Hanukkah is a holiday that celebrates a miracle. It begins as the sun sets Thursday.
Eight candles of the hanukkiah, a special menorah or candle holder used just for the Festival of Lights, represent the eight nights that a single vessel of oil lasted when the Jewish people had to reconsecrate their defiled temple.
The ninth candle stands tall in the center. It is the shamash, the helper candle. The servant. It is the candle that is lit first, the one that is used to light all the others night by night until the whole menorah is shining bright and steady.
Remembering the miracle is the reason for the holiday, and yet the selfless service of the shamash is what makes it happen.
Is that a special message for us all in 2020?
This is a year in which we have seen not just a pandemic that has killed 1.5 million people worldwide and more than 288,000 Americans, but an economic crisis born from that pandemic, putting many out of work. This is a year when neighbors and friends and family have been at odds over crime and brutality, rioting and politics.
Is this a time that we need a miracle? There is always room for a little miracle in our lives, but miracles are by their very divine definition out of our control.
What is in our hands is the selflessness of service to each other.
It is in everyone’s power to do something — large or small, public or private — to help others. Judaism calls a good deed motivated by religious duty a mitzvah, but you don’t have to be Jewish to appreciate the simple grace of such a gesture.
And there never has been a better time to act like a shamash candle and share your light.
Donate to charities that help feed or clothe or educate people. If you do not have money, give things or give time. Spread the word about organizations that are in critical need.
Give the gift of attention to people who are isolated by the pandemic. Call your mother — or call someone else’s mother who is all alone. Offer to go to the store for your neighbor. Shovel the walk for someone from your congregation.
Do what you can to protect your health and the health of others — perhaps the greatest gift of all.
Because the miracle of Hanukkah is that a little bit of oil went further than anyone expected. There is no better way to honor that miracle than to spread that light like the shamash, from one candle to another, the wicks catching and the shine growing — one mitzvah at a time.
Happy Hanukkah.
