Editorial December 2023

As I write this on December 6, our family is preparing to celebrate Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of lights. Tomorrow night we will gather in the kitchen to light the first of eight candles in the menorah. This will be Keiko’s second Hanukkah and candle lighting. Last year she learned to clap for the first time, clapping happily along as we sang the songs that accompany the celebration. This year she will be able to light the candles herself, with a little bit of help. 

Ours is a secular celebration, but it is no less meaningful, as the light from our small candle joins millions of others glowing in windows around the world, illuminating the night. As we approach the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, and by extension the longest night, we need these sparks of light and joy to counter the darkness that seems to have descended on much of the world. 

As I wrote last month, there is a heaviness beyond measure in this world today, a heaviness made up of hate and bile, fear and pain, suffering and loss. It’s a heaviness felt by Jews and Arabs alike, and by all feeling people. So many are shouting to the heavens demanding freedom for the few, and so few calling for peace for all. 

Tomorrow we will light our small candle and set it in the window to shine out on the still forest, a tiny flickering flame that remembers a long-ago miracle and perhaps summons a modern-day one.

Wishing all of you peace and joy this holiday season, however you choose to celebrate it.