The Gemara teaches that a person who is consistent with lighting Chanukah candles will merit to have children who are Talmidei Chachamim - Torah scholars. What is the connection between these to factors? Is this Segulah simply a magic trick, or there something more cerebral at play?
The fifth Rebbe of Lubavitch, known as the Rashab discusses how different parts of the soul correspond to the four elements: earth, water, air and fire. (In our terms this means solid, liquid, gas and energy.) For example, the Ruach which is the seat of Emotions corresponds to air. The nature of gaseous materials is to dissipate and fill any space in which it is found. The same is true of emotions. My character traits are only revealed in the context of interaction. I can't show love if there isn't someone to love. I can't display patience without a setting to test me. My surroundings activate my emotional-self from every angle. Just as air extends in all directions, so too emotions are exposed through every angle of interaction.
The Neshamah however, which is the seat of the Sechel - the intellectual capacities - corresponds to the element of fire. Fire only moves in one direction: up. If an upright wooden pole is ignited half way, the bottom section will remain without char because the flames only more upwards. Flames lick upward as they flicker and wave. This is called Histaklus Klapei Ma'alah - an upwards removal. In English we call this "burning up".
Why is this comparable to the Sechel? As opposed to emotions which essentially require interaction, information is only absorbed in a solitary environment without distraction. Intellectual pursuits ideally take place in an elevated, meditative state. Just as fire seeks to soar upwards, and is bound only by its wick and fuel-source, so too the mind seeks to be aloof and sublime even though it is bound in a body.
This explains why those who light the Menorah with dedication are bound to receive Talmidei Chachamim as children. They are connecting themselves to the element of fire in a deep and essential way, thereby attaching themselves to the power of Sechel.
הרגיל בנר הויין ליה בנים תלמידי חכמים
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