Chanukah: Eight days of Miracles Designed to Bring Mashiach
If we truly want to bring Moshiach consciousness to the world there is really only one way to do it, by emulating a tzaddik in our actions and thoughts. I have been blessed with being close with two of them, both of blessed memory. They both had one overriding attribute that we all need to emulate. They both did everything with selfless, caring love and with a noble purpose. They showed us that we must inject caring love into our actions and do them with the singular purpose of bringing Moshiach. It is not only the way; it is the only way. When we are doing something out of pure love it will be one with the Light Force and thus whatever the outcome, it will be the right outcome. However, that is not enough. We also have to inject intent and purpose in order to direct that Light. We can scatter the Light or focus it, but the only way to achieve anything in this world or the next, is to focus it. The Torah and the tzaddikim before us have provided us with numerous tools to enable us to harness and focus that Light and they had a singular purpose — “to bring Moshiach consciousness to our world.” We have a huge opportunity these 8 days of Chanukah to join them and actively draw down the Light of Moshiach. The following connections and revelations have been provided by them to empower us in that endeavor.
Everything about this special period of time from the Torah portions to the dreidel and jelly donuts is designed around the singular purpose of bringing Moshiach. We need to make a crucial choice now. We can either focus our intent and open our hearts, or attend parties and exchange gifts. And yes, we can do both, but the light will go where we FOCUS it.
The Torah
Each Torah portion and each holy day is a unique cosmic window. The cosmic window at this time of year contains the 4 portions (Vayeshev, Vayigash, Miketz and Vayechi) of Joseph, and within 
the timing of these 4 portions are the 8 days of the light of Moshiach called Chanukah, whose numerical value is 89, just like the complete value of the initials of the 4 portions, also 89. So it should come as no surprise that, as Daniel, one of the treasured contributors of our blog points out, all four names of the portions connect to the numerical value of Moshiach, 358.
The standard gematria value together with their ordinal number of the 2 portions Vayeshev and Vayigash is 2 x 358; while the gematria sofit of Miketz and Vayechi is 3 x 358, for a total of 5 x 358 hidden in these four Torah Portions.
The Dreidel
Even the simple child’s dreidel serves to focus our attention on Moshiach. It has four sides corresponding to the Tetragrammaton (יהוה) and engraved with the Hebrew Letters G/ג, H/ה, N, and Sh/ש (גהנש). The Four (4) letters have a numerical value of 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 Moshiach. And that is where our consciousness needs to be. The eight days are a cosmic event, not a celebration of a miracle that once happened; the miracle happened because it occurred during this cosmic event. The lights we ignite each night connects us to the special Light of miracles available to us once a year for 8 days starting every 25th of Kislev (Sagittarius). It is a different light/energy than what is available to us in the 8 days of Sukkot-Shemini Atzeret; and it is different from the light available to us during the 8 days of Pesach (Passover); and it is different from the energy available to us on the 8 other holy days throughout the year. In total there are 32 days of varying special Light/energy (besides the special light of Shabbat). These 32 days connects to the 32 Paths of Wisdom of the Tree-of-Life, through which these various lights 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 Moshiach (Ohr HaGanuz) was revealed into our 
existence, it was hidden. I learned from the Rav 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 get a taste of the Light.
This is why the 4 letters of Mashiach (משיח) spell out Madlikim Shmona Yemei Chanukah (“lighting up eight days of Chanukah”).
History
The books of the Maccabees date the first war as 3585 HC, which coincides with the numerical value of Moshiach, which is 358. The fight was for liberation, and so is ours today, liberating ourselves from the clutches of physicality. This war was fought and won by a small band men and the Light Force of G-d against overwhelming odds and numbers, not so dissimilar from the schematic once again taking shape today. A cosmic window opened back then and another is opening now.
Chanukah Meditations
How to Count the 8 Days
One of the key elements of Chanukah is based on the spiritual tenet that nothing can ever be lost. Once it goes from a latent (potential) state to an actual physical state, it is forever present in the universe, whether we can physically see it or not. So the light of the first night, is added to the second light and so forth until the 8th day when we have the light of 1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8 = 36 days of light.
That explained, we can note that the sum of all the Torah occurrences of the words “first” through “eighth”— rishon, sheni, shlishi, revi’i, chamishi, shishi, sheviyi, and shemini—is (189+125+2+2+2+2+0+0) = 322. Since the sum of days (numbers) 1-8, representing the summation of the Chanukah lights for the 8 days is 36, we can express the 8 days by the energetic equaition (322 + 36) = 358, the value of Moshiach yet again. Further, while 36 can be viewed as a rounding off the numerical term 35.8 to 36, to the kabbalists 36 represents the Lamed-Vav (לו) tzaddikim, or 36 righteous souls necessary at all times to maintain our existence in the universe. By emulating them, we are joining them, and by joining them we are indeed, drawing down the light of Moshiach into the world.
