Dear Friend,
The topic of the day is light, after all Chanukah is in the air.
What is so cool and unique about light is that unlike anything else, light benefits the individual who has it, in addition to all those in the area. Light can also be shared infinitely from the same source without being diminished at all.
Light is also special in the way it fights its archenemy - darkness- namely, not by chasing or punching the darkness into oblivion, but by simply being light, which transforms the darkness into light.
It is for these reasons that the Jewish people are obsessed with light, and in the darkest of times, both realistically and conceptually, we fight not with sticks or fists, rather we fight by illuminating the darkness.
So while it is important to be ready for, and sometimes engage in a physical fight, light will ultimately prevail.
Role modeling a Jewish lifestyle brings incredible light into our lives which benefits us, those around us, and transforms negativity into positivity, which eliminates the need for a conflict altogether.
This Chanukah, may the light of the Menorah illuminate our lives and bring the ultimate light to the world, Moshiach!!
Chanukah Family Festival
Sunday, November 28 at 2pm- 4pm
Celebrate Chanukah with family, friends and community!
Enjoy Chanukah crafts, traditional holiday foods, donut making, hot latkes, music and lighting the giant Popcorn menorah!
Fun for the entire family!
Online reservations close on Sunday morning at 9am. Reserve online for savings!
Jteen Chanukah at Rockin Jump
Tuesday, November 30 6pm-8pm
A Chanukah celebration for teens!
Chanukah party at Rockin Jump Trampoline Park with menorah lighting, pizza, fresh donuts and Chanukah gelt!
Free admission! Open to all teens in grades 9-12!
Come and bring your friends!
Thursdays 4pm- 5pm Geared for boys and girls in grades 6th - 8th, MVP is volunteering and Mitzvah madness, while connecting with other pre-teens and having a meaningful impact!
MVP is open to all junior teens free of charge!
A BISSELE HUMOR
During the first day of Chanukah, two elderly Jewish men were sitting in a wonderful deli frequented almost exclusively by Jews in New York City. They were talking amongst themselves in Yiddish – the colorful language of Jews who came over from Eastern Europe. A Chinese waiter, only one year in New York, came up and in fluent impeccable Yiddish asked them if everything was okay and if they were enjoying the holiday. The Jewish men were dumbfounded. “Where did he ever learn such perfect Yiddish?” they both thought. After they paid the bill they asked the restaurant manager, an old friend of theirs, “Where did our waiter learn such fabulous Yiddish?” The manager looked around and leaned in so no one else will hear and said… “Shhhh. He thinks we’re teaching him English.”
WEEKLY eTORAH
Letter from the Rebbe in honor of Chanukah
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
