Don't let the lights go out

Rabbi Irwin Wiener, D.D.
Hanukkah 5772
December 22-29, 2011

“Don’t let the lights go out!” With these words, over 2200 years ago, humanity was introduced to an awareness that not only illumines the path of life’s journey but also enables us to understand the difference between good and evil.

Good requires light so that everyone can see the splendor that it represents. Good is the indispensable ingredient toward fulfillment. Good demands a great deal of effort because it is needed to eradicate our inclination to be evil.

Hanukkah helps us understand this eternal struggle because it is man’s first fight for religious freedom.

Hanukkah represents the globalization of the understanding of God. The light that emanates from the Menorah is the light of the true meaning of the relationship between us and God.

Hanukkah comes at a time when darkness surrounds us. The days are short. The night is long. It is cold and the harshness of winter is upon us. Life withers. We sleep. And some die. For this is the darkest time of the year.

Then there is light. The warm glow of these candles hopefully kindles awareness in our hearts that radiates so strongly and embraces everything around us. We are mesmerized by the flame, almost hypnotized, and we feel secure. Each night we light another candle until all eight are lit. And each night we feel a new sense of enlightenment, a new level of Holiness, a new attempt at the connection between God and humanity.






We light eight candles to differentiate between the Creator and the created. For in six days did God bring order from chaos and rested on the seventh,
and we, on the eighth day, attempt to bring this order into our daily lives through the miracle of the lights.

We cannot recapture the past, but we can use it to ensure the future. The religious freedom that was won has been the clarion call for all people throughout history. Every battle for religious freedom has had as its foundation the spark from the candles lit to indicate that evil was conquered by good.

May the lights of freedom continue to glow for all humanity.
May the lights of hope always give meaning to our lives.
May the lights of redemption remain fulfilling through the days and years ahead.
May the lights of Hanukkah remain a symbol for the future of all God’s children.

May the lights illuminate the paths of darkness, awakening our souls to our societal duties and always reminding us that there is goodness in each one of us.
May the lights help us to remember our responsibility to comfort the oppressed; encourage those who feel hopelessness.

May the light act as a symbol always reminding us to respond in a meaningful way relieving all the pain and suffering so that tomorrow will be better than today because all life is to be cherished.