As 2024 comes to an end, to the great relief of many, and with great concern of many for 2025, we usher the year out with a late Chanukah holiday, coinciding closely with Christmas. I find the timing of the two holidays this year quite coincidental and serendipitous, bringing hopes that may strike a light for us to be conscious and mindful of what message it tells us.
We all have our year-end list of wants, new year’s resolutions or hopeful Chanukah Miracles but let’s be reminded of the past miracles:
During the Holocaust in ghettos and concentration camps, brave Jewish prisoners discovered methods to observe Chanukah. They constructed makeshift menorahs, collected scrapes of material for candles and in the face of deep oppression wanted to continue the miracle of Chanukah while showing their endurance and faith in the lighting of candles.
In 1967 after the Six-Day War, for the first time in decades, Jews were able to freely visit the Western Wall and the Old City. The lighting of the menorah at the Wall that year was an overwhelming symbol that fighting for Judaism was something Jews would never stop battling for.
Operation Thunderbolt—The 1976 Entebbe Rescue
Many of us can remember July 4, 1976, when Israeli commandos rescued over 100 hijacked hostages from a plane in Uganda. Against tremendous odds, this daring and victorious mission has often been synonymous with the Maccabee Miracle.
The Fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989, was a great symbol of religious freedom in Jewish communities all over Eastern Europe. That Chanukah season was a celebration of light over darkness with a rededication to sacred freedom. There was a great resurgence of public menorah lightings in Berlin, Moscow, Warsaw and Prague. Synagogues and Jewish Community Centers reopened, cultural events, concerts, festivals and educational programs were reintroduced while public displays of music and dancing were celebrated. This all resulted in the miracle of Jewish identity, rediscovery of Jewish faith, embracing traditions and a Jewish freedom that flourished all over Europe. The lighting of a menorah at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin that year attracted large international crowds and showed the world the resilience of the Jewish people.
Survival for Jewish Communities in the Soviet Union was a mission many of us helped to secure, including, our brave Rabbi Address. Most Russian Jews lit their Shabbos and Chanukah candles in secret while hoping the flame would never go out. Securing their religious freedom in the early 1990s with the exodus of Russian Jews to America and Israel was truly a miracle.
Celebrated for very different reasons, Chanukah and Christmas share some illuminating similarities, such as the end-of-year festivities. They come as an accumulation of winding down the year while anticipating the coming of the New Year that brings hopeful wishes for all good things.
Light is a bright symbol for both festivities, while Jews light our Menorahs every night commemorating the miracle of the lasting oil and as Christmas lights adorn the inside and outside of homes and businesses with Christmas trees a continued reminder of bright celebration for the light of Christ.
Both holidays are centered around gift giving as fostering generosity, reward, kindness, gratitude and family togetherness. It also reminds us to share a sense of community to give to those who are less fortunate.
Food is always a center for both celebrations with Latkes and sufganiyot reminding us of the long-lasting oil and Christmas dinner is the center of the family gathering.
Religious significance surrounds both holidays when many Christians attend Christmas church services as a special time to acknowledge the birth of Jesus. During the candle lighting for Chanukah, a prayer is said over the candles we light each night expressing our faith in the everlasting continuity, struggles and faith of the Jewish people
As we realize the similarities of these holidays, hopefully we are made aware that whichever celebration is yours, or for many who participate in both, our similarities are closer than our differences. The overall reasons for the festivities of each holiday are different, with story-telling a reminder of where we came from, with the hopes, prayers and desired outcomes for a brighter, better and more beautiful future, are really the same, because we have so much in common.
And especially this year, with so much division in our country, communities and families, is it possible to put aside the differences between us to come together for the profound purpose of celebrating the year-end holidays that commonly show us, we are one in our humanness, sharing the earth, wanting love, hopes and dreams, to work together so our next generations see positive role modeling for their future?
Can we do this?
AND…
“G-d on high
Hear our prayer
In our need
They are young
They are old
They are afraid
We are afraid
BRING THEM HOME! BRING THEM HOME!”
The greatest Chanukah Miracle for 2024 must be that the hostages come home. Amen….Happy Chanukah and Happy 2025!
