Filmmaker Steven Spielberg recently directed a movie about Abraham Lincoln. He commented on this project: “I require fear in order to run towards something. The more frightened I am the more I have to run into what’s scaring me to figure out what it is. The work that I’m proudest of is the work that I’m most afraid of.”

I like this quote. I relate to this quote. I relate to the idea of not letting our fear of possible failure keep us from attempting possible success.

And yet something about it niggles. The blanket term “fear” rather than “fear of G-d?” Many times I’ve felt the way Spielberg does that I have to face down my fears use them as jumping-off points. But isn’t it possible that sometimes it’s far better not to duke it out with the yetzer hara for instance and simply run from temptation as Yosef HaTzadik did with Potifar’s wife?

When we apply our own feelings to something we can make a mistake. Something defined by Torah moderated by Torah can’t be hefker out of control. Like the “joy” expressed by San Francisco baseball fans last month after their team won the World Series a joy expressed by all too many via destroying property setting fires and acts of violence. Why should “joy” translate into acts of violence and destruction? The same acts in fact demonstrated by fans of losing teams. Because the “joy” was not moderated. It was left to human interpretation rather than the Torah’s never a good idea.

When reading Tehillim 19 recently I paused over verses 8-10.

• 8: The law of G-d is perfect restoring the soul; the testimony of G-d is sure making wise the simple.
• 9: The precepts of G-d are right rejoicing the heart; the commandment of G-d is pure enlightening the eyes.
• 10: The fear of G-d is clean enduring forever; the ordinances of G-d are true they are righteous altogether.

Law. Testimony. Precepts. Commandments. Fear. Ordinances. Heavy heavy words heavy heavy concepts which do what exactly? “Restore the soul ” “make wise the simple ” “rejoice the heart ” “enlighten the eyes ” “endure forever ” and are “righteous altogether.”

Wow.

Are those the consequences and natural next step when we think of law testimony precepts commandments fear and ordinances? Definitely not. But when two defining words “of G-d ” are added to each one suddenly its nature or rather its natural character in This World looks far different. Is far different.

Probably every driver has gotten into a car at night and forgotten to turn the lights on.

In a city we might never notice at least until we figure out why oncoming drivers keep flashing their lights at us because among the many other cars that have their lights on and streetlights house lights building lights it might take a really long time to notice that all the light is coming from somewhere else and not from us. It’s only when we’re alone in an empty dark place that we notice immediately whether our lights are on or not whether we have lights at all whether they work whether they’re strong enough to give us enough light for where we are and where we need to go.

How much do we usually want to take a look at ourselves and see if we’ve “got light?”

In a crowd we don’t always know or need to know whether we have the wherewithal to light our own way. On a dirt road deep in the woods we find out fast if we have light within or have been relying for far too long on lights from without.

We’re charged by G-d to be a light unto the nations. But we can’t be a light to anyone not our fellow Jews — let alone the nations — if we don’t have any light of our own to offer. It doesn’t have to be a huge searchlight; a tiny candle lights up a lot of darkness. Or: “There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it” — Edith Wharton.

Chanukah is nearly here. Those small lights of the Menorah in the Beis HaMikdash have illuminated and inspired the whole world for thousands of years. There’s so much each of us can do to both help our fellow Jews — and so many need so much right now — and to glorify G-d’s name among the nations. The verb le’hadlik comes from the root delek daled-lamed-kuf. Rav Samson Raphael Hirsch defines this root not as “light” but as “pursue.”

A flame pursues the heights constantly yearning upwards. Each of us must take our own small light or mirror and pursue what we can do to illuminate the darkness of This World. But only with the light that comes from Torah as it says “Ki ner mitzvah v’Torah ohr the mitzvah is a lamp and Torah is the light” (Mishlei 6:23).