Chanukah, The Holiday of Hope?

It has been some time since my last blog post. While I have had a lot of thoughts to share, it has been difficult to bring my ideas to a written format. Part of this I suppose is because most of my thoughts and ideas were just too depressing to write about. We can all agree that this has not been a good year + for anyone. We are all continuing to pray, while at the same time hurting at the constant despair and pain that our brothers and sisters are constantly enduring. So, here we are… Chanukah is upon us and we are supposed to exchange gifts and celebrate, while so much pain is going on around us. As I lit candles last night with my family, it dawned on me that this challenge may in fact be part of the holiday itself.

My son Eitan lights his candles last night outside our home. Our entire street, like many in Israel, was lined with Chanukah candles.

When I was a kid, one of the major lessons of Chanukah was the idea of assimilation. We were taught, that the Jewish people essentially forgot why we were the “chosen people” and why we were so special. We had it all in the palm of our hands! The Beit Hamikdash, the city of Jerusalem, an entire land which, despite several wars, still (for the most part) welcomed Jews to practice our religion freely. Yet, we still were not happy. Our people still wanted to be like everyone else. Being Jewish and close to God was not enough, because there was always something better on the other side. As a Jewish nation, it sometimes takes us a long time to learn from our mistakes. Somehow though, despite generations of hate towards us, we are still here, standing proud, and fighting for our people.

This past Shabbat, while on a mini vacation in Herzeliya, my wife met a family from the North that had been living in our hotel for over a year. Every time they thought they were getting close to being able to go home, something else happened that kept them from returning. Yet, when asked about the future, they were confident that Israel would win this war and that they would get to eventually return to their community. As we were lighting candles last night, I realized that it is this hope and optimism that enables us to make it through these difficult times. We can look at our candles each night of Chanukah as proof that our flames are still burning and they will continue to burn for many generations to come. Maybe more importantly, our candles can serve as a reminder to those around us that we are in fact here to stay. Part of the Chanukah mitzvah is the idea of “pirsumei nisa” or publicizing the miracle. I truly hope that our candles serve as a reminder that despite all that we have been through, we are still standing strong.

I get it that some people have trouble celebrating such a happy holiday with all that is happening around us. Our own community of Hashmonaim lost one of our own earlier this week, and the pain that we all feel does not go away. Yet, we have an opportunity this week to remember why we are here and to do our parts to make sure that our children, grandchildren, and future generations can continue to celebrate Chanukah proudly. Keep those candles burning and keep that hope alive!

Chanukah Sameach