Magnify Hashem in the Dark: Faith in Teves

136aThe days of Chanukah are days of light, a time when holy, bright lights are revealed. In them a person must prepare himself for the low days that follow, Rosh Chodesh Teves and Shevat, the days of Shovavim,¹ so that he does not fall, Heaven forbid, but holds fast and leans on Hashem. The order of the letters of the Name Havayah, the Four-Letter Name, blessed be He, that shines in this month also shows that these are low days. It comes from the verse “Magnify Hashem with me, and let us exalt His Name together”: the last letters of laHashem (ה), iti (י), uneromemah (ה) and shemo (ו) give hei, yud, hei, vav. The female letters come before the male [the heis before the yud and the vav], which alludes to judgment, as is known.² But a person may strengthen himself in the days when the darkness is strongest, crown the Holy One King over his 248 limbs and 365 sinews, and believe with complete faith that “in the darkness, light dwells with Him”:³ that light glimmers even in the dark, and that out of the trouble itself Hashem will bring redemption and relief. As Chazal said, “First darkness, and then light,”⁴ in the way that absence comes before being and the peel before the fruit. Then, by his strong faith, he is worthy to magnify, raise and exalt Hashem's Name, and through it he earns the union of the attributes, the joining of Hashem's attributes as one.

136bThis is the meaning of “Magnify Hashem iti, with me.” We know that Dovid, who says “with me,” was the attribute of Malchus, Kingship; so the verse speaks of one who is worthy to magnify Hashem and crown Him King. “And let us exalt His Name”: to lift and raise His Name. Then he earns the union of the attributes, which is hinted at in yachdav, “together.” From the union of the attributes he comes to the light of kindness. For when the lights strike against one another, a light of kindness comes out from between them, spreads, and shines on the whole world. And the power of his strengthening himself, the force of the light of his strong faith in the midst of the darkness, rises higher and higher, to the very top, and speaks well for him before the Master of mercy. This is the meaning of the verse “Esther was taken to King Achashverosh … in the tenth month, which is the month of Teves.”⁵ In the month of Teves, in the low days, days of darkness and of the hiding of Hashem's face, if a person strengthens himself in the time of hiding, he earns this: his strength and his faith are “taken to the King,” the King of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He, to speak well for him.