DURING THIS DARKEST time of the year, Rabbi Chaim Stern offers this prayer: “In my darkness be a light to me, in my loneliness help me to find a soul akin to my own. Give me strength to live with courage; and give me courage to draw blessing from life, even in the midst of suffering; to hold fast against the storm, and to smile at a loved one’s glance.”
As we watch the darkness deepen, we do everything we can to brighten these long nights.
We light up the outside of our homes to fight back against the gloom, and downtown we are greeted with beautiful lights in the streets and storefronts. It is a heartwarming sight that raises our spirits during this time.
Chanukah comes at the very depth of this darkness, when the last visible crescent of the waning moon occurs closest to the longest night of the winter solstice.
There is no bright moon lighting the night sky to ease us through the blackness.
However, as we light our candles for eight nights, one more each night, the sliver of the moon’s light grows, and it is as if we are bringing back the light.
Rebecca Kerzner, an author at My Jewish Learning, writes: “The lights of the menorah serve as a reminder that despite the darkness of the world, there is hope that with each positive action we can create a brighter, stronger and more resilient world.”
All major faith traditions and spiritual paths use light to help their followers get through this time, each trying to beat back the darkness of this season with their own rituals including candles, lights and fires. But this year, along with the physical darkness, the world is facing a crisis which only exacerbates the gloom.
The pandemic, now raging out of control throughout the country, has brought an even deeper darkness than that which we face during our increasingly long nights.
Over 8 million Americans have dropped into poverty, businesses are suffering, children are struggling with virtual learning, millions of Americans are facing evictions, hospitals are overwhelmed, our doctors and nurses are burning out, domestic abuse and depression are on the rise, and food lines are miles long.
Under the financial burden of dealing with the pandemic, states and cities are facing an inability to continue paying for civil employees like teachers, police, firefighters and sanitation workers.
Meanwhile, the infection and death rate are rising unabated, exponentially exploding. There is so much suffering it is almost unfathomable to grasp.
Though they bring us joy, lighting candles and stringing lights around our homes and in businesses is not enough to ease the pain with which so many are struggling. One cannot feed a child or pay the rent or mortgage with pretty lights.
The lights in people’s windows cannot ease the grief of a family who has an empty place at their holiday celebration.
Of course, the lights cheer us, but we must find ways to bring real light to our world during these difficult days. It’s time to reach out to our representatives, letting them know that it is not a political act, but a moral imperative, to provide assistance to those in such desperate need. And individually we must engage in every act of kindness possible.
Donate to organizations that provide relief for our most vulnerable, offer to tutor struggling students, shop locally and buy gift cards at downtown stores.
The Talmud tells us “The candle you light will give light to a hundred.”
Light is a metaphor for the Divine, so when we spread light by reaching out to others, we are partners with God in healing the world.
As we reflect on the blessings we have in our lives, remember that we are called to be a blessing to others, and in so doing we will be blessed. Jewish tradition has always focused on the concept of pikuach nefesh, the saving of every life. The Talmud teaches that when we save one life it is as if we have saved the world entire. Do not be overwhelmed at the amount of suffering before us, but go about the saving of one life at a time.
As you gaze on the lights during your holiday celebrations, do not forget to bring your own light to those in need.
Rabbi Nachum Braverman tells us, “We light candles in testament that faith makes miracles possible.”
Kein yehi ratzon … may it be God’s will. Shalom.
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Issues of Faith is a rotating column by five religious leaders on the North Olympic Peninsula. Suzanne DeBey is a lay leader of the Port Angeles Jewish community. Her email is debeyfam@olympus.net.
