Bridging the Gap Between our Heads and Hearts.

"Hatarbut hazot lo lanu
ki b’libeinu eish"

~Adi Ran

I’m sure most people can identify with the following situation: you walk into a clothes store on a simple mission: to find a plain white T-shirt. As you browse the store, a preying salesperson latches her eyes on you and asks, “Do you need any help?” You regretfully reply, “Yes,” since you’re not exactly sure where their shirts are kept. She feasts with glee as she realizes her opportunity has come, and replies “come this way.” She points to a rack of shirts, slightly above your price range, but no matter- you need a shirt. Miss Sally Saleswoman hovers in your space while you zone out the goods, glancing excessively in your direction. Fast forward twenty minutes: you stand in hand with a new belt, slightly out of your style range, a pair of shoes, slightly out of your price range, and a fancy skirt, definitely out of your size range. Some how you have managed to be persuaded that “they look stunning on you,” and “their prices are rock-bottom, seeing as it’s the beginning/middle/end of the season.” You stand there feeling about the size of a pea, wondering whether or not those shoes really look as snazzy as she says. Your head tells you that you came for a white shirt, and wait a minute; you couldn’t even find a decent one your size! Your heart tells you “oh, this salesperson is so nice, and she really thinks this skirt, a size 4, looks good on me!” You know from the beginning that you came for one reason: a white shirt. Yet you continue to convince yourself that you really need these things, and that your life will simply cease to exist if you don’t buy them. The salesperson assures you of such fate too. Under the pressure, you drop the items by the check-out counter and pull out a credit card.

A few months go bye, the skirt stands in your closet collecting dust, as you insist you will wear it the moment it fits,( you asked your sister what she thought, and she told you the truth). The shoes have been worn once, but you swore never to touch them again- because if anything would happen to them, oy vey, they were so expensive! You start to wish that you had listened a moment longer to your head when it was saying “darling, you came in the pursuit of a white shirt, don’t lose your focus!” Yet, some people don’t ever realize the battle they’ve lost, and continue to give in to their desires in all sorts of important, life changing situations.

Today’s world is a world of instant gratification, of fast-food and remote controls, of “instant, just add water’s” and “get rich quick” ideas, and it’s easy to lose sight and possession of the ability to stop and think. It’s easy for us to shut off our minds, and just give into the “saleswoman”. It is easy to leave the work for someone else, to take the easy route out and forget about our goals. It’s easy to give in, to seek the modern culture, the technological culture, and just forfeit our ancient war against Hellenism.

We say on Chanukah “"And (we thank You) for the miracles, and for the salvation, and for the mighty deeds, and for the victories, and for the battles which You performed for our forefathers in those days, at this time." What was it “in those days” that we are fighting “at this time?” The ideology of the Greeks was beauty and fame, strength and agility, power and influence, but lacked all which Judaism stands for. It imposed upon our people a deep spiritual conflict: to take the easy route, to assimilate into the uncomplicated world of physicality and materialism, or to stand strong and fight the tidal waves of desire, and plant your feet into something solid and truthful.
The Maccabees fought the Greeks with what they had: a small army, inefficient weaponry, and an amount of faith in G-d deeper than the deepest wells of any philosopher in all of Greece. They refused to take the easy way out and surrender to the seemingly “larger power.” They fought to the last minute with every ounce of faith and belief in their bodies. And in the end, they won, transferring to us the spark of hope that we can overcome or desires, the easy way out, the “automatic” and “material.”

“The largest distance is between your head and your heart.” Sometimes taking what you know, and putting it into action is the war that we must make. It is easy to give in to the nagging saleswoman, and buy the life that we never wanted in the first place. It is easy to succumb to the seemingly sweet call of the Western culture as we know it. But in our head, deep down in our subconscious, we all know that fighting for our worth, rooting ourselves in something that’s deeper than skin deep, will not only benefit our conscious, but our quality of life. To stand up for what we believe in is the sweetest thing a Jew, a human being, can know.

Adi Ran, in his song “Atah Kadosh” wrote "Hatarbut hazot lo lanu ki b’libeinu eish," which when translated means “this culture isn’t ours, because in our hearts there’s fire.” Matityahu and the Maccabees ensured the passing of that fire in our hearts; they gave us the hope and motivation to keep to our roots of truth, and to brave the temptations of our modern society. These are the battles that were fought “in those days, at this time,” and these are wars we will continue to launch.

To each person there are his points of battle and to each his spots of weakness. The warmth of the Chanukah candles can strengthen our hearts, give us the courage to stand up for our beliefs, and bridge the gap between our heads and hearts. And as long as we fight, G-d will be by our sides performing miracles.

Chag Sameach