Message From The Rabbi

Rabbi Spike Anderson

Have you ever noticed that all of our Jewish holidays begin at night, and are welcomed by kindling candles?

The explanation for why the holy “day” begins at night comes from our creation story, where after each day of creation, our Torah says, “It was evening, and it was morning, day one…(or two, three, etc).

So, it makes sense that we would do something visible and different in the evening that marked time against the darkness—thus, lighting candles, which give off both warmth and light. The colder and darker the evening, the more dramatic the flames seem to be.

On Friday nights when we do this for Shabbat, we often recall our Jewish metaphysical reason for being in existence: that we Jews are supposed to bring light into the world… and we remind ourselves of this mission by bringing light into the night.

It is important to note that we say our blessing over the candles to acknowledge not only the existence of the light, but that we are the ones who are taking the initiative to make it happen.  In other words, those candles don’t light themselves; we must make the decision to do it, and then to actually implement our intentions.

Of course, we are fast approaching our big celebration of light: Chanukah.   It is no coincidence that at the darkest time of the year, we light yet another candle for eight nights, thus increasing the light that we bring into the world.

Isn’t it wonderful that in Judaism we are always either celebrating a holiday or preparing to celebrate a holiday?  What an amazing way to walk through the world!

In preparation for Chanukah, this coming Friday night, December 13 at 5:45pm for dinner and 6:30pm service, we are having an early Shabbat service where we will sing Chanukah songs, eat traditional foods, wear absurd Chanukah sweaters, and…light the Shamesh of the Menorah.  

This is one of my favorite Friday night services all year, mostly because it is really fun, but also because I recognize the profound symbolism of celebrating together as a sacred community, passing on existential values to the next generation, and together committing to the Jewish mission of bringing more light into a world that can seem very cold and dark.

We would love for you to join us!

Register for the dinner HERE

Shabbat shalom!