Levite
Higher and Higher
Yehudim yekarim, zeisse yidn, all my brothers and sisters here:
Chag Urim Same'ach! Happy Festival of Lights!
Let's take a moment to appreciate the value of a light in the darkness!
And remember, friends, this holiday's not just about magic oil, dreidl, and presents. This holiday is about fighting assimilation, and controlling our own destiny.
The miracle of Chanukah isn't just that we managed to hand the Greeks their a**, despite their superior numbers: it's that almost alone among the ancient peoples, we were able to survive the cultural imperialism of Hellenism, keep our traditions and our ways, our beliefs and our rituals, our languages and our differences, and remain Jews.
Chanukah literally means "a dedication," as in "to dedicate something." We usually say that it refers to the Chanukat Habayit, the rededication of the Temple after we cleansed it of the tools of Greek idolatry. But I remind you it also means the rededication of our people. Don't just celebrate Chanukah, be chanukah: we should all take this opportunity to rededicate ourselves to the Covenant, to one another, to the persistence and survival and growth of the Jewish people, so that we can truly be a light in the darkness where necessary, a light among other lights where possible.
And in the meantime, go eat some latkes or sufganiyot or cheese pasties or jam cookies, or whatever your traditional Chanukah food is, and be with the people you love!
Chag Urim Same'ach! Happy Festival of Lights!
Let's take a moment to appreciate the value of a light in the darkness!
And remember, friends, this holiday's not just about magic oil, dreidl, and presents. This holiday is about fighting assimilation, and controlling our own destiny.
The miracle of Chanukah isn't just that we managed to hand the Greeks their a**, despite their superior numbers: it's that almost alone among the ancient peoples, we were able to survive the cultural imperialism of Hellenism, keep our traditions and our ways, our beliefs and our rituals, our languages and our differences, and remain Jews.
Chanukah literally means "a dedication," as in "to dedicate something." We usually say that it refers to the Chanukat Habayit, the rededication of the Temple after we cleansed it of the tools of Greek idolatry. But I remind you it also means the rededication of our people. Don't just celebrate Chanukah, be chanukah: we should all take this opportunity to rededicate ourselves to the Covenant, to one another, to the persistence and survival and growth of the Jewish people, so that we can truly be a light in the darkness where necessary, a light among other lights where possible.
And in the meantime, go eat some latkes or sufganiyot or cheese pasties or jam cookies, or whatever your traditional Chanukah food is, and be with the people you love!
