It's Lit...

But what about when it's not?

Do you remember this guy? Ron Popeil was slinging the Showtime Rotisserie for much of my childhood on local tv channels. There was something so amusing about his catchphrase “set it and forget it.” It was very catchy and even still to this day, it’ll pop into my head at random moments. The 8 million units he sold also attest to that! Part of its success was the ease that “set it and forget it allowed.” It was convenient and simple, which is good in doses.

That notion of setting something in place has real relevance for the upcoming holiday of Chanukah. There is a debate in the Talmud¹ about whether the fulfillment of the mitzvah is activated through the lighting of the menorah or through placing it down. The back and forth in the text is lengthy but ultimately ends with the majority opinion following the lighting being the essential piece, as we know from the wording of the blessing “lehadlik ner shel chanukah,-on the lighting.”

Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, the great chasidic master known as the Kedushat Levi, takes these two schools of thought and riffs on them to make a larger point about life:

“Blessed are You, Lord… to kindle the Chanuka lights”: Behold, it is well known that the essence of a person’s [Divine] service in prayer and Torah and the mitzvot is to arouse fervor in their soul and their heart towards God, with love and wondrous desire, through meditation upon God’s greatness – deepening their awareness so that their soul will feel fervor for God with sweetness, closeness, etc…And this is the meaning of the blessing, “Blessed are You, Lord… to light…,” in which we bless and praise God who has chosen us…to perform commandments with kindling and with tremendous fervor blazing from them. But sometimes, when a person’s heart and mind have become blunted, such that they are not able to perform a mitzvah with fervor and desire, they should not refrain, heaven forfend, from performing it; rather, they should perform the mitzva in a state of “placing,” even if they have no fervor.²

The essence of what we are meant to do in life is to perform deeds with zeal and fervor. Think about some of your greatest passions and the joy that comes along with them. That’s what it means to act in the spirit of “lighting.” But the Talmud in its infinite wisdom is a text that maintains minority opinions, so by keeping the argument for “placing” in the text, Reb Levi Yitzchak draws meaning from that. In those moments when you’re not as passionate, maybe about the thing you’re normally passionate about or something totally different, don’t think that there isn’t value in doing it.

In fact, he goes on:

In truth, both these and those are the words of the living God; they mean the same thing and are not contradictory. Because in asserting that “kindling constitutes the mitzva,” we mean that ideally, a person should perform a mitzvah with “kindling,” with fervor and wondrous desire. And when the other side states that it is the “placing which constitutes the mitzvah,” it means that sometimes, when one falls from their level and no longer has an expanded consciousness, they should not therefore refrain from performing the mitzvah, heaven forfend. Rather, they should perform it in a state of “hanacha-placement” – meaning, even without fervor.

This is not some pithy aphorism. Utilizing the noteworthy Talmudic phraseology of “these and these are the words of the living God,” the Kedushat Levi adds serious heft to the idea of acting in the world even when you’re not feeling it. It’s really easy to lean into apathy in those moments, but we miss out on real growth when we do.

This resonated strongly with me as I have recently left the pulpit world. One of the great challenges that I faced in the pulpit was a sense of spiritual malnourishment. Because my spiritual fire that pushed me into the rabbinate became part and parcel of my professional requirements, that fervor was squelched pretty early on and I found it hard to tap into it. There were plenty of moments of feeling like I was in “set it and forget it mode.” I certainly strove to find purpose in the doing but in the long run, it was one of the main reasons I left the pulpit.

The truth is, it’s a dynamic that plays out in so many arenas in life. In love, we know the fire of the initial spark that exists, but much of amorous relationships is built in the little, mundane moments, the ones that we might categorize as the “placing” side of love. Or even in our self-work, it’s easy in the initial go around when we take on a new practice and see immediate results but what about when it becomes a slog and we can’t muster the energy because that light is dimmed? That, according to the Kedushat Levi, is just as sacred work.

As Chanukah rolls in next week, I find this teaching to be resonant at this time of year when the passion and fire aren’t quite as bright as earlier on. The Showtime Rotisserie tapped into our desire to lean into the ease and convenience of life, but there’s a drawback to that. It sells us on tapping out too early. For cooking a chicken, it works, but for the development of ourselves, Chanukah urges us to fight when it’s lit and especially so when it’s not.

Shabbat Shalom, Happy Weekend, and early wishes of an illuminated and joyous Chanukah!

1. Talmud Bavli Shabbat 22b

2. Perushei Aggadot-Chanukah