(103) However, about the eight days of Chanukah established by the sages, the oil-Shemen-שמן comes from the Desire-Ratzon-רצון to the Sefirah of Understanding-Binah, and the Understanding-Binah is the secret of the Candelabrum-Menorah-מנורה and its lamps, as in the secret of the verse, “Toward the face of the Menorah shall the seven lamps cast light.” That is, the Menorah and the lamps-Neirot are for “opening the eyes of the blind.” Therefore, open your eyes and see that the eight days of Chanukah are the secret of the matter, and are a great miracle and banner. Those who know the foundations of things, know that the miracle that happened with the oil was through the Sefirah of Understanding-Binah, being that the Sefirah of Understanding-Binah elicits the bestowal of the oil-Shemen-שמן from the Desire-Ratzon-רצון. Thus, the Candelabrum-Menorah, the Lamps-Neirot, and the Oil-Shemen, bear the secret of all the Sefirot. This secret is revealed in the Menorah of Zachariah, about which it states that there are “two golden presses which pour golden [oil] from themselves,” meaning that they do not need to bring oil-Shemen-שמן from elsewhere, but rather, the two olive presses pour forth oil from the two clusters of olives above them. Whoever understands this will understand the secret of the name Ya”h-י״ה, the secret of the verse, “Let the whole Neshamah praise Ya”h-י״ה,” and the secret of the complete Hallel recited on the eight days of Chanukah.

(23) For the commandment is a lamp,
The teaching is a light...

(3) R’ Elazar of Worms says in his work ‘the Rokeach’ that the thirty-six candles we light on Hannukah parallel the thirty-six hours for which the original light of the six days of creation shone, before it was hidden away. If this is so, then it appears that each Hannukah candle draws from the or haganuz, the hidden light of creation, and gives light in great darkness, as our Sages hinted with their description of the or haganuz as a light which shined from one end of the world to the other (Chagigah 12a). There is no hiddenness or obscurity (he’elem) before this light. We call the world (olam) which obscures (ma’alim) and hides this light ‘the natural,’ but the original light of creation shone through all these layers of concealment and it was away for the righteous; on this it is written “A light shines for the upright in the darkness…” (Psalms 112:4) It is also written “The people that walked in darkness have seen a brilliant light…” (Isaiah 9:1) The generation which lived in the days of the wicked Greeks walked in darkness, as the Sages taught “darkness refers to Greece which darkened the eyes of Israel…” (Bereshit Raba 2:4), nevertheless they served God with a spirit of self-sacrifice even in the midst of this darkness. That is why they merited that the hidden light shine for them, and some of its illumination remains, radiating from year to year even in these lowly times. Every servant of God must rejoice during these days when a touch of the hidden light illuminates Divine service. The primary intent of the wicked ones was to make us forget God’s laws and Torah, and the Hannukah lights bring us to remembrance.

(12)All creation is like a rotating wheel, revolving and oscillating. At one time, something can be on top, a head, with another on the bottom, a foot. Then the situation is reversed. Head becomes foot, and foot becomes head. A human changes to an angel, and an angel becomes a human. Our Sages teach us that angels were cast down from Heaven and entered into physical bodies, subject to all worldly lusts. Other angels were sent on missions to our world and clothed themselves in physical bodies. We also find cases where human beings literally became angels.

(13or the world is like a rotating wheel. It spins like a dreidel, with all things emanating from one root.

(14) We find the foot of one is also higher than the head of another. In the spiritual worlds, the lowest of an upper world is higher than the highest level of a lower one. Still, everything revolves in cycles.

(15) This is why we play with a dreidel on Chanukah.