Monday night, Erev Chanukah , I drove up the ten or eleven blocks to the supermarket. It was dark. Well, with the exception of a few token flashing lights and lawn decorations along the way, maybe a total of 2 per block.
I drove past each home thinking that come Tuesday night on this same avenue the majority of the homes I was passing would have lit menorahs in the windows. In the span of (at the time) less than 20 hours there would be light. I look forward to walking to shul Shabbos night and truly appreciate living in a community with so many menorahs shining out of the homes.
It’s a good feeling to know that soon I would be lighting my menorah. I look forward to it each year. For me there is a connection between the past, present, and future when I light. To be able to attach myself to a mitzvah that so physically represents something from the times of the Beis Hamikdash kind of blows me away. I know that these thoughts are less than original, but this is what I was thinking about the other night. Freilechen Chanukah!