4th night
The Origin Story
If you told me six months ago I would be writing these essays and not just attending multiple Hanukkah parties, but speaking about the holiday and how to use the mythology as a framework for self reflection I would have laughed in your face. So, what happened?
The ninth candle on the menorah is called the Samash, or helper, and is used to light the others. I met mine the last sunrise at Burning Man when he came up and asked me to take a photo of him. I’m not the best portrait taker and as we were chatting over multiple takes a hamsa swung out of his shirt. “Oh, you are a member of the tribe,” I said. I told him how for a long time I had been wishing I knew more about Judaism, but didn’t know where to start. I loved the few shabbat or holiday services I attended, I enjoyed celebrating the holidays when I was invited, but I wasn’t bat mitzvahed and I didn’t have time to do a conversion class or join a synagogue. The wisdom and community felt unavailable and I couldn’t figure out how to get in.
It just so happened that this guy and his friends host Shabbat dinners with intentional talks and meditations or sound healings that end with tribal electronic dance parties. They are making Judaism cool and relevant, bringing people together, creating something that anyone would be excited to attend. I remember glancing down then laughing when I realized that I had been waiting for something or someone to come along and make Judaism more accessible, but it never occurred to me that that someone would be me. Me who could only sort of say the Shabbat prayer, didn’t know Hebrew, had been to maybe two Yom Kippur services.
A Samash uses his light to spark that of others. When we take a step on our path, dedicating ourselves to a project we are passionate about, that is an inspiration for others to do the same. I knew next to nothing about Judaism, this stranger knew nothing next to nothing about me, but he invited me to co-create because I felt moved to. His belief in me helped me believe in myself.
Talk to strangers. Be kind to others. Believe in others. Share yourself genuinely, authentically, and without ego. You never know when it may change someone’s life.