The 44 Candles Sweeten the Judgment
How to count the candles
On a simple level, over the 8 nights, we are lighting 44 candles in total, including the shamesh (servant candle) every night. These 44 candles correspond to the ordinal value of the 5 letters in Chanukah (חנוכה) which is 44. It also corresponds to the initials of all 10 plagues, which also add up to 44. 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 (ד) and Mem (מ), which spell the Hebrew word for “blood.” He further advised that blood represents the negative powers of judgment and our mission it is to sweeten that judgement through the lighting of the 44 candles. They nullify the kelipot before us.
As the Arizal further explains the 44 candles connect first and foremost to the regressive spelling of the higher name of G-d, Ehyeh (אהיה), whose numerical value is 44, thus connecting us to Chochma and Binah;
(א–אה–אהי–אהיה)
Counting Candles
If our actions of lighting the chanukiya each night rekindle the energy from the night before and culminate in completeness on Zot Chanukah (the final night), then: on the first 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, giving us a second day total of 3 lit (rekindled) candles. On the third night we are lighting, (rekindling) 1 + 2 + 3, or a total of 6 candles; and so on, until we have an 8 day progression of 1 + 3 + 6 + 10 + 15 + 21 + 28 + 36 = 120 candles, 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, the Patriarch in his book Sefer Yetzirah, The Book of Formation.
Well, considering this, it is noteworthy that if we assume that all our candles or oil last metaphysically for 8 days, just as they did physically for the Maccabes, then in total we are lighting 120 lights. This correspond to both the 120 permutations of the Name Elohim and to the 120 years of Moses, whose soul is part and parcel with that of Moshiach in every generation.
In the same way, the Shamash candle lights would total 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 = 36 lights and through the Shamash we are connecting to the 36 tzaddikim that sustain our word each time we light it, meaning that if our consciousness is there, they will be there for us as well. They are the helpers lighting the Chanukah lights for us. Nonetheless, 120 + 36 or 156 candles would be metaphysically lit. This connection to 156 or 6 X 26 (the numerical value of the Tetragrammaton (יהוה) is very important to the Chanukah meditations the Arizal will guide us through below as they will involve connecting to these 6 Tetragrammaton (יהוה) each day. Moreover, the Arizal explains that 156 is twice 78, the numerical value of mazal (fortune), an integral part of the lighting meditations as will be explained below.
The Arizal further explains that the eight days of Chanukah are, or end up, at the level of hod, the same as a brit milah whose 8 days expire at hod before the brit can be performed at the level of yesod. When we add the 36 lights for the 8 Shamash (servant candles) to the 120 of Moses illustrated above, our 8 day total is 156 lights. This is the numerical value for Yosef, who represents the level of Yesod. We can now more fully understand why Chanukah occurs during the 4 portions of Joseph, who was born in 2198 HC, exactly 3580 years before the year 5778, when Moshiach (numerical value 358) is supposed to be manifest in our world.
The Blessings
The Ignition to all the Blessings
When we start the blessing with the word Baruch, we need to keep in mind that it has the numerical sofit value of 708, which is the same as that of the 42 letters of the upper 42-Letter Name (מב), which is in actuality the ineffable Name of G-d (יהוה) with its letters spelled out through three iterations. This is no coincidence, as it is from this Name that the blessings flow downward through the 6 levels (dimensions) of Zeir Anpin and into our world.
יהוה
יוד–הי–ויו–הי
יוד–ויו–דלת–הי–יוד–ויו–יוד–ויו–הי–יוד
L’hadleek Ner Chanukah
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 (ל), Nun (נ) and Chet (ח), spell out in small 
gematria, 3, 5, 8 or 358, Mashiach.
The Arizal explains that initials in L’hadleek Ner Chanukah (to light the Chanukah candle) spell the word Nachal (נחל), 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 equals 89, the value of Chanukah itself.
Nevertheless, the concept of a stream is very important because by lighting the candles with the right consciousness we are opening a stream of light (the energy of sustenance or shefa) from above into our lives and into the world. The inheritance is the Messiah (the Moshiach).
