Chanukah: Eight days of Miracles Designed to Bring Mashiach

It’s as innocent as the child’s dreidel, or the chocolate gelt. Four sides corresponding to the Tetragrammaton (YHVH), but 4 sides engraved with the Hebrew Letters G, H, N, and Sh. Four letters whose numerical value add to to 358, that of Mashiach, the Messiah.

From the games we play to candles we light, the entire Chanukah event is designed to help us bring Mashiach. And that where our consciousness should be. The eight days are a cosmic event not a celebration of a miracle that happened because it occurred during this cosmic event. The light we light each night are to connect us to the special light of miracles available to us once a year for 8 days staring every 25th of Kislev (Sagittarius). It’s different light/energy than what’s available to us in the 8 days of Sukkot-Shemini Atzeret; and it’s different from the light available to us during the 8 days of Pesach (Passover); and it’s different from the energy available to us on the 8 other holidays throughout the year. In total there are 32 days of varying special Light/energy (besides the special light of Shabbat). This connects to the 32 Paths of Wisdom of the Tree-of-Life through which these various light shine unto us.

The oil lasted 8 days because the Light of Chanukah, Mashiach Light lasted 8 days, not the other way around. As soon as the special Light of Mashiach (Or Ganuz) was revealed into our existence, it was hidden. I learned from my teacher that on the first Shabbat of Creation, it was brought out for 32 hours then hidden away for the time of the Messiah. But for 8 days every year we can taste of the Light.

Chanukah Meditations

It appears the purpose of Channukah is to bring Mashiach.

Let’s start with the books of Maccabees dating (for right or wrong) the first war in 3585 HC with the numerical value of Mashiach being 358.

One of the key elements of Chanukah is based on the spiritual tenet that nothing can ever be lost, once it goes from latent(potential) state to physical one it’s ever present in the universe whether we can physically see it or not. So the light of the first night, is added to the second and so forth until the 8th day when we have the light of 1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8 = 36 days.

That explained, we can note that the sum of all the Torah occurrences of the words “first” through “eighth”—echad, sheni, shlishi, reve’i, chamishi, shishi, sheve’I, and shemeni—is (189+125+2+2+2+2+0+0) = 322 and since the sum of days (numbers) 1-8 representing all the summary Chanukah lights for the 8 days is 36 , and (322 + 36) = 358. And while 36 is just the result of rounding off the numerical term 35.8, the number 36 to the kabbalists represents the lamed-vav tzaddikim, or 36 righteous souls necessary at all times to maintain our existence in the universe.

The Blessings

The start of all blessings:

When start the blessing with the word Baruch, we need to keep in mind that it has the value (when using the caf sofit) of 708, which is the same as that of the 42 letters of the upper Mem-Bet, the Name YHVH through 3 iterations. This is no coincidence as it is from this Name that the blessings flow through the 6 levels (dimensions) of zeir anpin and into our world. It is also for this reason that the first gate from the Holy of Holies into our world has the dimensions 6 x 7 (the Gate of 42):

YHVH

YVD HY VYV HY

YVD VYV DLT HY YVD VYV YVD VYV HY YVD

L’hadleek Ner Chanukah:

Now regarding the Chanukah blessings on the words L’hadleek Ner Chanukah and the kavanot that we’ve learned from the Arizal, the 3 first letters Lamed, Nun and Chet, spell out in small gematria, 3,5,8 or 358, Mashiach.

The initials in L’hadleek Ner Chanukah (to light the Chanukah candle) spell the word Nachal (a holy Name that means stream or river, and also inheritance) and it has a numerical value of 88, which when aided by a kolel of 1 = 89, that of Chanukah itself.

Nevertheless, the concept of a stream is very important because by lighting the candles with the right consciousness we’re opening a stream of light (the energy of sustenance or shefa) from above into our lives and world. And the inheritance is the Messiah (the Moshiach).

As explained by the Arizal,the secret of 3 letters N, CH. L and Nachal comes very fittingly considering that the gematria of Chanukah is 89, from the 3 words that comprise the 8th and 9th of the 13 Attributes of G-d : “Notzer Chesed L‘alefim.” The Ari further explains that the 8th sefira (level), which is Binah (Imma/Understanding) is where we are drawing this upper light from. and moreover, that a key secret here is that once the 8th level is tapped into, all 3 upper levels (Binah, Chochma and Keter) are at once available to us.

