The Meaning of Our Lights

In the midst of the daylight hours growing shorter, we are celebrating Chanukah, the festival of lights. At the very time of the year when light seems to be leaving us, we are commemorating the miracle of the light that lasted 8 days in the Temple during its re-dedication following the Maccabean victory over the forces that attempted to wipe out Jewish observance.

It's a powerful symbol isn't it? Light. When G-d created the world He said, "Let there be light." On Shabbat we light candles to usher in the Sabbath queen. On the yahrzheit date of a loved one, we light a candle to remember the significance of their life. On Chanukah we are instructed to light the menorah and display it prominently in our window in order to publicize the miracle.

On Shabbat we do not put our light in the windows, nor on a yahrzheit, so why are we told we should display our lights on Chanukah? It is precisely because Chanukah has a message that should be shared with everyone. It teaches us that we are not to "yield our true faith even when confronted with overwhelming forces." (Rabbi Abraham Twerski) The Chanukah revolt was not about military might, it was about revolting against the tyranny of religious oppression. The Jews who faced the Syrian-Greeks were not threatened with extermination, rather assimilation. They were being forced to reject Jewish ways and to embrace Hellenistic ways. They knew that Jewish survival was paramount in their lives. They knew that if they only had physical freedom without spiritual freedom, life would become intolerable.

The light on Chanukah reminds us of the struggle that many in this world are still facing. Whenever a religious group tries to coerce members of another religious group to accept its ways or die, religious oppression is at work in the world. Unfortunately, this reality did not cease with the Macabees nor the Spanish Inquisition. Yet even if the majority of Jews in the world were living with the right to practice their Judaism, or better yet even if all the Jews in the world were living with the opportunity to practice their Judaism, the lights of Chanukah would still need to be burned. The desire for religious freedom is not only about Jews having the freedom to worship in their own way, but for all people to be able express their spiritual beliefs without fear of reprisal or repression.

As we light the menorah this year, may our lights be noticed by all who pass by and may the message of religious freedom permeate our homes, neighborhoods, city, state, country, and make its way into the world.

Amen.