This week we begin to celebrate the glorious Chanukah holiday. This Chag has a tremendous amount of Mazal. Of all the Jewish rituals, I believe the lighting of the Menorah and probably the Pesach Seder are more widely observed than other rituals. I am sure we can come up with all sorts of sociological explanations for this including the fact that lighting a Menorah is easy and it is almost always during a time when everyone around us is festive.
We are living in a world that has experienced a tremendous amount of darkness. Our level of fear and anxiety as Jews has definitely been elevated over the last year and more. I would not be surprised if there are those who are hesitant to place a Chanukiah in a visible location out of fear. However, this is a holiday of miracles. This is a time when we show how proud we are to be Jews and how we strive to bring light to a very dark world.
Let us hope that brighter days are ahead and that we will always be able to celebrate all of our holidays Besimcha and B'Lev Shalem.
Shabbat Shalom and Chag Urim Sameach
