Vampire Weekend's Surprising Jewish Stories
4 min read
Meditate on these 5 short insights as you gaze at your menorah’s lights.
Judah the Maccabee and his band of brothers bravely fought those who tried to extinguish all that the Jewish people stood for. The Syrian-Greeks tried to force the Jews to accept Greek culture instead of living a life committed to Jewish values. Though outnumbered, the Maccabees did not allow the daunting odds to douse their spirit. They fought this cultural battle – and triumphed.
We kindle the menorah during the darkest time of the year, as dusk is falling. The sky is turning black. Yet we have the power to light up the night. There are times in life that we feel as if we are immersed in challenges that take our breath away. It is easy to fall into despair. The Hanukkah lights call out to us. See how just a bit of light can push away the darkness! Never despair. Never lose hope. Hold onto to your faith.
Antisemitism is the oldest hatred on earth. The Kanye Wests of the world praise those who stuffed our people into cattle cars and burned them in ovens. Antisemites have also tried to destroy our souls.
What should be our response?
The Hebrew word for darkness is ‘choshech’. The same letters can also spell the Hebrew word ‘shachach’-which means to forget. Darkness comes when we abandon our Jewish identity and forget who we are.
We are living in a time where demonizing the Jews has become culturally acceptable. We hear that Jews own the banks and control the media. Kyrie Irving insisted that the Black Israelites are the ‘Real Jews.’ On college campuses around the world those who stand for Israel are vilified. Across the internet thousands post that the Holocaust never happened.
We are witnessing the rewriting of our history, our culture, our heritage, and our nationhood. Our rich legacy is being stolen in front of our very eyes. Forgetting where we’ve come from means we become ignorant about the roots of our people and lose an essential part of ourselves. We have no way of combatting the lies because we simply are unaware of the truth.
This is the tragedy of forgetfulness, the ultimate darkness. Light breaks through when we remember who we are.
We celebrate Hanukkah for eight days because of the miracle of the menorah. There was sufficient pure oil found to light the menorah in the Temple for just one day, and the menorah continued to burn for seven more days. Why count the first day as a miracle?
Because even searching for the oil in the Temple was a miracle. The Temple had been desecrated by the Greeks. The Jews could have easily given up seeking oil that remained pure with the seal of the High Priest.
But instead of giving in to despair, the Hashmonaim took action and refused to surrender to hopelessness.
In life, we can easily raise our hands up and say, “This is impossible. Why even try?” The search for oil was a triumph of the spirit. Every search for light and your life-force despite that which brings you down is a miracle.
We place our menorahs by the window so that all can see the mystical magic of our Hanukkah lights and publicize the miracle. In a world that has tried to snuff out our light, denigrate the Jew, and malign our identity, we are given the key to our survival. Be proud! Be proud to be a Jew, to kindle your lights, and plug into your spiritual identity.
As we enter these eight days of meaning, let us capture the light that awaits us. It is a light that burns within the soul of each of us. No matter how far we have traveled, how dark the journey, know that a spark is flickering, hoping, and anticipating the great fire of Hanukkah.
