Light from Right and Left

וכתיב ימין ושמאל תפרוצי זרעך גויים יירש.

“And it is written: ‘Right and left you shall break forth; your seed shall inherit nations.’”

The Sefat Emet begins by citing the verse that promises expansion to the right and left, symbolizing spiritual and national influence spreading outward.

כי הימין מיוחד לבני ישראל כו).

“For the right side is designated for the people of Israel…”

The right represents holiness and divine favor uniquely aligned with Israel’s spiritual essence.

ולפי שעשו היונים פרצה במקדש.

“And since the Greeks made a breach in the Temple…”

The Greek invasion is described as a spiritual rupture, a tearing in the sanctity of the Temple.

כמ"ש ובאו בה פריצים.

“As it is written: ‘And lawless ones entered it.’”

The Sefat Emet references the prophetic description of desecrators entering holy space.

לכן כשגברה מלכות חשמונאי עשו פרצה בהם.

“Therefore, when the Hasmonean kingdom prevailed, they made a breach in them.”

The Hasmoneans reversed the spiritual breach, turning the force of rupture back against the Greeks.

ונעשה גם משמאל ימין כמשרז"ל כשישראל זכאין אף השמאל נעשה ימין.

“And the left was also made into right, as our sages said: when Israel is meritorious, even the left becomes right.”

Victory transformed areas normally associated with spiritual leftness into channels of holiness.

וזהו הבינו חכמי הדור שהיו בלשכת הגזית שהוא עת לפרוץ בשמאל ולירש נחלת גוים.

“And this the sages of the generation understood, those who sat in the Chamber of Hewn Stone—that it was a time to break forth on the left and inherit the portion of the nations.”

The Sanhedrin recognized that the moment called for elevating the ‘left side’ and extending spiritual dominion.

וע"ז כתיב לא תסור כו' אשר יגידו לך ימין ושמאל.

“And about this it is written: ‘Do not turn… from what they tell you, right or left.’”

The authority of the sages guides how to navigate shifting spiritual conditions.

ודרשו חז"ל אפילו יאמרו לך על שמאל שהוא ימין.

“And our sages expounded: even if they tell you that left is right.”

Sometimes the sages must redefine spiritual orientation to meet the moment.

כי לכל זמן ועת.

“For everything has a time and season.”

Holiness expresses itself differently depending on the epoch.

והם הבינו כי הוא עת להמשיך אור גם בשמאל.

“And they understood that it was a time to draw light also into the left.”

The moment required illuminating and uplifting aspects of existence normally outside the sacred right side.

וזה כח תורה שבע"פ.

“And this is the power of the Oral Torah.”

The Oral Torah reveals how divine light adapts dynamically to changing circumstances.

ורמזו מזוזה בימין נ"ח משמאל.

“And they hinted: the mezuzah on the right, the lamp (Ner Chanukah) on the left.”

The mezuzah and Chanukah lamp symbolize the two forms of Torah—written and oral—anchored on opposite sides.

מזוזה בחי' תורה שבכתב בחי' מרע"ה שהוריד תורה מן השמים ונתנבא בזה הדבר אספקלריא המאירה.

“The mezuzah corresponds to the Written Torah, the aspect of Moses our teacher, who brought Torah from heaven and prophesied through a clear lens.”

Moses embodies clarity and direct divine revelation, like the fixed holiness of the mezuzah.

ונ"ח משמאל בחי' יהושע שהי' מכבש ארץ שבעה אומות שורש תורה שבע"פ.

“And the Chanukah lamp on the left corresponds to Joshua, who conquered the land of the seven nations, the root of the Oral Torah.”

Joshua represents the expansion of holiness into earthly realms, the beginning of Oral Torah’s unfolding.

ונביאים שנתנבאו בכה אמר ה' אספקלריא שאינה מאירה.

“And the prophets who prophesied with ‘Thus says the Lord’ saw through a lens not fully clear.”

Prophecy after Moses expresses a dimmer form of revelation, connected to the developing Oral Torah.

וב' אלו הם בחי' זרח ופרץ.

“And these two are the aspects of Zerach and Peretz.”

The twins Zerach and Peretz symbolize the dual revelation: clarity and breakthrough.

שכ' ז"ל שפרץ רומז ללבנה שלפעמים פרוצה והיא מלכות בית דוד שעושה פרצה באומות עעכו"ם.

“As our sages wrote: Peretz alludes to the moon, which sometimes breaks forth, and this is the kingship of the House of David, which makes a breach among the nations.”

Peretz represents the Davidic power to break through spiritual barriers and transform nations.

Summary: The Sefat Emet teaches that Chanukah represents transforming the left side into light, reversing the Greek breach, and extending holiness outward through the dynamic power of the Oral Torah, symbolized by the Chanukah lamp opposite the mezuzah.