my own redemption

According to tradition, the flames of the Menorah are a manifestation of the Ohr Haganuz, the Hidden Light, which is hidden away for the Redemption.

Chanukah is when we take the light of redemption and bring it into the here and now.

It's when the universal redemption becomes personal.

Instead of reacting to adversity with "oy we need moshiach.." we achieve a personal state of mind where the adversity is not overwhelming.

It's rising above..pettiness.

It's putting together the fragmentation that brings duality and unsettledness into our lives.

The Ohr Haganuz the Hidden Light is set aside for the days of universal redemption but on Chanukah we can access it easily, meditate in her ethereal glow  and with it experience personal redemption.

The Bais Yosef asked the famous question, why is Chanukah eight days if the miracle was only seven. 

And now I wonder perhaps it is only seven days, but after seven days of light and having achieved a measure of personal redemption how can one not wish the same on the rest of the world. And so we light one more night and we pronounce Zos Chanukah..This is Chanukah instinctively in our desire for the greater Geula.

Happy Chanukah