A few weeks ago, I was asked by the website ritualwell.org to write a Hanukkah poem to
represent the hardship the Jewish world has endured since October 7. How could I possibly do
this? How could I take a holiday so full of life and light and love and reduce it into our current
emotions? I thought about the way a small flame can light an entire room, about the millennia of
prejudice and affliction our people have endured and survived, about the pain encompassed by
Hanukkah in spite of its joy.
represent the hardship the Jewish world has endured since October 7. How could I possibly do
this? How could I take a holiday so full of life and light and love and reduce it into our current
emotions? I thought about the way a small flame can light an entire room, about the millennia of
prejudice and affliction our people have endured and survived, about the pain encompassed by
Hanukkah in spite of its joy.
Here is what I wrote:
“Banish Darkness, Bring on the Light” (Hanukkah 5784)
Can a candle pierce darkness? Can it thaw a broken heart?
I rub my hands together like a match. This Hanukkah will be different.
I am not a Maccabee, but I am among their ranks. To advertise light how fanatical, how
fantastical.
The hills of Judea howl with anger. My heart burns like the end of a match.
I am not warm yet but I am not cold either. I realize I’ve been writing in tears.
Stand over me like a Shamash. Bend your arms around me like a flame.
Tell me even amidst all this darkness we will find light.
As I count out the holes, I realize there are too many candies missing to fill a menorah.
(https://ritualwell.org/ritual/banish-darkness-bring-on-the-light-hanukkah-5784/)
Hanukkah, it turns out, is not just about the light, but about the dark as well. More importantly,
it’s about finding light within the dark.
Last week, I was on a Zoom call with a few dozen colleagues from around the country talking
about the Matzav, the current situation in Israel. In addition to sharing about our deep
connection to our beloved country and the challenges we are currently facing in our
communities, we had to share bright spots as well. As each colleague went in turn, they would
inevitably spend a majority of their allotted two minutes on what was hard, their faces dour and
stressed. And, then a transformation would occur in the final seconds as they finally got to what
was good – walking side by side with their children at the DC rally, organized interfaith efforts,
money raised to support Israel in its time of need. Despite the struggles each of us has had
endured, there was happy moments as well.
I thought of the Christmas music – much of it written by Jews – that pervades in so many of our
communal spaces this time of year, much of it about quiet, happy moments with friends and
family. How different it is from Hanukkah music, which is focused on fortitude and survival.
This is the message of our holiday of light, that bad times will come and we overcome them
together. As you look at your Spotify playlist for inspiration, I encourage you to take a listen to a
few of my favorites: Erran Baron Cohen’s “Songs in the Key of Hanukkah,” the wonderful,
modernized take on classic Hanukkah songs by the brother of the famous comedian Sasha
Baron Cohen from 2010. And, my colleague and friend Cantor Arlene Frank’s “Hanukkah
Nights” from 2019 featuring local artists. Build your own Hanukkah playlist, not to avoid the
darkness, but to embrace it.
Chag Chanukah Sameach and Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Alex
family. How different it is from Hanukkah music, which is focused on fortitude and survival.
This is the message of our holiday of light, that bad times will come and we overcome them
together. As you look at your Spotify playlist for inspiration, I encourage you to take a listen to a
few of my favorites: Erran Baron Cohen’s “Songs in the Key of Hanukkah,” the wonderful,
modernized take on classic Hanukkah songs by the brother of the famous comedian Sasha
Baron Cohen from 2010. And, my colleague and friend Cantor Arlene Frank’s “Hanukkah
Nights” from 2019 featuring local artists. Build your own Hanukkah playlist, not to avoid the
darkness, but to embrace it.
Chag Chanukah Sameach and Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Alex