Hanukkah begins on Sunday night, December 18. This week, in advance of our celebration, here are some reflections on darkness and light.
Anyone who has seen me during a Hanukkah singalong knows that I love me some “Light One Candle.” Not only were Peter, Paul, and Mary essential to the soundtrack of my childhood, but I just cannot get enough of that chorus. It’s a bop, for sure—and also speaks to a deeper lesson for this week, the week leading up to Hanukkah. “Don’t let the light go out,” the song implores us—a reminder that, for generations, we have seen light in the darkness.
Outside of Andrew Lloyd Weber’s retelling of this week’s parasha, it is a story with many dark elements, literally and figuratively. Joseph finds himself imprisoned not once, but twice; he begins his journey at the bottom of a pit, and spends some time in prison before finally experiencing freedom. And in the midst of this narrative, we find ourselves in an interlude to read about Tamar, a woman imprisoned—at least figuratively—by an oppressive system. Stuck, and yet unwilling to accept the dark future that has been decided for her, she takes a chance on creating a different future and a different story for herself through somewhat unorthodox methods. Joseph and Tamar, in very different ways, force themselves to see a sliver of light—and push their way towards it.
Beth Kissileff, an author and editor, suggests that each of them asks themselves the same question: What does it mean to make space in the world for something that might not be able to exist otherwise? As we prepare to kindle light in the darkness, how might we ask—and answer—the same for ourselves?
—Rabbi Sari Laufer