Dear Friend, Chanukah, what a wonderful glorious holiday.
Chanukah gets us super excited every year because of its history and significance. People who don’t want to fight are forced to defend themselves fighting for freedom, justice and liberty!!
Although the Syrian-Greeks had their version of morality and justice at that time, our great-great grandparents understood that this version was not one that was condoned by the Torah and therefore rejected it. Which of course did not make the Greeks very happy.
We all know the rest of the story. How our great-great grandparents stood up for what they believed in, did not allow the greeks to dictate, fought for their freedom and despite all odds, won a miraculous victory, were able to come back to Jerusalem, rededicate the Temple and light the Menorah once again and the miracle of the oil that ensued.
So why do we get super excited?
Let’s look at history as one very large piece of art on a big canvas. We see all these colors that keep popping up on the canvas. Each of the colors boast about their own beauty and how marvelous and brilliant their color is with respect to the colors that came before them.
Each color declares that “I am the true, most wonderful color that ever existed” and that “all other colors should accept that they will never be as nice as my color”.
Then there is this one color that does not stand out like the other colors. Moreover, it does not talk about how it's the best color and does not boast. This humble little color just wants to be left alone so it can keep its proper place on the canvas and contribute to the beauty of the artwork.
This color is ridiculed and made fun of by the other colors on the canvas, they say, you are weak, that's why you are humble, you are small, that's why you want to be left alone, you don’t know how to stand up for yourself, that's why no one wants to be like you.
But this simple color believes that there is a master artist that creates each color with great specification and puts each one in the exact place it needs to be. Therefore this color has another perspective, another way of seeing things. This color believes that it takes more than one color to create artwork, that each color must consist of different hues, saturations and pigmentations, then and only then can a true work of art exist.
So this color declares, we should all start respecting the other colors on the canvas, and understand that the master artist put us all here by design, because it is our differences that make us beautiful and each of our unique characteristics that allows us to create a masterpiece, if and only if we get along harmoniously allowing each color to truly shine and be themselves.
But the colors that can't see past this idea and continue to boast and bully the other colors actually fade away and disappear, and the colors that want to coexist, remain on the canvas forever.
For the master of this artwork has created a living breathing masterpiece, whose truest beauty is when it understands its artist's genius, recognizes the other colors on the canvas of history and realizes that true beauty can only be achieved when each color is allowed to be unique.
Unfortunately, too often this idea has to be defended. In the story of Chanukah and many other times throughout history, when one color tried very hard to erase another color from the canvas, but it is the color that understood and continues to understand the purpose of our existence that has actually survived.
Chanukah, the festival of lights, because color can only be seen and appreciated with light.
Yes, we love art, the living breathing type!!
G-d bless you, Happy Chanukah and Shabbat Shalom!!
Sincerely,
Rabbi Mendel & Elke Zaltzman
CHANUKAH 2020
Chanukah events for you that are safe and fun, give us the opportunity to celebrate and enjoy with Jewish pride, spreading the light and warmth of Chanukah to all.
Kiddush Sponsored by: Sam Josephson and Blair Kokotek
in memory of Sam's Father
Yossel ben Anshel May his memory be blessed
& Tzach and Lauren Yoked
in memory of Tzach's father
BenTzion ben Avraham Halevi May his memory be blessed
FAIR LAWN JEWISH DAY CAMP
SUMMER CAMP IS AN IMPORTANT PART OF A CHILD'S EDUCATION Sending your child to Fair Lawn Jewish Day Camp helps raise an independent child, it means teaching responsibility, encouraging exploration and providing a safe environment to make decisions independently. FLJDC nurtures all three of these elements in a Jewish environment, while having fun and making new friends. 2021 DATE & RATES | ENROLL NOW | NEW REFUND POLICY
A unique Chanukah experience for you and your family!! A decorated Chanukah truck will stop at your home, playing Chanukah music and bringing Chanukah spirit and yummy treats for your family and neighbors!
Chanukah Outdoor Family Festival
Sunday, December 13 at 2pm- 4pm Celebrate Chanukah safely, outdoors with family, friends and community!
Lighting 6 feet and 500 pounds of solid ice Menorah
Enjoy Chanukah crafts, traditional holiday foods, music and lighting the giant menorah!
Event will be outdoors with social distancing and masks for everyone's safety and fun.
Moishe was passing by a florist when he saw a sign in the window saying, "Say It With Flowers."
He went into the shop and said to the assistant, "Wrap up one rose for me."
"Only one?" the assistant asked.
"Just one," replied Moishe. "I'm a man of few words.
WEEKLY eTORAH
Letter from the Lubavitcher Rebbe (free translation)
By the Grace of G‑d
On the eve of Chanukah, 5741 [1980]
Brooklyn, N.Y.
To all Participants in the Public
Lighting of the Chanukah Menorah
in the U.S.A.
Greeting and Blessing!
Chanukah, the Festival of Lights, recalls the victory—more than 2100 years ago—of a militarily weak but spiritually strong Jewish people over the mighty forces of a ruthless enemy that had overrun the Holy Land and threatened to engulf the land and its people in darkness.
The miraculous victory—culminating with the rededication of the Sanctuary in Jerusalem and the rekindling of the Menorah which had been desecrated and extinguished by the enemy—has been celebrated annually ever since during these eight days of Chanukah, especially by lighting the Chanukah Menorah, also as a symbol and message of the triumph of freedom over oppression, of spirit over matter, of light over darkness.
It is a timely and reassuring message, for the forces of darkness are ever present. Moreover, the danger does not come exclusively from outside; it often lurks close to home, in the form of insidious erosion of time-honored values and principles that are at the foundation of any decent human society. Needless to say, darkness is not chased away by brooms and sticks, but by illumination. Our Sages said, “A little light expels a lot of darkness.”
The Chanukah Lights remind us in a most obvious way that illumination begins at home, within oneself and one’s family, by increasing and intensifying the light of the Torah and Mitzvos in the everyday experience, even as the Chanukah Lights are kindled in growing numbers from day to day. But though it begins at home, it does not stop there. Such is the nature of light that when one kindles a light for one’s own benefit, it benefits also all who are in the vicinity. Indeed, the Chanukah Lights are expressly meant to illuminate the “outside,” symbolically alluding to the duty to bring light also to those who, for one reason or another, still walk in darkness.
What is true of the individual is true of a nation, especially this great United States, united under G‑d, and generously blessed by G‑d with material as well as spiritual riches. It is surely the duty and privilege of this Nation to promote all the forces of light both at home and abroad, and in a steadily growing measure.
Let us pray that the message of the Chanukah Lights will illuminate the everyday life of everyone personally, and of the society at large, for a brighter life in every respect, both materially and spiritually.
With esteem and blessing in the spirit of Chanukah,
[Signed] M. Schneerson
