Hidden Treasures

Addendum: 

My chevrusa points out that the Yiddish word likht can mean either “candle” or “light.” He feels that this should be translated as “light” in the final sentence of the teaching. Thus, he says, it should read: “Just like the flame is one with the light from which it emanates.” He contends that this refers to the supernal, spiritual light and not to the physical light and certainly not to the candle. The Yiddish reads: punkt vi der flam iz eyns mit dem likht, fun velkhen es kumt aroys — ”just as the flame is one with the light/candle, from which it comes out.” And I maintain that the flame doesn’t come out from the light, but rather, from the candle.
So we disagree on this point.

He says it refers to the cosmic principle that all things emanate from the Light. Which is a nice teaching, for sure. But the actual wording of the sentence doesn’t support that. Nevertheless, if the teacher was speaking metaphorically, it probably doesn’t matter which was said first. If the point is that everything is ultimately and originally one, then lights and flames and candles are all just manifestations — different styles of garments which the Light takes on to enable us to see it without being harmed.