Making a Difference

Wednesday December 12, 2012
Some students of the Kabbalah Centre were driving to volunteer this weekend. On the way to their destination, they had to pass through a toll booth. When they got up to the window to pay, the toll booth operator told them that the driver of the car in front of them had paid for them and had wished them a happy holiday. Needless to say, the students were both pleasantly surprised by this random act of kindness and inspired to pass it on, and they paid for the driver behind them.

It is obvious from this story and from many other sources (TV, advertising, and community outreach initiatives, just to name a few) that we are in that special time of year that includes the holidays of Chanukah on the 25th of the lunar month of Kislev and Christmas on the 25th of December. It is a time when everyone—from individuals to large corporations—is inspired to give and share, even more so than in other months or during other holidays.

We are now in the middle of the eight-day period of Chanukah. Contrary to popular belief, however, Chanukah is not a “religious” holiday exclusive to one group of people.

We all understand that the spiritual universe operates much like the physical universe, with a time and a season for everything. For example. we all know there is a specific time of year to plant seeds in the ground and another time of year for harvesting the plants that have grown from those seeds. It works the same way on the spiritual level, when we can access certain energies at specific times of the year.

Chanukah is the window in time when we can draw the special Light of miracles to ourselves, our communities, and the world. In order to do this, however, we need to become more and more aware that in this world and in this lifetime, each of us is a player with a role—however large or small this role might be—that we need to carry out. Each of us has a unique gift, and it is our responsibility to find our gift, make use of it, and share it with others.

The light of the candles we kindle during Chanukah is like the Light of our souls. It will burn for its time in this physical world, and then it will go out. If we were to count all the people that ever existed, we would find very few whose names are remembered after they are gone. In fact, two generations from today, our great great grandchildren may not even know our name. The point is that all that remains when we leave this world is the energy we have created through our words and actions—the energy that goes on to impact others.

At any given moment, we can be an instrument to reveal a profound spiritual understanding or even just to bring a little Light into someone's day through a smile, a hug, or a simple kind gesture. Regardless of the situation and its outcome, the positive energy we create will never disappear. As long as we are able to step out from ourselves and choose to engage with those around us, we can make a difference that lasts.

We need to make this difference—both during this week of Chanukah and the rest of the year—because the world is sorely in need of it.