1st night
The First Night
Having only recently embraced my Jewish heritage, this feels like my first Hanukkah in the sense that it is the first time I plan on lighting the candles in my own home for all/most of/as many nights as I'm able to. This is also the first year I have felt inspired to learn more about the history and mythology around the holidays and the rituals used to observe them.
Hanukkah is not one of the major holidays in the Jewish religion, but it does overlap with Christmas and the winter solstice. The story of Hanukkah is that during the Maccabee Revolution where Jews rose up against their Syrian oppressors in 200BCE, they rededicated the second temple. The olive oil that should have lit the candles of the menorah for one night instead lasted eight, giving them time to find a fresh supply. I heard this compared to a cell phone with 5% battery left somehow lasting five days. Who among us wouldn't be impressed?
Interpreting this holiday, it is a way of intentionally bringing candle light into our homes as we reach the shortest day of the year in the northern hemisphere. It is a way of bringing family together in a season where it can be easy to hibernate and isolate. In the context of the history, at a time when the jews were fighting in a revolution for their freedom from oppression and needed a win, they got one, as well as a sign god hadn't forgotten them in a difficult time.
It will take time, the outcome will feel uncertain, you may wonder if your cause is worthwhile or if you have been abandoned in your hour of need, but light does triumph in darkness. Chapters of darkness in my life were isolating, painful, scary, and made me question what reason there could be for a person to face such difficulty. Even in the worst of those, in the darkness I thought may never end, light broke through eventually. Today, basking in the sun of purpose, happiness, love, and community it is beautiful to have a holiday that gives me a reason to reflect on darkness and light. From this vantage I can see that I have always made it through. This truth is a candle I hold for others in their darkest times - even when I was sure that the light in my heart would never come back, it always did, and it has for each of them as well.
Happy Hanukkah. Happy Solstice. Happy Christmas. Happy holidays. Happy New Year. Happy Family. Happy friends. Happy season to look inwards and reflect. Happy hibernation to recharge for a new season of growth ahead. Happy tree branchs so bare you can see the birds nests. Happy winter sunsets. Happy soup and slippers and hot chocolate for breakfast. I love you all and hope you hold a light in your heart this week for yourself or for whomever may need one.