Leap of Faith: Chanukah
Bringing light into this dark world
Rabbi Hugo Gryn’s (z’’l) relating of his Chanukah experience with his father has passed into the status of a modern midrash on the real meaning this festival. The story is well known but, like all midrashim, always bears a re-telling.
Hugo Gryn writes that as a child in Auschwitz in Block 4, he, his father and the Jewish prisoners in his barracks, in anticipation of Hanukkah, decided to set aside some of their margarine rations to fuel a makeshift menorah to celebrate the holiday. They gathered bits of wood and metal and shaped them into light holders. It was Hugo’s job to take apart an abandoned prison cap and fashion wicks from its threads. Finally, the first night of Chanukah arrived, and the prisoners in Block 4 gathered around the two melted-down portions of the margarine, one for the shamash and one for the first night. As they were saying the blessing thanking God for the miracles God performed for the Jewish people in the past, Hugo tried to light the wicks but the margarine only sputtered and sparked, refusing to light.
Hugo remembers angrily turning on his father about the refusal of the margarine to light. What a waste of precious calories it was. And he remembers his father’s sage reply. He said: “Don’t be so angry, my son. You know that this festival celebrates the victory of the spirit over tyranny and might. You and I had to go once for over a week without proper food. And another time we survived almost three days without water. But you cannot live three minutes without hope!”
Hope, against all the odds, is the core of the meaning of Chanukah. That is why we light the candles to represent eight days of light when we might have had only one. Hope – Hatikvah – is the theme of the Israeli national anthem.
On this festival of Chanukah we hope for Israel to be at peace with Gaza and the West Bank. We hope for the end of Hamas as a terrorist organisation and peace for all of the people of Israel. We hope for Ukraine prevailing against Russia and regaining her territory from the invaders, so that Ukrainians can again live in peace. We hope for a world where peace and coexistence prevail over populism and prejudice.
From where we stand at the beginning of December this looks no more likely than the victory of the Maccabees over the Greek empire did in the year 167CE, but the Maccabees did prevail. We celebrate the light that shines on from this restoration of Judaism in Israel every year since.
We Jews must have hope even when the odds seem stacked against us all.
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
