make the work of our hands prosper. 

(Seven times out loud, and the eighth time quietly.)

. Say perek ל- ‘aromimcha’- against fear and emotional sickness. “Emotional sickness” — of the nefesh — means a lack of joy. Anyone who is never happy is sick. There’s no greater sickness than joylessness. Ask for joy — it’s critical. We ask for Mashiach all the time, for the Beit Hamikdash — but what is that worth without joy? What have we accomplished?

 
. Tehillim 67- “for the conductor”. Sometimes it’s printed in the shape of a menorah. The chida says saying it will be considered as if you lit the menorah in the Beis hamikdash, and nothing bad will happen to you…
 
. There is a segula for spiritual healing in setting up the Chanukah lights. 
 
. The eighth day of Chanukah is especially powerful for prayer. Daven for a soul mate, for children….
 
“The eighth candle. All the lights are lit in the chanukiyah; it’s called Zot Chanukah ̧ echoing the passage we read in the Torah that morning. It’s a day auspicious for an easy birth, for fertility, and for prayers to end infertility. “

Here are the moving words of the Ruzhiner Rebbe: ” אותה הפעולה שצדיקי הדור הגדולים ביותר אינם יכולים לפעול בתפילת נעילה ביום כיפור, יכול כל יהודי פשוט לבקש ולפעול בדמעות שיזיל מול הנרות. The very act that the greatest tzaddikim of the generation cannot perform at ne’ila on Yom Kippur, any simple Jew can do through the tears that he sheds in front of the candles on Zot Chanukah.” 

. Have a beautiful menorah. This the only chag where the word mehadrin is written. “Only the finest for You, Hashem, because I love You.” And use olive oil. There are many kinds of kosher oil for lighting, writes the Chida. “והסגולה לבנים-The segulah for righteous children is to use the hiddur of olive oil; therefore one must be careful to do so!”

. Try not to do work when the candles are burning. The custom is not to do any work during the first half‐hour that the candles are lit, but the Chavot Yair goes even further. Sit for half an hour facing the Chanukah candles, looking at the flames and relaxing. 

 

.  Rosh Chodesh Tevet. 

It’s the anniversary of something incredible: the most evil man in the world did teshuvah. His name was Yishmael. His father — our father, Avraham, who took so much joy in seeing his son put on tefillin, died that day. The first day of Tevet is the yahrtzeit of Avraham, and Hashem promised him: ִתּ ָקּ ֵבר  בּ ֵשׂי ָבה  ט ֹו ָבה — You will be buried in good old age. The initials of that promise spell out Tevet. Why was it called a “good” old age? Because he saw his son Yishmael repent. And if the child who was farthest away from Torah in the world could do teshuvah, then who can’t? Of course your son/sister/husband/you can! 

. The Chatam sofer says-If a poor man knocks on you door during candle lighting, it means Hashem wants to make a huge miracle for you that year. 
 

. Friday night- also a time to Daven for a soul mate and for children. Because we see the Shabbos candles like a chattan and kalla but they’re missing children and then we see the menora which looks like a mother with children, but she’s lacking a husband/ shalom bayit so we Daven that Hashem should join the two- bring completion and we Daven for Moshiach.

 

. Most important: when you’re sitting there in front of the candles, remember those who sit in the dark — the sick, the still single, the lonely ones. Don’t be happy alone. Rabbi Zeira lived a long, long life. They asked him, “To what to you attribute your long life?” He answered, מעולם לא ָשׂשׂתי בתקלת חבִרי— I have never rejoiced at my friend’s misfortune. 

We have to pray for the good of this nation. We’re all so good; we all have such incredible dreams.