We as humans have a unique ability to act beyond our nature.
There is a well-known story about a turtle that was happily swimming along a river when a scorpion hailed it from the shore. The scorpion, unable to swim, asked the turtle for a ride on his back so he could cross the river.
"Are you nuts?" exclaimed the turtle. "You'll sting me while I'm swimming and I'll drown."
"My dear turtle," the scorpion responded with a laugh, "if I were to sting you, you would drown and I would go down with you, and drown as well. Now where is the logic in that?"
The turtle thought this over, and saw the logic of the scorpion's statement.
"You're right!" cried the turtle. "Hop on!"
The scorpion climbed aboard, and halfway across the river the scorpion gave the turtle a mighty sting. As they both sank to the bottom, the turtle resignedly said, "Are you nuts? Don't you realize we are both going to die! Why did you do it?"
The drowning scorpion sadly replied, "It has nothing to do with logic. What can I do, it's just my nature! How can I change that?"
In this story, we see the great difference between man and all other creatures. Like animals, we too come with a nature embedded in us. However, we humans have a unique ability to act beyond our nature.
In the Chabad esoteric teachings, man's spirit is divided between the intellectual faculties of the mind and the emotional feelings of the heart. In humans, the mind has the ability to govern over the heart.
We are in the midst of celebrating the holiday of , also known as the "Festival of Lights." I thought I would share with you the mystical aspect of the menorah, the eight-branched candelabra, and how it relates to our natural emotions, our "heart" and our ability to reach beyond our nature.
Seven of the branches of the menorah represent the seven archetypes in the human personality makeup.
Specifically, each of the seven branches represents a different emotion within man. Think of it this way: the millions of variations that exist in color are a collective expression of the three primary colors. Similarly, our emotions are very much the same. That is, we have primary emotions and all other emotions are merely an expression of the primary emotions.
The names of the seven types are Chesed ("loving kindness"), Gevurah ("discipline"), Tiferet ("balance, beauty"), Netzach ("persistence "), Hod ("splendor"), Yesod ("bonding") and Malchut ("reflection"). I'll talk about these in more detail in other columns.
We each come equipped with our unique personality, where our character expresses one or more emotion more strongly. That's our "nature." Some people are naturally more about "kindness" and others more about "discipline." Both "kindness" and "discipline" are not intrinsically positive or negative. There is a constructive and a destructive "kindness." Similarly, there is a healthy and an unhealthy "discipline."
Sometimes, the personality that is wired with "kindness" must learn to practice more discipline. And sometimes the disciplinarian must learn to be more kind.
The ultimate objective is for our spirit to reach beyond our nature and tap into a higher and deeper light. Thus, the eighth light represents our ability to reach beyond our nature.
When a person is internally inspired—kindled—then this person can use who he or she is, to connect to a more profound internal light. The menorah is all about kindling the collective souls—the seven primary personality types, so that we become messengers of illumination receiving inspiration from a higher spiritual light, the "eighth"—beyond nature and sharing it with others.
The miracle of Chanukah is the triumph of this light over darkness. What could be more universal? The kindled menorah reminds us that, regardless of differences, we all can illuminate our surroundings with a shared transcendent light of goodness and kindness.
Unlike the scorpion, a human being is not bound by his or her natural makeup.
Happy Chanukah and Shabbat Shalom!
You are welcome to join us tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. for a Havdalah service and a lighting of on Pacific Coast Highway near the intersection at Heathercliff Road/Emily Shane Way. Michel and Ellen Shane will be kindling the menorah named in their daughter's memory.
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