A Hanukkah message from Rabbi David J. Lerner

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On Thursday evening, Dec. 10, Jews all over the world will mark the first of the eight-night holiday of Hanukkah. This celebration has ancient roots as it marks the miraculous events that took place over 2,000 years ago in the far-away land of Judea, which is modern day Israel. The Holy Temple in Jerusalem was desecrated by the Syrian-Greek occupying force, and a relatively small group of Jewish warriors, the Maccabees, in the year 135 BCE, stood up, fought for their right to worship freely, and ended up defeating the dominant army of the Seleucid Empire and retaking, and rededicating the Temple. In fact, the Hebrew word Hanukkah translates as, “rededication.”

The victory of the “few over the many” is one of the great miracles that Hanukkah retells, but it is not the most well-known. This is partly because Jewish sovereignty in the land of Israel, which had been established over a thousand years prior to these events, was from that point onward to be short-lived. Around two hundred years after the Maccabean revolt, the Jewish people would be exiled out of the land of Israel by the Romans in the year 70 CE, not to return, save a handful of pious communities scattered across the land, until the re-establishment of the modern State of Israel in 1948.

What was not short-lived however, was the symbolism of a second miracle, the well-known miracle of the oil. After the Seleucid army was defeated and the Maccabees entered the Holy Temple, they realized that the ever-burning presence of the Menorah, the famed seven-branched candelabra which illuminated the Temple, was extinguished and the flasks containing its special oil were desecrated and destroyed. One flask was found, however, with enough oil to burn for one full night, but when lit, a great miracle occurred which extended the life, the illuminating power of this one flask of oil, for eight nights. While seemingly far less significant for the Jewish people than the defeat of the oppressive army from their sovereign land, it is the symbolism of the light of the Menorah which has stuck in the Jewish collective memory for these thousands of years. It has been a sustaining symbol of hope and joy for our communities all throughout the world.

There is a mystical Jewish teaching that likens the flame of a candle to the human soul. For if you really look at the behavior of the flame, it seems to be in a constant struggle to reach higher, to elevate. While held down to earth by a wick, as our souls are held down by our physical bodies, this spiritual struggle for elevation and transcendence, to do good, to perform acts of kindness and humility in the face of personal desire and negative external pressure, is a common theme of our human condition. But our flames are always reaching higher.

The candles of Hanukkah shine their lights every year around the time of the winter solstice, when the nights are at their longest and darkest. The powerful image of spiritual light in the face of darkness is a reminder to ourselves and a call to humanity to find the unique spark, the illumination inside each and every one of us, and to let it shine out to the universe. Only then can we truly and decisively defeat the dark forces in the world – when we come together in a shared pursuit of righteousness, love, and unity – only then can our single flame become eight. This year, in our shared communities, may the light of the Menorahs in the windows, and the Christmas lights on houses and trees unite in a collective burst of light. Let them illuminate our world in comfort and in peace. In these dark times, all of our light can shine that much brighter. Happy Hanukkah and Merry Christmas.

 

David J. Lerner is the rabbi at Congregation B’nai Sholom-Beth David