A little light chases away a lot of darkness! -Tzeida L’Derech
Yes, even little lights can do a world of good. We have a framed picture in our house that hung on the wall from when I was very young. It depicts some monk-like figures hovering over a scroll and one is poised with a feathered pen in his hand as others look on. The caption reads, “A drop of ink may make a million think”. A few weeks ago, I was reintroduced to a book of aphorisms by Rabbi Shraga Silverstein, entitled, “A Candle by Day”. I was inspired to gather together 250 original Pitgamim- Aphorism for my family for Chanuka. In the spirit of the 36 Lights of Chanuka, here are a sample of 36 of them.

1 It matters less where we start and more where we end up.
2 To err is human but to laugh at one’s self is Divine.
3 You can’t shovel last year’s snow.
4 You can’t shovel next year’s snow.
5 Once you play chess you don’t want to play checkers anymore.
6 Do not be held hostage by your opinions
7 Direction! Not Perfection!
8 A leader doesn’t tell people what to think. He awakens within them what they are really thinking.
9 The applesauce doesn’t fall far from the pantry.
10 Try to look at the world as if for the first time, like you’ve never seen it before.
11 What the heart doesn’t want, the eye doesn’t see.
12 Whatever you do, it should be a pleasure and not a pressure.
13 The world is filled with quiet and daily courage.
14 More than the Jews have kept the Shabbos Holy, the Shabbos has kept the Jews Holy
15 We have to prove to HASHEM that we exist.
16 Whoever gives the most love wins!
17 If we are still here, there’s more for us to do.
18 HASHEM is gently weaning us off everything “this world”.
19 Remembering our purpose in this world while being in this world is the biggest test.
20 The six most important words besides Shema Yisrael HASHEM Elocheinu HASHEM Echod are, “What can I do to help?”
21 A good story is like a Swiss Army Knife. It can be used many different ways.
22 How many different songs can be played on a piano with 88 keys? How many more can be played when there are 613 keys!?
23 We, Jewish People, love to love and we hate to hate. Unfortunately, there are people in the world who love to hate and hate to love.
24 Once you discover the key to your own heart, you will have fashioned the master key for thousands of other hearts.
25 Do not demand from others what you have not demanded first from yourself 1,000 times.
26 The best agenda for getting along with anyone and everyone is to have no agenda.
27 In order to get along in life you need a certain blood type, B- Positive!
28 We are all perfectly imperfect and that’s an Ok place to begin.
29 What we don’t say may be more valuable than what we say.
30 Try not to disappoint yourself!
31 There is no cure for the incurious!
32 The quality of a relationship is not measured by the liveliness of the conversation, but by the comfortableness of the silences.
33 Life is a gift. Keep unwrapping it until you find the GIVER hidden deep inside.
34 Be a window to allow the light of G-dliness to shine through you and don’t be a pane.
35 Be still enough and you can feel the passage of time.
36 The Chanukah Candle flame is a letter YUD hoping to be understood.
A Drop of Ink …