Dear TBZ community:
There is something about this “early” Hanukkah that I have been liking a lot. Perhaps because Hanukkah this year is a doorway into this season of dark, cold, and long nights instead of happening in its deep midst.
I grew up in the Southern Hemisphere, which meant that Hanukkah was a summer holiday (and we spelled it Januca). Imagine having Hanukkah in late June, beginning of July. It was festive and fun, with delicious foods and family parties, usually after a day at the pool or some other summer activity. Moving to the Northern Hemisphere, first to Jerusalem and then here, offered me a very different experience of this holiday.
Here, it is winter, not summer. Here, the daylight is short, and the nights long. Here the candle light cuts through darkness to illuminate and inspire us.
The ritual of candle lighting at the start of the dark winter offers us an intention for the winter and its challenges ahead: As we approach dark times ahead, an “early” Hanukkah might be seen as a proactive response to darkness instead of a reactive one.
Yesterday on Radio Boston, in conversation with Tiziana Dearing I spoke about one small, yet profound part of the lighting of the Hanukiah ritual -- as we light the lights, as we illuminate, we say the blessing that God made miracles happen for our ancestors in those times and also in ours. Then and now.
As we light the candles, we say She Asa Nisim - Who performs wondrous deeds or miracles? Who did? God? Yet it is we who light the candles. In a way this ritual act speaks of the partnership between God and each one of us in order for miracles to happen. They don’t *just* happen. No, they need our hands to act and to do, in order for God to flow into this world with light and blessing.
So what does that mean? It means that when it starts to get darker out there, when we think we are losing hope, when injustices prevail, when suffering surrounds, we don’t just let darkness rule, nor are we passive - waiting for a miracle to happen. We act. We hold the shamash up to see where and when we need to act -- to bring change, to do and to bless, to step up and stand up, to support and to fight for a better world.
We can learn this call to action, to create our own miracles, from Joseph in this week's Parshat Miketz in the way that he interprets the dreams of Pharaoh. As he hears Pharoah describe his two dreams, Joseph says that both of his dreams are one dream. Joseph explains that immediately ahead are seven years of great abundance in all of the land of Egypt. But Joseph doesn't stop there. He lays out a plan for what Pharaoh should do to make sure that during the years of famine they have food and they can avoid suffering.
וְיִקְבְּצוּ אֶת־כׇּל־אֹכֶל הַשָּׁנִים הַטֹּבוֹת הַבָּאֹת הָאֵלֶּה וְיִצְבְּרוּ־בָר תַּחַת יַד־פַּרְעֹה אֹכֶל בֶּעָרִים וְשָׁמָרוּ
Let all the food of these good years that are coming be gathered, and let the grain be collected under Pharaoh’s authority as food to be stored in the cities.
It is this call to action, this plan that Joseph lays out, that pleases Pharaoh not just the interpretation of the dreams.
וַיִּיטַב הַדָּבָר בְּעֵינֵי פַרְעֹה וּבְעֵינֵי כׇּל־עֲבָדָיו
The plan pleased Pharaoh and all his courtiers.
It was Joseph’s call to action -- not the wait-and-see approach or the wait-for-a-miracle-to-happen approach -- that brought change. It is the actions we choose to take that illuminate our way in the darkness. Consider this: perhaps the miracle in this story lies not only with Joseph, but also with the cupbearer who remembered Joseph and acted.
Miracles exist within each of us when we can recognize the places where we are most needed. Miracles exist within each of us when we lift up our hands to light the flame even in the darkness, especially in the darkness. We are the hand of God in this world and as such we must act to bring healing, blessing and justice to the brokenness and injustices we encounter.
And as this Hanukkah came “early” perhaps it is an invitation to be proactive even before it gets dark and cold for each one of us to ask, “What can I do to bring light and holiness to this world?”
May light continue increasing in our midst.
May we remember that EACH OF US, is an agent of light and blessings.
Miracles happen when we partner with God.
May this Shabbat bring renewal and blessings to all of you and your loved ones.
May we find strength, courage, and patience, and open our hearts with generosity.
May all those who are ill find healing.
May we have a joyful and restful Shabbat!
Shabbat Shalom,
