Throughout this week Jewish communities across the world gather to celebrate Hanukkah, the “Festival of Lights”. In Hebrew, the word Hanukkah can be interpreted to mean, “dedication”. The eight nights of Hanukkah commemorate a lineage of rebuilding through crisis, forging pathways of resilience, and the surprising light of possibility present in the hardest of times; themes this world is so hungry for. As Israel’s war on Gaza moves into a third year, no doubt many of our Jewish friends are aching for an end to conflict and a restoration of peace through the land; a time when we may understand the only truly holy land to be the common body of humanity.
This Sunday, let us explore such themes, seeking the strength we need to never become our own foe, the hope that justice will somehow prevail, and the wisdom to know when the peacemaker’s time is at hand. In times of rising antisemitism, with unjust wars raging, let us lift up the Jewish teachings of restoration, rededication, and reason that have helped to make our living tradition what it is today.