The Light We Remember!

It is striking that the holiday of Chanukah, a holiday filled with so much light, takes place during one of the darkest months of the year, when the days are at their shortest. I believe there is an important message here for each of us. Light does not wait for darkness to disappear. It is something we actively create, especially when things feel most dim. It is a perspective, a way of living. 

This idea brings me back to a moment from last year around this time.

One Friday afternoon, my husband Reuven and I were walking home from a local Chanukah fair. On the way, we decided to stop and pick up the kids from school. Just a few doors down from our house, our then eight-year-old, Ayelet, slipped on some sand and fell hard onto a rock. She ended up with a deep gash on her knee. Thankfully it did not require stitches, but it was painful and frightening for her nonetheless. There were tears, worry, and a lot of care as we had the wound checked, cleaned, and bandaged.

Later that evening, as we sat around the Shabbat table, we did our weekly ritual of going around and sharing the highlight of our week. When it was Ayelet’s turn, she surprised us all. She said that her highlight was feeling loved while everyone took care of her after she got hurt.

I was struck by the fact that she chose a painful moment as her highlight. But what moved me most was what she remembered. Not the fall, not the pain, but the love, attention, and support that surrounded her.

We are living through challenging and painful times. My hope and my prayer is that when this chapter is behind us, what we remember most is not only the hardship, but also the sacrifice, the care, and the way we showed up for one another. That even in the darkest moments, we were able to create light.

Blessing you with a holiday of light that spills over into every other aspect in your life!