Hey guys!
Happy Chanuka night 2! This morning I realized that it wasn’t so smart of me to commit to writing on a blog every single night… I don’t have the best memory when it comes to these things! But I’m going to do my best- that’s my Chanuka present to you and myself.
Every day of Chanuka we read about a different one of the Nesi’im (princes) of the Shevatim (tribes) and the gifts they brought to the dedication of the Mishkon. Each day a different nasi brought his gift. On the first day Nachshon ben Aminadav, the nasi of Yehuda brought his gift- expensive and beautiful. On the second day the second nasi, Nesanel ben Tzuar, the nasi of Yissachor, had a decision to make. He could either try to “one-up” Nachson and bring a more expensive, fancier gift, thereby causing each succeeding nasi to have to bring a better, fancier gift than the one before, or he could forget his personal honor and bring the same gift as Nachshon. Nesanel chose to keep the achdus (unity)in Klal Yisrael. He brought the exact same gift as Nachson, and all the other nesi’im did the same. Nesanel let go of his personal pride in order to keep the peace.
On the second day of Chanuka, today, we read about Nesanel’s gift. It’s the exact same thing we read yesterday, and the exact same thing we’ll read tomorrow, but there’s a tremendous lesson we can pull out from this. A lot of times we feel that we need to be the best, we need to be noticed. Nesanel teaches us that’s not true. Sometimes we need to take a step back so we can all share in the spotlight. So, today take a step back and perhaps look for that girl in your class who isn’t always noticed- who perhaps doesn’t have as many “gifts” as you. Pull her into the spotlight. Help her feel the warmth of the Chanuka flames.
What’s one way you can help spread the light?
Happy Chanuka!