Chanukah: Get Rich SLOW

Did you ever hear the tale of Moshe Yankelovich, the rich guy? How he got rich?

It all started with an apple. He bought it for a penny, polished it to a shine and sold it for two pennies. Then he bought two apples, polished them to a shine and sold them for four pennies. Then his uncle Jack died and left him $30 million. And that’s how Yankelovich got rich.

Besides Yankelovich, nothing happens overnight. Every million starts with a dollar. Every fortune begins with pennies. Every success story has humble beginnings.

Imagine you’re an alien and you visit earth on the eighth night of Chanukah. You peek in a Jewish home and find a stunning candelabrum all lit up, flooding the home with light. You caricaturize yourself and go “Ooooooooh!” You’re overcome and deeply impressed by this “illumination inundation.”

But here is what you wouldn’t know: a week ago, 7/8 of that candelabrum was dark. Only one flame flickered. That gigantic, bright light didn’t happen overnight. Slowly, steadily, one more candle at a time, the light confidently chipped away at the darkness, and NOW there’s awesome light. But it wasn’t always there, it wasn’t always awesome. It took work, and it will always take work. Nothing happens overnight.

In 1979, Rabbi Abraham Shemtov of Chabad in Washington D.C. lit a Chanukah Menorah in the presence of then-president Jimmy Carter. President Carter got excited when he saw the Menorah and pleaded with Rabbi Shemtov to fill the Menorah with light, though it was only the fourth light. Rabbi Shemtov explained that Jewish law didn't allow for that and that the Menorah is lit one more light a night. (Incidentally Mr. Carter applied presidential pressure and Rabbi Shemtov relented, much to his own dismay. He later received a message from the Lubavitcher Rebbe's office encouraging him to be a bit stronger in the future. (Thanks to Rabbi Shemtov for selflessly telling this inspiring story, including the Rebbe's reprimand.)) 

But here's one of the messages to learn from Rabbi Shemtov's reluctance to prematurely light up the whole Menorah:

If you want to light up the world, even your own little world (and even if you live in the White House) you have to do what will work, and nothing happens overnight. Step by little step, one little light at a time, you’ll succeed. But ONLY if you accept the reality that it will take time, patience, and slow, tiny steps.

The Rebbe once said that there is as much inspiration to be found in the unlit branches of the Menorah as in the shining ones. The lit ones are lit. But the dark ones are waiting for you to light them. The dark branches remind us that regardless how many wicks we’ve kindled, there is another one not yet aflame. You already lit one, two, six, seven? Fine, that was yesterday. Today’s another day, light another flame.

That is the recipe for generating blinding, brilliant light.

This truism applies to everything important in life. Raising children, learning to cope, acquiring patience, discovering compassion, rediscovering Yiddishkeit, keeping Shabbat, eating Kosher; the list goes on. They all have this in common:

Don’t be too proud to take baby steps tomorrow and you’ll have plenty to be very proud of tomorrow.

Happy Chanukah and Good Shabbos!