Op-Ed: Drawing Strength from Light in the Face of Tragedy

Going into this Shabbos I was torn and uneasy, how does one digest the news that someone can maliciously and viciously execute anyone, let alone to systematically assassinate 20 children, and how are we supposed to overcome such abhorrent evil?

Shabbos itself wasn’t able to comfort me, and to make matters worse I saw a close friend taken off in an ambulance on Friday night after Shul.

He was crossing the street with his young son and a car didn’t see them until too late… He valiantly threw his son out of the way and took the full brunt of impact. As he lies in the ICU in a coma, with broken ribs and leg our community is at a loss… Davening was aimless, it was like being in a Shul full of zombies…

Before I continue my thoughts I’d like to ask that you all take a moment and say a prayer for the full recovery of Chaim Ber ben Shoshana. May Hashem take mercy on him, his wife and young son and may they see miracles and a full speedy recovery.

It wasn’t until tonight, as I lit the menorah and sat there singing Haneiros Halalu that a feeling of peace began to descend and I was filled with hope.

It wasn’t just the message of the candles, although the message that a little bit of light can dispel much darkness is definitely apropos. As I sat there hugging my kids close to my heart, protecting them from the evil world that I had become starkly aware of, I began to think about the candles in a way that I had never truly done before.

The story of Chanukah is often told from the point of the rebellion on, or with some cursory mention about how we weren’t allowed to practice Judaism and to hide the fact that we were learning Torah we played Dreidel.

But let’s be honest, living through that period wasn’t just about being told we can’t circumcise our children it wasn’t just about burning sacred texts. The Jewish people were treated like less than human. Men were beaten, Women assaulted in ways that I can’t share as I have children that may see this and it wasn’t uncommon to see a dead body hanging or impaled for keeping Jewish law. Not to mention the public executions…

But none of that made it into lore, all we talk about is the few defeating the many, the weak triumphing over the strong and the little jug of oil that burned for 8-days straight. It seems like no one really thinks about what the light really symbolized. It’s not just the freedom that began at the Greek defeat, but an end to the persecution and brutality that went on during their reign. And no, they are not one and the same. To truly appreciate the freedom and victory we need to understand the misery and suffering that preceded it.

But maybe that’s the point.

I mean, Let’s face it, news travels fast but none more so than bad news.

When the news reports of the Connecticut tragedy began it didn’t take 15 minutes till offices around the world were filled with water cooler speculation about the who’s, how’s and why’s of the shooting. The darkness overtook our minds and hearts. Hopelessness sank in.

We can choose to accept this as a case of “life happens”, after all we can’t change what happened, or we can take a lesson from the story of Chanukah.

Despite the immense darkness that we endured under Greek rule, we only remember the light! All we deemed important to spread were inspiring tales about were the victories and the message of the menorah.

For those of you that may not be aware; the Menorah is lit each night of Chanukah with the numbers of candles correlating with the night of Chanukah. One on the first night, two on the second and so on.

This is what inspired me as I sat by the candles with my children. While a little light can dispel a little darkness it can’t do it alone. It is up to us to continually increase the light, putting out good karma and doing acts of kindness until the darkness is nothing but a distant memory. Until all of the hate and ugliness this world offers becomes an afterthought used only to set up the story of the great light that we brought about to conquer evil.

This is the hope that burns anew in my soul, this is the dream that I will continue to pursue. This is the Chanukah light that will burn all year round, until Moshiach, the Messiah, redeems us from this world and brings us to a time when only light will we encounter and the world will be the utopia we all envision for our children.

Have a happy Chanukah and may the light truly overcome the darkness that we all encounter each day.