As we continue to celebrate Chanukah together, I’m thinking about something ironic in our tradition of lighting the Chanukiyah. I use the term Chanukiyah and menorah interchangeably.
On the one hand, we light in the tradition of Hillel, welcoming in every subsequent day of the holiday with another candle until we have a fully lit menorah. This is the tradition our ancestors chose since we rise in holiness, ma’alin bakodesh, the more light, the more powerful the message.
On the other hand, we find as we light more and more candles that the candles burn faster. There’s more heat with more candles, and so by the 8th day, when the menorah is full, the candles burn down the fastest.
In a similar way, we recall the battles Judah and the rebels fought against the Seleucids in the Gofna hills between Modi’in and Jerusalem.
They fought a total of eight battles – surprisingly the same number as the days of the holiday – and as an Israeli TV broadcast suggested, the shamash, the 9th candle, in a way, was the rededication of the Temple.
With a similar irony to the candles themselves, Judah the Maccabbee fell in the eighth battle at Ell’ashah.
At the moment when the Jewish forces achieved victory, and opened the way to Jerusalem, the strong and courageous leader fell in battle.
Just because 8 candles burn faster, and just because Judah died in the 8th battle on the verge of victory, we do not despair nor should we feel sadness in these ironies of ritual and history.
Instead, let’s see these as openings for hope and a reminder the journey is an ongoing one.
That 8 candles burn the fastest means we must treasure the lights at the end of Chanukah and see ourselves as lighting a candle each night afterwards – not a physical candle but a spiritual one, by speaking out with conviction and confidence, unified by our common values, that the Jewish community of Loudoun and beyond will advocate for itself, will continue to create a foundation for the future and have a voice to challenge hate and disinformation.
That Judah falls after the 8th battle reminds us while we strive to be leaders we also need to train up the next generation of Jewish leaders as we do here through our Madrichim program, Confirmation, through our youth group – and also to welcome new adult volunteers to help us with our current activities and also to dream up what we can all create together.
The Rabbis reflect on the way Joseph speaks to his brothers in this week’s Torah portion, Miketz.
Rabbi Daniel Leeman explains Joseph reassures his brothers he will not seek revenge against them for what they did to him years ago. According to Rashi, Joseph says, ‘if ten candles (referring to his brothers) could not extinguish one (referring to himself), can one possibly extinguish ten?’
Each one of us may not be able to overcome the hatred out there in the world. Each one of us may not be able to mediate the ongoing conflicts, but we can set the tone here in our neighborhood. We can set the tone with the lights that shine bright into the early winter darkness saying we are strong, we are patient, we are compassionate and we also are ready to stand firm.
The strength of generations past bubbles up through us. We are the descendants of millions of Chanukah candles of the past. We are the descendants of Judah.
Their light and his courage are our inheritance, and our reservoir of fortitude during these dark days.