So the first mediation is on opening up the flowing river (Nachal) from Binah, Chochma and Keter though Binah into Zeir Anpin ( the heavenly ladder that connects our world to Binah (the upper world). Zeir Anpin is represented by the aspect of the Tetragramamton (YVD HE VEV HE) called (Mah) of numerical value 45.

We are further told that Mah combines with Binah through the alef(E) in the letter vav (VEV) to the regressively spelled Name Ehyeh (E, EH EHY EHYH) which is associated with Binah and has a numerical value of 44, together they are 45 + 44 = 89, once again the value of Chanukah. This furthers connects us to the 44 (36 + 8 helper/Shamesh) candles lit during the 8 days of Chanukah.

(E, EH EHY EHYH + YVD HE VEV HE)

(Shefa flowing from Binah into Zeir Anpin)

Second Meditation:

The value of the word L’hadleek plus the kolel (1) = (179 +1) = 180, and partially because of this the Arizal tells us to meditate on Av, Sag, Mah aspects of the Tetragrammaton which total (72+63+45) = 180, at this point in the blessing. We’ll explain below what it connects to, as we don’t want to meditate in a vacuum.

Av (YVD HY VYV HY) = 72

Sag (YVD HY VEV HY) = 63

Mah (YVD HE VEV HE) = 45

= 180

Whenever we have a value of 18 or a multiple of it times 10 (sefirot) in the Torah or Kavanot coding, it has the same connection, which as Rabbi Chaim Vittal of blessed memory explains “All Torah Light is spread by squaring,” is that the square root of 180/10, or 18, is 4.2426. This is significant because 424 is the value for “Mashiach Ben David” and 26 is the value of the Tetragrammaton (YHVH).

Now, specific to the Channuka blessing is that the spelled-out (gematria milui) value of the letters nun (NVN) and that of the lamed (LMD) of L’hadleek Ner is also 180, thus giving us yet another connection to “Mashiach Ben David.”

From the 18 words of the 13 Attributes again, “Notzer Chesed l‘alefim” means “He preserves kindness for 2000 years” which is a hint that our time of exile for the past 2000 years is coming to a close, and if we add the 18 to it, we get 2018 CE, the year the tzaddikim have prophesied for the coming of the messiah and the final redemption (geula) and also the year 2018 HC the year G-d made his covenant with Abraham, our inheritance (Nachal).

Indeed, the word candle, Ner, has a numerical value of 250 and so the 8 candles have a collective value of 250 x 8 = 2000.

And so when we add the 180 of Av, Sag. Mah to the 180 of L’hadleek Ner plus the kolel of 3 for the 3 aspects of the YHVH, we get 180 + 180 + 3 = 363, the numerical value of H’Mashiach, (the Messiah), which is what we should be mediating on when we recite L’hadleek Ner:

Receiving H’Mashiach

L’Hadleek

Regarding Ner, the Arizal tells us to combine the Names Ehyeh, Elohim, and Adonai with YHVH on 3 different levels to draw down the light:

(EHYH, ELHYM, EDNY).

If we take the first two letters of each Name (EH, EL, ED), they add up to 6 + 31+ 5 = 42, as in the 42-Letter Name of G-d, (the Shem Mem-Bet, known as the Ana B’koach).

Then if we take the third letter (EHYH, ELHYM, EDNY) in each (YHN) they add up to 10 + 5 + 50 = 65 the numerical value of Adonai (EDNY), which leaves (H,YM, Y) which sum to 5 + 50 + 10 = 65, Adonai (EDNY) again.

The main point though is that the 3 Names represent the 42-letter Name and 130, which is the numerical value of the two synonyms, Sinai and Sulam (ladder). Now the total numerical value of the 3 Names (EHYH, ELHYM, EDNY) is 172, and when we add 1 for the kolel, it’s 173, as in the small gematria numerical value for the 42-letter Name, not surprising as the 42-Letter Name preceded them.

The Ari further explains that at the word Ner in the blessing we should concentrate on combining the 3 Names (EHYH, ELHYM, EDNY) with the 3 simple (YHVH)’s. These 3 YHVH’s add up to 26 + 26 + 26 = 78, the gematria of Mazla, aramaic for mazal, fortune, which we want to draw into our lives when lighting the Chanukah candles. This process mimics the flow of the shefa, (life-giving light) that emanates from the 3 YHVH’s and flows from the Holy of Holies through the Gate of 42 into the Holy Temple and then our world.

Now the main point of the Arizal was that the 6 Names (YHVH–EHYH, YHVH–ELHYM, YHVH–EDNY)-add to 250, the value of Ner, candle, but if we add 6 as the kolel, we get 256, which is the value for both H’Aron (Ark of the Covenant) and for Aaron who lit the Menorah as channel for us all.

