A week and a half ago was the first Shabbat of Hanukah. My family had the privilege to be in the Old City of Jerusalem, as well as to host a bunch of guests as is usually the case.
On Shabbat afternoon, one of the guests, Amir*, an Israeli from Tel Aviv, told me that while he got presents and took a trip with his dad for his Bar Mitzvah, he had never actually gotten called up to the Torah for an aliyah to say the blessings on the Torah. So, of course I said, “Let’s go do it right now!‿ So down to the Kotel we went – not a bad place to get your first aliyah. He got called to the Torah and said the blessings and was proud that he finally accomplished that aspect of reaching Bar Mitzvah.
…Beautiful story, but it doesn’t end there…
That night he returned home to Tel Aviv. His family was happy to hear about his Bar Mitzvah experience and then handed him an envelope that had just come in the mail. He opened it up and inside was a check. It turns out that when Amir originally had his Bar Mitzvah he received some money, spent most of it, put away the rest in a 10-year plan, completely forgot about it, and came home from his Bar Mitzvah 10 years later only to receive his Bar Mitzvah money.
Pretty crazy, eh?
Coincidence? I think not.
The lights of Hanukah hint to the spiritual light of Torah – that which the Greeks were attempting to extinguish by placing the physical as primary. This story demonstrates the opposite – the true message of Hanukah: Put the spiritual as your number one priority, and don’t worry too much about the material. If G-d wants to give you some money, he’ll send you a check in the mail.
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