Chanukah Day 2
Tonight we light Two.
Two is the beginning of differentiation. One is unity; two already a diversity. At this time, as we mourn the victims of the hateful attack in Sydney, we are living a moment that calls on us to forge unity from diversity and to stand as one.
When there are two, it allows us to appreciate the one. Or as the anthropologist Gregory Bateson put it, “It takes two to know one.”
That placement juxtaposed to others is a source of strength [gevurah], just the right middah for the challenges of this moment.
In the book of Ecclesiastes / Kohelet (4:9-10) we read:
Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labour: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up.
Two candles burning brightly, the light of two neshamas. Who is it you can lean on, who gives you strength, who helps you up when you fall? Give thanks for having that person in your life. Better still, let them know how grateful you are.
