Hanukkah means different things to different people. For some, it evokes a sense of the miraculous, of oil that was only supposed to last one day somehow surviving for eight. For others, it conjures up memories of hanukkiot from childhood long past, each day bringing one more candle to light us against the upcoming winter’s darkness. For others still, the holiday is a reminder that the few can defeat the many, that even the weak can tri-umph when their cause is just.

But most literally, the word means “dedication,” and it refers to the rededication of the Temple after it had been defiled by the forces of King Antiochus. Hanukkah is a time for dedicating and rededicating ourselves as a community to what is important.

Precisely twenty-five years ago, eight families gathered together in Franklin for a Hanukkah dinner and celebration. They may not have planned it this way, but of course it was fitting that there would be one family for each night of the holiday. On discovering that there were indeed other Jewish families in this area, they went on to get together for Rosh Hashanah and, in 1991, to advertise a Shabbat dinner that marked the beginning of Temple Etz Chaim. But all that has happened since then, the learning that has taken place, the worship that has brought people to deeper understanding of themselves and their place in the world, the bonds that have been forged to connect us to each other – none of that would have oc-curred if not for Hanukkah in 1989.

It is important for us to mark special occasions, and to use this one to rededicate ourselves to making our community broader, stronger, and more deeply rooted. It is time to increase the light that we bring as a Temple.

Here is how we will do it: This year on Friday, December 19, the fourth night of Hanukkah, we will as always gather at the Temple to eat and pray and light our large outdoor hanukkiah. But in addition, this year we are encouraging each fami-ly to bring its own hanukkiah to the Temple. We will light them on a table during services, and their glow will brighten our night. Their lights will remind us to rededicate ourselves to being a Jewish community that brings us closer to each other, to our neighbors, and to God.
Chag Hanukkah sameach, may you have a light-filled Hanukkah.

– Rabbi Tom Alpert