For a week that’s supposed to be about light, there’s been far too much darkness. While the inclination to address matters of the United Nations or the State Department is tempting, we need light this Shabbat Hanukkah. If you want my thoughts on current events, I’m happy to speak at kiddush; but for the sake of my sanity, I want to focus on light.
So for starters, here’s some spiritual light–the melody I tried to teach for Lekha Dodi last Friday evening but couldn’t remember: click here.
And now, let’s think about all those candles we’ve been lighting all week. On Friday at sunset, we will light seven Hanukkah candles, and then Shabbat candles. The reason for the sequence is obvious; one can’t kindle fire once bringing in Shabbat with candlelighting. But sequence is not necessarily an indicator of priority. Shabbat and Hanukkah are both important days; which is more important?
On Shabbat morning, we will look at rulings from Maimonides about how to manage scarcity of resources when it comes to Shabbat Hanukkah. You may find some of his laws surprising, as we try to balance the personal with the national.
