Hanukkah begins Wednesday Evening, November 27, 2013 with the lighting of the first candle and ends on December 5th, with the last candle on Wednesday December 4th in the evening, celebrating the victory of the Maccabees of the Assyrian-Greeks from 167-165 BCE.
The weekend of December 8, the Washington Hebrew Congregation and The Jewish Historical Society are inviting us to join them for the opening exhibition of Voices of the Vigil, a photographic exhibit about the Vigil for Soviet Jewry. I am featured in a photo in that exhibit, and again Washington Hebrew has invited me to RSVP with the names of my guests. Please let me know if you will be joining us by December 2. You can email me at [email protected] and I will send your names to Washington Hebrew for the 5-6 PM reception prior to the program.
The exhibition tells the story of the Washington area Jewish community’s efforts to assist their oppressed brethren behind the Iron Curtain – most notably through a 1970-1991 daily vigil across 16th street, NW from the Soviet Embassy. The exhibition opens December 8, 2013 and will continue until April 6, 2014.
This program will include remarks by Natan Sharansky, former refusnik and now Chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel, and a special concert by three Soviet-emegre cantors, including my colleague, Mikhail Manevich of Washington Hebrew Congregation. The program itself begins at 6:00 PM and does not require an RSVP, and there is ample street parking nearby. I hope you will join us and bring family and friends.
The Director of the Jewish Historical society, Laura Cohen Apelbaum, wrote to me saying: “Thank you for enriching our archives, and I hope you will join us for the opening.”
Hanukkah celebrates the miracle of the rebirth of the Jewish People, which resonates with us today as we see a new burst of energy in Israel and the United States. It is the victory of the few over the many, and a victory for freedom of religion. Hanukkah means rededication. This year as we combine the Thanksgiving weekend with Hanukkah we remember that the first Thanksgiving was based on the biblical holiday of Sukkot, the harvest festival. Historically, Hanukkah was a delayed Sukkot which could not be observed until the Temple was restored, and that is part of the reason for the eight days – Sukkot has seven days plus the eight day of the Atzereth.
In this season of the harvest and giving thanks, whether it be for Hanukkah or Thanksgiving, we should remember that the light of God requires that we remember others outside our circle of family and friends. This is a season of giving and performing mitzvot.
A visit, a card, a donation for Philippine relief aid to the Jewish Agency or The American Red Cross are so important at this time when people are suffering and will be recovering for years from the devastation recently experienced in the Philippines.
Everyone should find a way to give something – We may not be able to finish the work, yet neither are we free from trying (Pirkei Avot).
On the seventh night of Hanukkah we will be lighting a candle for Alan Gross now in his fourth year in prison in Cuba. Why seven? We will have a full menorah when he is released and returned safely to his family. We pray on Hanukkah for the release of this prisoner in Cuba.
Chabad.org had the following outline for the blessings. We wish all of you a Hanukkah Sam’e’ach, a Happy Hanukkah to you and your loved ones!
Rabbi Arnold Saltzman
Rabbi, Sha’are Shalom, Maryland