Six Candles: Interconnection

In Rededication, a series for Chanukah by Rabbi Yael Levy, we are invited to notice the blessings and lift up the good.

Here is tonight’s teaching:

Six Candles: Interconnection
We welcome the sixth night of Chanukah and the new month of Tevet by honoring the interconnection of all life. As we light the candles, we acknowledge that the choices our great, great, great grandparents made have helped create this very moment, and the choices we make will help create the lives of people we will never know. In the illumination of the flames, we rededicate ourselves to living with the awareness of interdependence. With each candle, we name an instance of wisdom or guidance that we have received from our ancestors, our companions and/or from someone whose life touched us for a moment. And we also remember that often, even with out knowing it, we are guides for each other.

Send forth your light and your truth, they will guide me. 
— Psalm 43:3

Practice: Feeling Rooted in the Earth
We take our seats, and with the attention resting on the breath, we feel ourselves held by the earth. With each breath comes the awareness that the earth holds us all in a loving embrace.

After a short time, we imagine roots reaching from us to deep within the earth. The roots extend through the soil and the water table and connect and intertwine with roots from all over. With each breath, we draw forth sustenance from the earth and from our rooted connection with each other. Every time we notice the attention has wandered, we bring ourselves back by returning to the breath and the sensation of being held by and rooted in the earth. As we close the sit, we set an intention to pause during the day, lift our eyes to something around us and remember the interconnection of all life.

Action: Ask for Help
For many of us, asking for help is not easy. We are often more comfortable in the position of offering help. However, when we ask for assistance, we are creating the opportunity for connection and giving someone the gift of making an offering. We are in a time when all of us want to do something—anything—that will make a difference. In honor of the sixth day of Chanukah, let us make a connection with someone by asking for help.

Lean on Me, heard around the world.

— Rabbi Yael Levy