As further explained by the Arizal, the secret of the 3 letters N, CH. L and Nachal (נחל) comes from the 3 words that comprise the 8th and 9th of the 13 Attributes of G-d : “Notzer Chesed L‘alefim.” He goes on to explain that the 8th sefira (level) or Binah (Imma /Understanding) is where we are drawing this upper light from. Moreover, a key secret here is that once the 8th level is tapped into, all 3 upper levels (Binah, Chochma and Keter) are at once activated and made available to us. A river of divine light and blessing can flow into our world if we attune ourselves to it during the blessing and candle lighting.
As we put ourselves into a state of unconditional love and stay focused on the endgame of bringing Moshiach, the first mediation we need to do is either envision or think about opening up the flowing river of light Nachal (נחל) from the upper reservoir of Binah, and its higher sources Chochma and Keter. The light descends through Binah into Zeir Anpin (the heavenly ladder that connects our world to Binah (the upper world). Here is where the very specific Names of G-d come in. We want to focus on them, instead of trying to picture dimensions for which we have no visual reference point. Fortunately the Arizal tells us exactly which combination of the Name to use. For example Zeir Anpin is represented by the aspect of the spelled-out Tetragrammaton (הא‐ואו‐הא יוד) called (Mah) of numerical value 45.
…This is very important…
We are further told that the proper with for us to combine Zeir Anpin with Binah in this instance is by combining the letter alef (E/א ) in the center of the spelled-out letter Vav (ואו) of the Tetragrammaton (הא‐ואו‐הא יוד) called (Mah) of numerical value 45 to the regressively spelled Name Ehyeh (א‐ אה ‐ אהי ‐אהיה) associated with Binah and of numerical value of 44. Together they combine in the energetic equation 45 + 44 = 89, giving us once again the value of Chanukah (חנוכה).
Please note that it is the Names that are important; the numbers just help us to understand a little of what is going on energetically in the spiritual framework.
It is very important that we grasp this unification because as Rabbi Chaim Vital of blessed memory explains it, through this very union of the Tetragrammaton (יהוה) of numerical value 26 and the regressive Name Ehyeh (א‐ אה ‐ אהי ‐אהיה) that the (26 +44) or 70 Ministers of the 70 Nations are governed.
The Zohar tells us that at the end of the 70 years from the formation of Israel in 5708, all the Ministers (leaders) of those 70 nations will be replaced with Israel’s enemies, just as we see being played our around the world. This is why it is more crucial than ever that we become proper channels for the life force of G-d, and through the proper lighting of the 44 candles, we have the power to do just that.
(א‐ אה ‐ אהי ‐אהיה) and (יהוה)
26 + 44 = 70
The Light of Binah unites with the Light of Zeir Anpin fuels all 70 Nations
(א‐ אה ‐ אהי ‐אהיה) and (הא‐ואו‐הא יוד)
45 + 44 = 89
The Light of Binah unites with the expanded Light of Zeir Anpin and forms Chanukah
(Shefa flowing from Binah into Zeir Anpin)
The Second Meditation:
Partially because the value of the word L’hadleek plus the kolel (1) = (179 +1) = 180, the Arizal tells us at this point in the blessing to meditate on the 3 upper aspects of the Tetragrammaton (Av, Sag, Mah), which together total (72+63+45) = 180.
Av (הי‐ויו-הי‐יוד) or 72
Sag (הי‐ואו-הי‐יוד) or 63
Mah (הא‐ואו-הא‐יוד) or 45
= 180
Any number times 10 indicates that number spreading throughout the 10 sefirot of the tree-of-life. In this case, it is 18 (Chai, life), and as Rabbi Chaim Vital of blessed memory explains “All 
Torah Light is spread by squaring,” so we see within the square root of 18: 4.2426. This is most significant because 424 is the value for “Mashiach Ben David” and 26 is the value of the Tetragrammaton (יהוה).
Now, specific to the Chanukah blessing is that the spelled-out (gematria milui) value of the letters Nun (נון) and that of the Lamed (למד) of L’hadleek Ner is also 180, thus giving us yet another connection to “Mashiach Ben David and the tree-of-life.”
From the 18 words of the 13 Attributes, the phrase “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 (5778 HC), the year the tzaddikim have prophesied for the coming of the messiah and the final redemption (geula). It is also the year (2018 HC) that G-d made His Covenant with Abraham, our inheritance (Nachal, נחל).
Indeed, the word candle, Ner, (נר) has a numerical value of 250 and thus the 8 candles have a collective value of 250 x 8 = 2000.
And 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 Tetragrammaton (יהוה), we get 180 + 180 + 3 = 363, the numerical value of H’Mashiach, which is what we should be mediating on when we recite L’hadleek Ner:
(הי‐ויו-הי‐יוד) (הי‐ואו-הי‐יוד)(הא‐ואו-הא‐יוד) and H’Mashiach.
