More Light

Maybe it is a coincidence that we get the Hanukkah lights during the darkest time of the year, that we have the pleasure of taking in the light and warmth of this holiday when the days are the shortest. It can be hard to be hopeful these dark days and nights, but how fortunate we are for the Hanukkah brightness that grows nightly with the promise of even more light and hope.

There’s something very special about light, something that we don’t see everywhere else. By comparison, let’s say I have $10 and I give you five; you have more, I have less and the total of $10 stays the same.  Or let’s say I open a bar of chocolate and break off a piece to share with you. You have more and I have less. Same thing with sharing candy and cash, but it is very different when it comes to sharing light. For when we kindle Hanukkah candles, the light of the first candle remains the same, even as the second candle glows. Unlike food or money, when we share light, each person has more, and the total of light and warmth grows, too. The brightness is multiplied, which is such a great gift amidst the upset that surrounds us.

At this darkest time of the year, I hope our Hanukkah celebration brings each of us more light and that it grows our hope. Our prayer book offers, Or chadash al tsiyon tair, “Let a new light shine upon Zion.” So may a new light of hope and peace rise for Israel, its neighbors and our world, so that the forces of goodness and light win the day.

Rabbi Dennis Ross