Light shining through darkness

From left, Jeff Kahn, Dan Gottlieb and Rachel Kahn light the Menorah at Congregation Shir Shalom’s celebration of Hannukah on Friday night. It was Shir Shalom’s first in-person Hannukah Celebration in two years. (Gareth Henderson Photo)

In darkness, there is always a glimmer of light. That’s because each of us has the brilliant light of goodness and love to shine out and share with the world. 

On a frigid winter evening on Friday, the members of Congregation Shir Shalom in Woodstock, Vermont, gathered for their first in-person Shabbat and Hannukah Celebration in two years. Gathered together outside for lighting the Menorah, they sang together and heard words of inspiration from Rabbi Ilene Haigh. 

“Each of us holds a light inside of us, and particularly at this time of year, at this moment, particularly this year, we have the ability to share that light, to spread that light from one person to the next person, and to fill the world with light and hope,” she said. 

Spreading light at a time of darkness is central to Hannukah. This eight-day celebration commemorates the rededication during the second century B.C. of the Second Temple in Jerusalem, where the Jewish people rose up against their Greek-Syrian oppressors in the Maccabean Revolt. Central to the story is that even though there was only enough untainted olive oil to keep the menorah’s candles burning for one day, the flames remained for eight nights, leaving enough time to find a fresh supply. Hence, the eight-day festival. 

Today, in a much different world and a different time, the world is crying out for light, for good, for more hope. Today’s tensions — whether about health, politics, economics, or other factors — can very much seem to have the upper hand. In times like these, however, it's crucial to share goodness with others, and to let unselfish acts of kindness and community outshine the darkness. That’s how we show good is more powerful and more important to progress than its opposite. Darkness would turn us toward conflict, while the light of good is familiar to all, connects us through compassion, and helps us strive together for better days. 

Rather than yielding to discouragement, let’s make this holiday season a time of joy and collective, uplifting love that inspires us each day. We have the ability — right now — to cultivate the goodness that propels the best qualities in ourselves, and this encourages action that leads to more good expressed in the world. With that, the light we all want to see and embrace won’t be distant. It will be our present reality, and the foundation of our lives — and it will shine freely from one person, to the next.

— Gareth Henderson