(Receiving H’Mashiach)
L’Hadleek
Ner
Regarding Ner, the Arizal tells us to combine the Names Ehyeh, Elohim, and Adonai with YHVH on the 3 different levels (Av, Sag, and Mah) to draw down the light properly from Binah to Malchut:
(אהיה–אלהים–אדני)
Now the total numerical value of the 3 Names (אהיה–אלהים–אדני) is 172, and when we add 1 for the kolel, it is 173, as in the small gematria numerical value for the 42-letter Name.
The Ari further explains that at the word Ner in the blessing we should concentrate on combining the 3 Names (אהיה–אלהים–אדני) with the 3 simple (יהוה)’s. These 3 (יהוה)’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 Tetragrammatons (יהוה) 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 paired up together so that their energy complements and facilitates the transformation of the light (אהיה–יהוה ,אלהים– יהוה ,אדני– יהוה). They add up 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 a channel for us all.
Ner
So when we recite Ner, we want to meditate on the 42-Letter name (the Ana B’koach), receiving mazal, letting Aaron, the high priest and the only person in the Torah assigned the title Mashiach, be our channel to light the Menorah in our lives and world. Take your time and connect with the consciousness and with the unified Names. Become the Rav, focus with your heart and a singular purpose. You are drawing down the Light-force of G-d; there is no need to rush through it. The more you take your time and focus the more Light will be revealed.
אבג יתץ
קרע שטן
נגד יכש
בטר צתג
חקב טנע
יגל פזק
שקו צית
together with the 6 Names merging (unified) together as follows.
אהיה–יהוה (Chochma – Ehyeh)
אלהים– יהוה (Binah – Elohim)
אדני– יהוה (Malchut – Adonai)
We draw the light of blessing down from Chochma to Binah to our world, Malchut. As the light of our candles ascend, the Light from Heaven retraces it back down to us 
and our world, exploding like a bolt of lightning, which incidentally is exactly how lightning works — the earth takes the first action.
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 Ner 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 (יהוה)’s and into the 3 Names (אהיה–אלהים–אדני) and thus igniting the spark of Moshiach consciousness in all of us and spreading it throughout the 70 nations.
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 (נר /candle): (ריש–נון) equals (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 Shamash
The Shamash, 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 associated with the 9th sefira is (יהוה) x (אהיה) 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 (dimensions).
The value 546 is also the total value of the Names of the 3 Patriarchs whose names began with the letter Yud (י), which connects them to Chochma (wisdom), the 9th sefira: Isaac (208), Jacob (182), and Joseph (156). It is likewise a connection to Israel, which has a value of 546 when the kolel for the 5 letters is included, and whose name is found 546 times in the Torah.
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.
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 is also a connection between the 25 letters of the Sh’ma Israel phrase and the 25th 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 4th 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.
The OiI
The word for eight (8) in Hebrew is shemonah, and a simple permutation of the letters in shemonah (שמנה) gives us hashemen. “the oil” (השמן), and also neshama (soul, נשמה), 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 (שין–מם–נון) root letters of the Oil they add up to 546, so 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 8 Nights of Lights
For every candle we light below, one is lit above. So for all the 156 metaphysical candles we light below plus 1 collective one (the kolel), another 157 are lit above, making 314 in total, and 314 is the numerical value of the Name of G-d Shadai (שדי) and also of Mettatron. As for the 156 candles, it is the numerical value of Zion and as we said previously, Joseph, who represents Yesod of Malchut, where the light of Binah ends up on the 8th day. It is also the point where all the divine sustenance funnels into our lives and our world. Incidentally, Zion, of numerical value 156, is found 107 times in Tanakh and the sum of all the integers from 1 to 107 is 5778.
Moreover, 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 add 1 for the kolel, and double them for above and below, they total 2018 candles in all. So in essence, each and every year, by fulfilling the mitzvot of lighting the Chanukah candles we’re preparing for the arrival of Moshiach in the year 2018 CE (5778 HC), our inheritance.
Chanukah Gelt
Even the parve chocolate gelt we give to our children on Chanukah connects to Mashiach, as the Aramaic word for gelt is Dami (דמי) of numerical value 54, and since 5778 is the sum of all the 
integers from 1 to 107 and 5778 = 107 x 54, then 54, and thus Dami (Gelt), plays yet another role in connecting all of us to the coming of H’Mashiach, B’H very soon.
So, this Chanukah, become a tzaddik and light the candles with love in your heart and the intention to bring Mashiach to the world. Together, we will combine our light and make a real and lasting change in the world. Together, we can be the Maccabees.
With every candle we light,
we can sweeten the judgment
in our lives
and in the world.
