The Ancient Ones of the Talmud ask: Why do we say the
beracha (blessing) “…Who has commanded us to light the lamp of Hanukka?” After all, where does G-d command us to light the Hanukkiah? Search all you like, it is not possible to
find such an ordinance in the pages of the Torah or any other primary Holy Book
containing God’s word. That is because
the events of Hanukkah happened after the Tanakh (Bible) was a closed book.
Our tradition teaches the value of a question. We are told to strive for truth. We arrive at that place of truth only by
turning over very stone in our path. The
incisive and never-ending questions, which the rabbis apply to the universe,
are beyond rigorous. We are told to take
nothing for granted. We will, for
example, never accept any person above the borders of accountability. We will tolerate no Law unless it has been thoroughly
tested. Our instruments of testing? Questions.
We are known as the people of the question (The Jewish reply
to this is, “How do you know?”). We do
not argue for arguments sake but to arrive at the truth.
In Deuteronomy, we read “Ask your father and he will show
you; your elders and they will tell you.”
The rabbis instituted the mitzvah of lighting Hanukkah candles some two
thousand years after this statement was made.
The rabbis used the verse from the Torah to indicate that they were
empowered with the ability to create a tradition and endow it with such
sanctity that they could add the blessing “Who has commanded us…” to the act of
candle lighting.
Yet, the answer to the original question is inferior to query
itself. The real answer is in the
questioning. We are never permitted to
rest from the act of searching for the real answers to life’s challenges. At times once pat answers will become
weakened with age. Other times it will
withstand gale forces. In fact, one
twentieth century Jewish author, L. Stein penned, “The wise man questions the
wisdom of others because he questions his own…”
In the Talmud, Shmuel bar Nachman remarked, “One who is not
ashamed to ask will in the end be exalted.”
Why? Because he is one step
closer to the truth.
Where does truth reside?
The truth inheres in the question.
