Rabbi's Blog

TI Community,

Saturday night, while we slept and worried about the snow that was predicted overnight, Australians woke to a beautiful day, with temps in the 60s. Many headed to Bondi Beach for a joyous Chanukah celebration. Unfortunately, that beauty and joy was shattered by two antisemitic gunmen filled with hate. On a day when Jews around the world were preparing to light the first candle of Chanukah, we were cast into darkness. In addition to the attack on the Chanukah celebration in Australia, we are jarred by an attack on a home in Redlands, CA with shots fired at its Chanukah display.

I mentioned last night, as almost 300 gathered at TI in the Cherner social hall to light the first night candle, how important it is for us to both recognize the darkness that we feel and at the same time bring about light that mitigates that darkness. Facing the fresh news of the attack at Bondi Beach we could have allowed the sadness to overwhelim and not continue on with our celebration. This is exactly why we held the Chanukah Extravaganza.

Whether it is the recent additional darkness, or other shadows that have been cast over us in recent weeks, months and years, coming together as a community is one of the most important ways to overcome the darkness. Being together mitigates the pain and increases the joy.

We are told Kol Yisrael Areivim Zeh La’zeh, all of Israel is connected/intertwined/responsible for one another. This is why we feel acute pain when an attack like this happens to Jews gathering to celebrate a holiday. However, we can also expand it to include the idea that every human being is connected/intertwined/responsible for one another. This is why we also feel the darkness of the attack at Brown University and why we recognize the good done by Ahmed al Ahmed, who saw the shooting happening at Bondi Beach, tackled one of the shooters and disarmed him. In his actions we see evidence that we cannot lump together all members of a particular group of people and that others feel the connection with all human life.

Ahmed’s father shared that “Ahmed was driven by his sentiment, conscience and humanity." It is this kind of thinking by all of us that we should have in mind as we add one more candle each night until our Chanukah Menorah is full of light and the world is full of light.

In the end, in totality, good outweighs bad and light outshines dark.

Chag Urim Sameyach (Happy Festival of Lights),
Rabbi Werbow

You can find additional Chanukah Reflections at Exploring Judaism: a home for the Torah of Conservative Judaism, embracing the beauty and complexity of Judaism, and our personal search for meaning, learning, and connecting. There is always something to learn and explore.

8 Nights of Kavvanot