Happy Hanukkah! As we reflect this week on light and miracles, we invite you to join us for our many opportunities to celebrate together: www.WiseLA.org/hanukkah
If you have ever been to Israel during Hanukkah, you have seen the incredible sight of streets lined with oil Hannukiot, set outside in acrylic boxes, shining into the sky. Setting aside the enormous public Hanukkiot, and the light shows against the Old City walls in Jerusalem, there is something extraordinary about these collections of small lights—set against the Jerusalem stone and the night sky.
But, the lights are about more than beauty; they are set out on public streets because they are in service of one of the rabbinic principles of Hanukkah. According to the Talmud, one of our main responsibilities on the holiday is pirsum hanes. We have the obligation to publicize the miracle, to share this message and this vision of hope and of faith, to proudly proclaim that ours are—in the words of my then 4 year old—Hanukkah houses.
The rabbis teach that we are to place our Hanukkah menorahs outside, or, if that is not possible, in a window that faces outside. Wherever it sits, the menorah is meant to be seen by the outside world; the flames are meant to shine bright into the darkness. We tell the story of our history, our faith, our hopes, and our future in the flames that burn bright.
We can look around the world and see darkness, so much darkness. There is, inside our homes and in the world around us, always a reason to be afraid of the dark. There is always a reason to feel held back from celebration. But I turn to the words of storyteller and activist, S. Bear Bergman, who wrote:
Light should increase in times of joy; in times of sorrow, light should increase. I do not think these are contradictory positions….
— Rabbi Sari Laufer
Add to your Hanukkah joy with this song from Stephen Wise Temple that reminds us of how the Hanukkah miracle rocks our world.