Twilight

Candlelighting reminds us that God performed a miracle for us with light. Day time is the time of day when the regular workings of nature are most visible. At night, by contrast, the power of nature is less apparent. It is for this reason that our sages tell us that day time is for the workings of nature, nighttime for miracles. Therefore Chanukah candles are lit at night, the time of miracles. It is also for this reason that our Sages teach us that night was created for the study of Torah. This is because Torah study is from out of the natural world.

The Inside Story

On Chanukah we mention in our prayers that God gave the many into the hands of the few, the impure into the hands of the pure, and the wicked into the hands of those who toil in Torah.
Chanukah is a time when we have the opportunity to have these same successes within ourselves as well. Do you have any internal struggles? Who doesn't?! Do you often feel that success in your internal strife is difficult or impossible?

Chanukah is the time when we have the ability to change that. Even if you feel that most of you is drawn to activities that are spiritually detrimental and that there is only a small part of yourself that is protesting those behaviors, Chanukah is the time when the many can be overcome by the few. The impure parts of your psyche can be overcome by the pure parts. The parts that are drawn to wickedness can be subsumed by those drawn to Torah.

Every holiday offers us opportunities for spiritual growth. But they don't just come by themselves. By consciously working on them during the holiday we take advantage of the spiritual power of the holiday to make strides in these areas.

Low Candles

Chanukah candles are meant to be placed low down, near the ground. Preferably they should be placed within 10 tefachim (approximately 30-40") of the ground. Why is this?

The reason is because we want to instill the idea that the light of God is not only found in the highest of places. We all know that there are places of greatness where holiness is easily manifested and found. The message here, however, is that even in the lowest of places, and the darkest situation, God can be found and the light of holiness can shine.

Outside

Ideally Chanukah candles are meant to be placed outside of the home, by the street. This is an allusion to the fact that the light of the spirituality of the Torah is so great that even when one leaves the protective cocoon of the home, and wanders out into a dark world full of temptations and challenges to one's belief system, the light can still win out. Even those who are found in places devoid of all Jewish Spirituality can be brought back by the light of the Chanukah candles.

Within Nature

Rabbi Levi Yitzchok of Berditchev explained that there is a fundamental distinction between the miracles celebrated at Pesach (Passover) and those celebrated on Chanukah and Purim. This distinction is brought out by the fact that on Chanukah and Purim we recite the blessing שעשה נסים לאבותינו בימים ההם בזמן הזה Who performed miracles for our ancestors in those days, at this time. We do not recite this blessing on Pesach.

The distinction is that on Pesach the miracle was one which was above nature. Above nature is also above time. Nature is within the dimension of time. Above nature is not.

By contrast, the miracle of Chanukah and Purim were within nature; they were there to show us that God permeates all that exists in the natural world. As such, they were miracles within time. That is why we mention in the blessing "at this time," to emphasize that these were miracles within time.

Which do you think is greater? A miracle in which God breaks the laws of nature, or one in which he works within nature?