The Essence and Manifestations

Purim was the first holiday we cancelled. No – we didn’t cancel Purim, only the Purim party. I remember the fear, the lack of clarity. But something inside told us that we should be avoiding mass gatherings.

And then it was Pesach and Lag Ba’Omer, a bar mitzvah and Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur and Succot – and even Simchat Torah. And now Chanukah has arrived, the holiday in which we go out to celebrate in the street, literally: in city centers. And once again, we have to cancel those annual events.

Again, we are cancelling and down-sizing events, but the holiday itself, the fact that the child is bar mitzvah, or the chuppah – no force in the world can cancel.

And that is a big lesson for us.

Just between us, a moment before the vaccinations get disseminated: if we would have tried to imagine a situation in which one cannot hold mass events or be with our extensive families on holidays; if we would have been told that we will have to make bar mitzvahs in Zoom and weddings with a maximum of 50 people, would we have thought that was possible?

This year taught us that not only is it possible, but that such events have a feeling of wonderful uniqueness.

In Chassidut there are the concepts of etzem – the essence of a thing itself, and gilui – its outer manifestations. Everything in the world has its essence, and also its external aspects. Often we don’t know what the essence is; we only know its external manifestations.

For instance, a person who talks and writes and tells stories – these are all his gilui. His essence will be known only by those who are closest to his heart. Holidays are like that as well. Chanukah has many expressions: the songs, the foods, the special customs. But is the doughnut the “essence” of the holiday? Is the dreidel an internal expression of the holiday? These are only its superficial level, the gilui. The essence of the holiday is light and warmth, just like the essence of Pesach is humility and going free, and the essence of Rosh Hashana is coronating the king etc.

The Corona took from us the ability to celebrate with our outer circles, and left us with our closest circles. If we wish to, we will see that the Corona has not distanced us from the holidays. It just pushed aside most of the gilui and left us with the etzem. It brought us in closer contact with the holidays’ essence, and yes, with ourselves. Our gilui was affected, but our etzem was absolutely not. Even more so, we got acquainted with its inner aspects.

Whatever way, I wish everyone a happy and illuminating holiday!

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Zalmen Wishedski