Two-Way Relationship.

Our relationship with God is a two-way street: from us to Him and from Him to us. Describing the service of Menorah lighting, performed by Aharon, Torah says "from the evening till morning it should burn". Evening, ("erev" in Hebrew) in Kabalistic literature symbolizes mixture, non-clarity, in other words - our material world. Morning ("boker") means clear, obvious, in other words - spiritual realm. Likewise, when Torah talks about Moshe teaching Torah to Jewish people, the sentence says: "and people lined up to hear Moshe's advise from the morning till the evening". Here the order is reversed... Bringing God's teaching to Jewish people from Heaven to Earth is described as from the "boker" till "erev", from spiritual to mundane. Our service to God (lighting Menorah for example) has opposite direction - from "erev" to "boker".

The question is: what comes first?

Midrash says: "Open for me an opening as small as eye of the needle, and I will open for you the gates of the palace, says God"

The first step has to come from us, from "erev" towards “boker”. We cannot expect God’s blessing if we don’t do anything to bring it about. But once we open this tiny crack, then, seeing our determination, we are promised that the abundance will pour. Let us witness God’s promises fulfilled speedily in our days.