So when we recite Ner, we want to meditate on the 42 Letter name (the Ana B’koach), receiving mazal, letting  Aaron, the only person in the Torah assigned the title Mashiach, be our channel to light the Menorah in our lives and world.

אבג יתץ

קרע שטן

נגד יכש

בטר צתג

חקב טנע

יגל פזק

שקו צית

together with the 6 Names merging together as follows.

YHVH – EHYH (Chochma – Ehyeh)

YHVH _ ELHYM (Binah – Elohim)

YHVH – EDNY (Malchut – Adonai)

We draw the light of blessing down from Chochma to Binah to our world, Malchut.

Now for the full understanding, we take the 3 Names Ehyeh, Elohim and Adonai plus the 3 Names Av, Sag, Mah from the L’hadleek kavanot and numerically add them  (172 + 180) + 6 (kolel for the 6 Names) and get 358, Mashiach

So completing the recitation of Baruch though Ner, we want to have in mind drawing down the light from the Upper 42-Letter Name to the Lower 42-Letter Name though the 3 YHVH’s and into the 3 Names (Ehyeh, Elohim and Adonai) and thus igniting the spark of  Mashiach consciousness in all of us.

The Candle

The candle we’re lighting is the light of the Torah itself as evidenced by the spelled out, gematria milui of the letters (nun-resh) of Ner (candle): (NVN RShY) is (106 + 510) = 616, which is the numerical value of H’Torah, which helps explain Proverb 6:23:

“A mitzvah is a candle, and the Torah is light.”

The Shamesh

The Shamesh, or 9th candle is much more than a simple helper candle.The 9th sefira is that of Chochma, Wisdom. and the unification from above that is assocaited with the 9th sefira is YHVH x EHYH or in numerical terms 26 x 21 = 546, which is the sum of the initials of all 10 sefirot, a clue that this unification helps us draw the energy down through all 10 sefirot.

The value 546 is also the total value of the Names of the 3 Patriarchs whose names began with the letter Yud, which connects them to Chochma (wisdom), the 9th sefira: Isaac (208), Jacob(182), and Jospeh(156).  It’s likewise a connection to Israel, which has a value of 546 when the kolel for the 5 letters is included,

This is an important unification because 546 is the numerical value of koteret, (the incense lit at the inner alter of the Holy Temple) as it says in Proverbs 27:9 “Oil and incense rejoice the heart,” and as the Ari explains, “And the inner altar and the Menorah stood together to give joy to all, as is written.”

So as we light the Shamesh we should meditate to draw down the light through the 10 sefirot and to put joy in our hearts.

And not only does the number 9 divided by the small gematria of the 1st line of 42-letter Name = 73.14159, or extremely precisely 70 + Pi (3.14159..), while the numerical value of the 2nd line is 9 x 9 x 9, one of the reasons the line is utilized in the Shofar blowings of 9 beats each.

אבג יתץ

קרע שטן

So while lighting the Shamesh if you can connect to the first two lines of the 42-letter name keep in mind to lift the world of illusion from the 70 nations, elevating spirituality out of the physicality to bring about Moshiach

The 25th of Kislev

Yet another connection between the kavanot and the words of the blessing is found between the 25 letters of the union of the 6 Names and the value of Ner, 250, since 250/10 = 25, but most important these would be the 25 letters that the Zohar says is missing for the completion of the Mishkan and the 25 words that we know are missing from the completion of the Torah, which is exactly 80,000 – 25 words. It’s also a connection between the 25 letters of the Shma Israel phrase and the 25^th of Kislev, as explained by the Zohar.

The next obvious further connection is between the 80,000 words and the 8 lights and nights of Chanukah, since the 4^th root of the sum of all the words, letters, and verses of the Torah = 25 exactly. There are also 25 letters in lamed-vav (36) milui.

So note that the 25 letters in the verse “Shma Israel, Adonai Elohenu, Adonai Echad” (Hear O Israel, G-d our Lord is One) is found at Devarim 6:4 and the word Chanukah (ChNV-CH) can be broken down to the two numerical values 64 (ChNV) and 25 (CH), and moreover that the numerical value of the first and last words in that verse, Shma (ShMY) and Echad (EChD) plus the kolel (1) = 410 + 13 + 1 = 424, the numerical value of Mashiach Ben David.

