This year’s Chanukah is going to be different. As the first holiday after October 7, and all that has happened since then, there has to be a different feeling from previous years.
As I thought about what this year’s Chanukah would feel like, someone introduced me to an Israeli children’s Chanukah song.
The words are more powerful in Hebrew, but here’s my translation:
We have come to chase away the darkness
In our hands there’s light and fire
Each of us is a small light
Together, we are a powerful light
For me, these words feel perfect for this year. Since October 7 I have felt a sense of sadness combined with a lonely powerlessness. Attending the first rally in New York City, and watching the D.C. rally, I was reminded that while we are pretty powerless by ourselves, when we join together, we shine a bright, powerful light.
The tiny flames of this year’s Chanukah candles will join together to cast a bright, powerful light.
