Earlier this week right after we had our largest ever Sudbury Chanukah celebration I realized that we had misplaced a small bag with raffle tickets from the event and it had most likely ended up in the dumpster at the Town Hall. Normally I would not care and would just move on as we had already drawn the raffle ticket, but this time I really wanted to get back the contents of that bag. You see these were not just any old Raffle Tickets, rather each child at the event had the opportunity to write down on those raffle tickets what they liked about the event, and I really needed to find them and see what they wrote.
Later on that evening when we finished doing our final cleanup at 10:30pm at night, I went with my son Levi along with our flashlight and we went on a Chanukah search, hoping we would have our own Chanukah miracle and find those tickets. We approached the dumpster and appreciated our first miracle as the dumpster had side doors that made it easy to open. We quickly opened the side door and shone the flashlight in, and lo and behold right there was the little bag with the raffle tickets. We were overjoyed at our quick find and were very happy that no one had called the police on us during our late night search.
After reading the raffle tickets, I decided that it was actually well worth the trip as we found some incredible quotes of what this event meant to the children. Many children loved the clown, the latke’s the donuts, and much more, but most of the children also wrote down and described how they loved seeing the giant Menorah being lit and it made them feel so special to celebrate Chanukah in this fashion.
Friends, this is the power of Chanukah, this is why Chabad across the state, across the USA and across the world make a big deal about Chanukah and light Menorah’s in public places and have such awesome parties. This week, in Massachusetts alone thousands of people celebrated together in magnificent Chanukah celebrations in dozens of towns and locations in and around Boston.
Chanukah may not be a biblical holiday, but it sure is not a minor holiday either and perhaps precisely for the unique spiritual message that it contains and represents, it makes its powerful message resonate that much more with every single Jew and with the wider community too. Chanukah celebrations and Chanukah itself represent a powerful message of Jewish pride and identity, religious freedom, being appreciative of G-d’s past miracles and the great things that have happened in our own lives. Yet most importantly, it is a beautiful time for all of us to be proud of who we are, to remember the Maccabees and what they stood for, and try to stand tall and proud like them.
As I read through the beautiful quotes from the children on those raffle tickets which we salvaged and read the follow up emails of pride and joy from the many who participated in the beautiful Chanukah events, I am inspired and reminded of the beautiful power of the Menorah and its flames. I am reminded that the flames of the Menorah didn’t just light up the Sudbury night, but more importantly they also lit up the hearts and minds of all those who attended and watched.
Happy 7th Night of Chanukah
Rabbi Yisroel Freeman