Further to this line of reasoning, and as connected by the Zohar, are the 24 days of Kislev that proceed Chanukah and the 24 letters in the Baruch Shem phrase that follows the Shma Israel phrase.

So on the first night before lighting we should connect to the Shma israel and mediate that we are completing the Torah as in the days of Mashiach.

The OiI

The word for eight (8) in Hebrew is shemonah, and a simple permutation of the letters in shemonah (ShMNH) gives us hashemen. “the oil” (HShMN), and also neshama (soul, NShMH), all of which have the numerical value of 395, that of the 5th word in the Torah, H’Shama’im (the Heavens).

And when we spell out the Shin-Mem-nun root letters of the Oil they add up to 546 that of koteret, the incense again, so once again we must keep in mind (Proverbs 27:9): “Oil and incense rejoice the heart,” and be joyful as we light the oil for that joy will spread through the 10 sefirot and be contagious throughout the world.

Proverbs 27:9 “Oil and incense rejoice the heart,”

The Arizal further explains that the oil in the Menorah and by transference our chanukiyas represents the consciousness of chochma and the incense represents Binah, thus together they are the partzufs of Abba and Imma.

The 8 Nights of Lights

The 44 Candles Sweeten the Judgment

On a simple level, over the 8 nights, we’re lighting 44 candles in total including the shamesh every night, these corresponding to the ordinal value of the letters in Chanukah (ChNVCH), which is 44. It also corresponds to first letters of all 10 plagues, which also add up to 44. So you can see the power to create miracles is built into every aspect of these 8 days.

Moreover, the first plague was blood, dam, also of numerical value 44, and as the Arizal explains “the word “m’damei“, whose numerical value (89) equals that of the word “Chanukah“, is rooted in the letters dalet and mem, which spell the Hebrew word for “blood”. Blood represents the negative powers of judgment, our mission it is to sweeten. Via the 44 (the numerical value of dalet, 4, and mem, 40) lights we kindle throughout Chanukah (including the shammas) and the awakening of consciousness they embody, the kelipot become nullified before us.” Thus with every candle we light, we can sweeten the judgment in out lives and in the world.

And note also that 44 is numerical value of the regressive spelling of the higher name of G-d, Ehyeh, connecting us to Chochma and Binah;

(E – EH – EHY – EHYH)

If our actions of lighting the chanukiya each night rekindle the energy from the night before and culminate in completeness on Zot Chanukah then: On the 1st night we light 1 candle and it stays lit metaphysically for (at least) 8 days; and on the second night we light 2 candles that stay lit, we have a total of 3 lit (rekindled) that second night. On the 3rd night we are lighting (rekindling) 1 + 2 + 3 or a total of six; and so on, until we have 1 + 3 + 6 + 10 + 15 + 21 + 28 + 36 = 120, a familiar mathematical progression that seems to be oft used in the deeper meditations and connections of the Torah, and that we first learned about from Abraham in the Sefer Yetzirah, The Book of Formation.

In the same way, the Shamesh would be 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 = 36. Thus 120 + 36 = 156 or 6 X 26 representing the YHVH, and thus 2 X 78 for mazal.

The Arizal explains that the eight days of Chanukah are, or end up, at the level of hod, the same as a brit whose 8 days expire at hod before the brit can be performed at the level of yesod. Well, considering this, it’s noteworthy that if we assume that all our candles/oil last for 8 days, then in total, we are lighting 120 lights (which would correspond to the 120 permutations of Elohim) plus the 36 lights for the 8 Shamesh that we light, totaling 156, the numerical value for Yosef, who represents the level of Yesod. It’s also the value of Zion.

The 8 Nights of Lights

Now know this for every candle we light below, one is lit above. So for the 156 plus 1 collective one we light each Hanukkah, another 157 are lit above, making 314 in total, with 314 being the numerical value of Shadai (ShDY) and of Mettatron. And that if we consider all the cumulative lit Chanukah lights as a multiple of 8 days: 1 x 3 x 6 x 10 x 15 x 21 x 28 x 36 = 1008 then the 1008 plus1 candles we light, above and below total 2018 candles in all each year in preparation for the Messiah in the year 2018 CE (5778 HC), our inheritance.

And Zion, of numerical value 156, is the same as Yosef, who represents Yesod of Malchut, where the light of Binah ends up on the 8th day and the point where all the divine sustenance funnels into out lives and world. Moreover, Zion, of numerical value 156, is found 107 times in Tanakh and the sum of all the positive integers to 107 is 5778.

Chanukah, a Special Light