opinion
Chanukah Is the Holiday That
America Needs Right Now
By Rabbi Isaiah Rothstein
A 14
DECEMBER 22, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
America needs a Chanukah because when walls
and windows are breached and broken, whether
in 2021 or 2,200 years ago, it is hard to believe
one would ever see light again.

That’s why I believe that just as the Jewish peo-
ple need a Chanukah to usher in a time for light
in the face of much darkness, America needs a
Chanukah, too.

With ideological and culture wars pinning social
groups against one another, many search in the
darkness for even a few Maccabees to remind
Americans what our democratic seal still stands for.

In the year 164 BCE, Antiochus of Greece
breached the doors of the Jerusalem Temple,
defi ling the sacred, leaving but one fl ask of
oil. Though not a direct parallel, in the year
2021 C.E., a dangerous mob of white suprem-
acists breached the doors of the United States
Capitol building, defi ling democracy and sending
defenders running for their lives.

America needs a Chanukah because our light still
burns strong and we must recommit to the demo-
cratic ideals of our nation.

America needs a Chanukah so that when we come
across darkness and hate in the media, we can com-
bat that rhetoric with language of justice, love and
openness. America needs a Chanukah because when walls
and windows are breached and broken, whether in
2021 or 2,200 years ago, it is hard to believe one
would ever see light again.

The Alter Rebbe of Lubavitch taught: “A little light
dispels a lot of darkness.” The Reverend Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr. taught: “Darkness cannot drive out
darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive
out hate; only love can do that.”
For thousands of years, lighting the hanukkiah
was an act of protest, reclaiming who we are,
reclaiming our stories and rededicating ourselves to
the past lights, and the ultimate restoration of the
menorah’s light in a rebuilt Jerusalem. A time when
systems and structures exist where all people feel
like they can bring their light, and that they belong.

As we approach the winter months and the year
ahead, let us remember there is always light, and we
must let ours shine. JE
Rabbi Isaiah Rothstein is the rabbinic scholar and
public aff airs adviser for the Jewish Federations of
North America.

tomertu / iStock / Getty Images Plus
s a young child, I often wondered why people
light the hanukkiah, or Chanukah menorah, in
so many diff erent places. Some light the candles on
their front porches and driveways, some in the streets,
others in city parks and a very select few even light
candles at the White House.

But with the recent rise of antisemitism, some
only shine their lights in the inner chambers of
their home, a place that feels safe and secure. As
the Shulchan Aruch, or Code of Jewish Law, warned
centuries ago, the mitzvah of persumei nisa, or pub-
licizing the miracle (Talmud Shabbat 23b), was con-
tingent on the dangers of institutional antisemitism
and our enemies’ desire to extinguish the Jewish
people’s light. (Shulchan Aruch, O.CH, Chanukah 3:5)
In America today, our democracy faces a similar
problem. The barrage of threats to our civil society,
increased polarization and a heightened threat from
domestic extremists are pushing the light away, to
the detriment of us all.

Many Americans today feel that they cannot
express their true identities because of how others
might perceive or treat them. The fear of rejection,
the fear of violence, or worse, cause too many
to hide their light, acquiescing to the oppressor.

Chanukah literally means to rededicate, rebuild,
reconstruct — our institutions and our selves. We
are to fi x that which has been broken so we can
reimagine what is possible for the future. During
this festival of lights, we are reminded to embrace
our unique identities, regardless of what oppressive
systems might dictate.

As a proud American Jew whose ancestors on one
side fought in the American Revolution while other
ancestors were enslaved on American soil, and as an
Orthodox rabbi working to build communities of the
21st century that work for everybody, I understand
the way systems of oppression conspire to extin-
guish our lights.

Systems of oppression are often described using
“the four I’s”: ideological, interpersonal, institutional,
internalized. The Greco-Syrians of the Chanukah
story opposed the Jewish people’s relationship
to God and the Torah (ideological), forced the
Jewish leaders to coerce their loved ones to pub-
licly defame the Torah (interpersonal), renamed
Jerusalem “Antiochus” and decried that Jews remove
their mezuzahs, sacrifi ce pigs and write above the
door of their houses “there is no God in this place”
(institutional). Finally, they caused many Jews to
embrace the ways of their oppressors (internalized).