Hanukah

This evening marks the beginning of Hanukah, or the Jewish Festival of Lights.  This event commemorates the victory of Judah Maccabee over the Greeks, and the rededication of the Temple.  When the menorah (a lamp of eight wicks) was lit, there was only enough oil for one day.  It would take eight days to prepare a suitable supply of oil for the lamp, according to Jewish tradition.

Miraculously, the menorah remained lit for eight days, until the new supply was prepared.[1]

So, why write about Hanukah in a blog about tolerance?  Well, the Jewish people have been among the most persecuted and maligned religions.  From the Seleucids in about 167 BCE to the Christian persecutions, to Muslim persecutions and to the Holocaust, the Jewish race has been subjected to intolerance and violence.[2]

“We must listen carefully to what the candles are saying,” says the Previous Rebbe.[3]  Some of the messages:

1.    Never be afraid to stand up for what is right.

2.    Always increase in matters of goodness.  (Just as one light is added each night of the Hanukah, we should seek to increase our goodness.)

3.    A little light goes a long way.

4.    Take it to the streets.  “Shine outwards into our surroundings.”

5.    Don’t be ashamed to perform mitzvahs (good deeds). 

Those are five messages that anyone can use to promote tolerance!

Peter Yarrow, of Peter, Paul and Mary, wrote a lovely song for Hanukah, “Light One Candle.”

Light one candle for the Maccabee children
With thanks that their light didn't die
Light one candle for the pain they endured
When their right to exist was denied
Light one candle for the terrible sacrifice
Justice and freedom demand
But light one candle for the wisdom to know
When the peacemaker's time is at hand

It is a song of remembering and vowing to keep on striving for Justice.

What is the memory that's valued so highly
That we keep it alive in that flame?
What's the commitment to those who have died
That we cry out they've not died in vain?
We have come this far always believing
That justice would somehow prevail
This is the burden, this is the promise
This is why we will not fail![4]

Don’t let the light go out.  Let it shine through our hopes and our tears.

Stand up for what is right!  Light your candle!  Perform mitzvahs! 

And, be at Peace. 

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[1] For a more complete article about Hanukah, its origins and traditions, see http://www.chabad.org/holidays/chanukah/article_cdo/aid/102911/jewish/What-Is-Hanukkah.htm

[2] See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecution_of_Jews for a brief history of Jewish persecution. 

[3] See footnote 1.

[4] For the full lyrics, see http://www.metrolyrics.com/light-one-candle-lyrics-peter-paul-mary.html   To hear PP&M perform this beautiful song, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StB_ehpZyN4