Hanukkah and the Miracle of Starting

I often feel like I don’t have enough fuel to finish what I started. I look at my week, my energy levels, or a massive project, and the math simply doesn’t work out. I feel like I have 10% battery and 100% of the mountain left to climb.

When I feel this scarcity, my instinct is to stop. I wait for more energy, more time, or more confidence before I make a move.

But this week marks the beginning of Hanukkah, a holiday that challenges that exact instinct. While it is often associated with dreidels and chocolate coins, at its core, Hanukkah is a story about Resource Scarcity and the audacity to start something you know you cannot finish.

The Logic of the Oil

For those unfamiliar with the history, Hanukkah commemorates a rebellion that took place around 165 BCE. A small band of Jewish fighters, known as the Maccabees, revolted against the massive Hellenistic empire that was trying to force them to assimilate and abandon their traditions.

Against all odds, the Maccabees won and reclaimed their Holy Temple in Jerusalem. But when they entered, they found it trashed. They wanted to relight the Menorah (the great candelabra), which was meant to burn continuously.

They searched the ruins and found only one small jar of pure olive oil—just enough to keep the flame alive for one single day. They knew it would take eight days to produce a fresh batch.

Here is where the “Optimizer” in me would have stopped.

The logical, efficient choice would have been to wait. Why light a lamp today if you know it will go dark tomorrow? Why start a process that is destined to fail? It makes no sense to begin until you have secured the resources to finish.

The Miracle of the First Step

We usually hear that the miracle of Hanukkah is that the oil lasted for eight days. And that is a beautiful story.

But I think the real miracle happened on the first night.

The true miracle was the audacity to light the lamp when they knew they didn’t have enough. They didn’t wait for a guarantee. They didn’t wait for “full battery.” They poured what little they had into the lamp and lit the match.

I often suffer from what I call Completionist Paralysis. If I can’t see the clear path to the finish line, I don’t start. I hoard my energy, waiting for the perfect conditions.

The lesson of the oil is that faith isn’t knowing you have enough for the whole journey. Faith is lighting the match when you only have enough for today.

Increasing the Light

There is a specific way this holiday is observed that offers a powerful protocol for those of us feeling overwhelmed.

In the first century, two great scholars, Hillel and Shammai, debated how the candles should be lit. Shammai argued that one should start with eight candles and count down to one, representing the oil running out. It was a logical, data-driven approach.

Hillel disagreed. He argued we should start with one candle and add a new one each night, counting up to eight. His reasoning was simple: “In matters of holiness, we increase, we do not decrease.”

Hillel won the argument. Tonight, millions of people will light just one candle. Tomorrow, two.

This is the antidote to my overwhelm. I don’t need a bonfire on Day 1. I don’t need to fix my entire life or finish the project in a single burst of heroism. I just need one candle. Then two.

Light It Anyway

We are all waiting for “more oil.” We are waiting for the perfect time, the big break, or the surge of motivation.

But the math will never work out perfectly. If you wait until you feel ready, you will stay in the dark.

This week, stop doing the math. The logic said the light would go out. The miracle said otherwise.

Identify the project, the habit, or the conversation you’ve been delaying because you feel “low on oil.” Light the first candle. The rest of the fuel will come once you begin.