Rabbi's Corner

By Rabbi Hal Greenwald, Assistant Director
The Holy Land Democracy Project of the Jewish Federation

With the onset of winter, days get shorter and nights get longer. Light becomes a precious commodity, and so it's fitting that our religious traditions should seek to restore some illumination through the holidays of the coming months. The lights which adorn the Christmas tree, the candles on the Hannukah menorah — all are powerful religious symbols of the winter holiday season.

There is a light in the Jewish tradition which is a particularly apt one for those in our society who give of themselves, their time and their energy, for the betterment of others, and that light is the candle on the Hannukah menorah known as the Shamash.

The Shamash is the candle which is used to light the other candles. Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson taught that while it is a mitzvah, a good deed, to shine a light and illuminate the path for those who stumble in darkness, it is a still greater mitzvah to spark the inner light in others — so that they may then pass the torch as well. He called it hitlahavut — literally, the transference of "flaming energy."

Fostering a love of reading in a child is a most powerful form of empowerment, opening up a world of possibility. To read is to understand and, ultimately, to use that understanding for good. That's why KOREH L.A. is such a vital organization, and why KOREH volunteers are much more than givers of light — they are human Shamashes!