Rabbi's Sermon
Each year we all agonize over whether
Hanukkah is a religious holiday. Many interfaith households
wrestle with the situations of respect and sensitivity to
Hanukkah and Christmas. And every year there are articles
written about how to celebrate and how to identify, so that
the spiritual aspect is not lost in the commercialism.
It certainly is a time of lights. There
is darkness all around us. The days are short. The nights
are long. It is cold and the harshness of winter is fast
approaching. Life withers as do trees, and flowers, and
people. We sleep, as does nature. Some do not wake. It is
the darkest time of the year.
This particular year it is very dark.
Gloom and doom seem to be everywhere. We are witnessing mass
murders occurring in our cities. In Israel the nightmare of
barbarism remains evident with the murder of 1400 Israelis.
The description of these atrocities is too gruesome to
describe. And the destruction of the evil that has permeated
this corner of the world hopefully will be eliminated. Is
there a light at the end of the tunnel? We have such doubts,
and we struggle to find optimism.
Hanukkah is a time of re- dedication —
we saw an example of that when the Maccabees put sword in
hand to ensure the survival of the Jewish people and their
faith. We cannot recapture the past, but we can use
it to ensure the future. The religious freedom that was won
some twenty-three hundred years ago 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 celebrate the scourge of evil.
Hanukkah helps us understand the eternal
struggle of good over evil. We pray for good to survive. We
attempt to eradicate evil. What we all want is to be left
alone so that we can be secure and free. What we need are
voices that will drown out the hate and animosity. God
cannot do this for us — we need to do it for ourselves. That
is the message of Hanukkah — with faith in the right, we
lead the battle — not expecting some mighty hand to do it
for us. We have been given the ability to survive. All we
need to do is grab it and run with it.
And yet, in the final analysis, we still want some Divine intervention to save us from the path of destruction whether in the Middle East or here at home. And to pray for guidance is not bad; it is necessary for us to understand that it is we who must affect the change for good to complete the partnership we all have with God.
Rabbi Irwin Wiener, D.D