My son did something unusual the first night of Chanuka. He proudly came home from school with a menorah he made himself, and put a candle in each holder. Nothing unusual about that, except that this was the first night of Chanuka when we light only one candle. He was so excited about the holiday, that he wanted to bring as much light into as possible and filled the holders with the maximum amount of candles, when only one was required.
This isn’t really unusual when one considers that the venerable Torah sage Shammai indicated that one should begin burning eight candles and reduce a candle each day. This is the way the menorah will be lit at the time of the Third Temple, when the Jewish Messiah comes. However, we follow his contemporary Hillel, who said we should light one candle on the first night, two on the second and so on.
The result of following Hillel is that we increase in light, just as we should increase in good deeds and in our connection with each other and with G-d. It is a reminder that we should never be satisfied to stay in one place, but should always be making an effort to increase the light we bring into the world. This is what the Lubavitcher Rebbe taught, as he encouraged his followers to bring others to the light of Torah with one more mitzvah or good deed.
It is interesting how bright the menorah becomes on the last night. Who would have thought that adding just one small candle a day could produce such a glow. I find this inspiring when I think about those household tasks I never seem to get to because they seem like enormous chores, or bad habits I have yet to break. Just one small light a day will remove the darkness.
So my son will have his menorah full of eight bright flames some day soon. Until then, we are ever on the increase, day by day, to bring more light.