Tefillah la-Chanukah — A Prayer for Hanukkah

Master of the universe, have compassion and mercy on us,

and grant us the merit to receive upon ourselves the holiness of the days of Hanukkah in holiness, in purity, and in true joy,

and to merit the lighting of Hanukkah candles each and every day,

as our teachers, of blessed memory, commanded us:

to begin on the first day by lighting one candle,

and to add one more candle each day,

until the completion of all eight days of Hanukkah.

For You have already made known to us through Your holy sages

that through the holiness of the Hanukkah candles,

we draw upon ourselves the attainments of divine awareness through the contractions of light,

from which place the essence of all the holy flames and candles is kindled —

as it is said: "To draw forth the holy anointing oil, to kindle the lamps, and to illuminate the lights."

May we merit the drawing of the light of the holy anointing oil — which is the aspect of the holy tefillin —

to shine upon us the illuminations of the attainment of Your divinity through miracle and wonder,

to illuminate and kindle the holy lights in which all the unifications and extensions of the attainment of divine awareness below are contained,

even for us, as lowly as we are, dwelling in the very lowest place, which is the aspect of below ten.

And through the restorations of the Hanukkah miracle, may we too merit —

through the power of the great righteous ones on high,

who draw down upon us the attainments of this supreme light even to our lowly place —

that they will heal us of the sickness of the soul that has overtaken us so deeply,

so that our soul has come to despise all food and we have reached the very gates of death,

as we know within ourselves how greatly the sickness of the soul has overtaken us,

and every single day our soul grows weaker because of our many transgressions.

Only You, in Your great mercy, granted us this awesome mitzvah

of lighting the Hanukkah candles,

through which the truly righteous ones illuminate and draw down the light of the attainment of Your divinity

even upon us who are so gravely ill,

and they extend the light downward into the deep darkness of our bodies

because of our evil deeds,

and they illuminate us so that we may set our hearts to their holy words,

for they give us life through their words,

and extend the holy light of the Hanukkah candle into the depths of the darkness.

May I merit to believe in this and to fulfill this mitzvah in holiness,

and to believe that I will surely merit to emerge through this mitzvah

from darkness into great light,

by virtue of the truly righteous ones who illuminate the earth and all who dwell upon it,

and may this verse be fulfilled in me:

"Even as I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil, for You are with me; for when I sit in darkness, the Lord is my light."

Grant the truly righteous ones in their hearts the desire to show mercy to me and to all of Israel,

to draw us near with compassion,

to lower themselves down toward us,

to extend the holy light upon us,

and to reveal to us as well the illuminations of the attainment of Your blessed divinity,

and to engage in our restoration and the healing of our souls,

and to fulfill the mitzvah of visiting the sick — within our souls —

by visiting us each and every day,

nourishing and reviving our souls with every manner of good sustenance,

until we merit to return in complete repentance,

to receive and fulfill all the holy counsel they give us,

for all of it is great healing for our souls,

and through this we merit to illuminate within our souls as well that wondrous illumination — the attainment of divinity —

which is the very aspect of Hanukkah,

and we merit to give life to our wisdom in holiness,

and to receive vitality from the light of the divine face and from the joy of the commandments that gathers at the three pilgrimage festivals,

and we merit the dedication of the Temple, where the light of the divine face shines.

The light of Your face, O Lord, lift it upon us;

"God be gracious to us and bless us; may He make His face shine upon us, Selah;"

"Make Your face shine upon Your servant; save me in Your kindness,"

so that we may merit — through the holiness of the lighting of the Hanukkah candle —

to draw the light of the divine face from the Temple

to give life to the holy sovereignty,

and through this merit the attainment of Your divinity,

"Make Your face shine upon Your servant and teach me Your statutes."

"And let every creature know that You created it,

and let every formed being understand that You formed it,

and let all in whose nostrils there is breath say: The Lord, the God of Israel, is King, and His kingship rules over all."

Grant me, in Your great mercy, to give tzedakah,

and especially during the days of Hanukkah,

so that You may make Your face shine upon us

and we may merit to receive the light of the face of the living King

through the tzedakah we give to the poor who come to our homes,

and through this we merit to draw close to the truly righteous ones,

who reveal and fashion such contractions and vessels

through which they are able to illuminate even within our souls that are so very far from holiness —

so far that according to the strict judgment we are unworthy of being drawn near;

yet even so, they devote themselves

and labor all their days to have mercy upon us and upon all of Israel —

even upon the most distant, to bring them close to the Blessed God,

and they reveal each time new and wondrous contractions

so that all who wish to bring themselves closer to holiness may do so.

Therefore have mercy upon us, and grant us the merit to draw close to such righteous ones,

and may You have mercy on us and annul the strife that arose through our sins

against these true righteous ones who labor to draw us near,

for because of this, strife is raised against them even from among the righteous of the world,

because the attribute of strict judgment clothes itself within them

owing to the intensity of holiness of these righteous ones,

and they cannot bear this world

because of the sins and deeds of those who are unworthy,

and although this is truly so,

You have already made known to us that it is not Your good will to distance us — God forbid;

on the contrary, You desire that they always advocate well on our behalf,

even though we are as we are — stained by our transgressions,

even so, You desire that they have mercy upon us,

even upon the worst of the worst,

that they draw down and make restorations,

and clothe the holy light in such wondrous garments and contractions,

until the holy light shines even within us,

and they continue to add each and every day more light and holiness below, more and more with each day,

and elevate in holiness all the fallen souls,

infusing them with attainments of divinity through holy contractions,

until all the spiritually sick in the world may be healed.

Therefore have mercy upon us and annul the strife against these true righteous ones,

and grant me the merit to draw close to them in truth,

and through this may all the shame and disgrace that came upon us because of our sins be removed from us,

and may they return us in complete repentance

and bring us close to the Blessed God in truth.

Our Father in Heaven — behold, Your deepest desire is

that the inhabitants of the world reveal Your divinity,

and for this reason You created all the worlds,

so that You would be brought — specifically — into this lowly world

through all of Israel drawing close to Your service,

"And may they all form one bond to do Your will with a whole heart."

Therefore I cast my supplication before You,

Master of Mercy,

that You reveal the glory of Your kingdom over us swiftly,

and appear and be exalted over us in the sight of all living things,

and heal me with healing of the soul and healing of the body:

"Heal me, O Lord, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for You are my praise."

Blessed is the Lord forever, amen and amen.