Clarity about Liberation this Chanukah

By Rabbi David Jaffe

Image description: Blog image with a photo of candles lit. On top of the image is text that reads: Kislev 5786 by Rabbi David Jaffe.

I am part of a group of clergy in the state of Massachusetts encouraging our governor, Maura Healey, to be much more public about what she and her administration are doing to protect the people of our state from federal overreach in immigration enforcement and threatened suppression of public protest. We are working with her to make a public statement that will coincide with the anniversary of the Boston Tea Party, December 16th, reclaiming the symbolism of the Tea Party.  

Why is public opposition important? Doesn’t it just invite unwanted attention or backfire by hardening the positions of the “other side?” A quiet approach to protecting people’s safety and civil rights may make sense in certain situations. However, when confronting a breakout of authoritarianism, the calculus calls for different tactics.  

Historian Timothy Snyder, in his book On Tyranny, instructs people to “Stand Out,” warning that authoritarians thrive on a sense that they have completely defeated and discouraged their opposition. The discouragement itself becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy as the populace decides it is safer and more productive to keep their heads down, follow the new rules, and wait for the tyranny to pass. When people stand out, they puncture the authoritarian’s image of invincibility and encourage others to resist. Courage is contagious. This is why we want our governor to publicly oppose the administration’s efforts to take away people’s civil rights - to encourage all the people of the commonwealth who feel so scared right now by showing them she has their back.  

We find a spiritual source for this public approach to resistance in the practices surrounding the Chanukah lights. The Code of Jewish Law (Shulchan Aruch) teaches that when more than one person is lighting a menorah, it is important to place the candles far enough apart that it is clear to anyone seeing the lights what night of Chanukkah it is. Awareness of the specific night adds to the sense of the miracle and is part of the mitzvah of lighting the candles. In a different section, it is taught that on the Shabbat of Chanukah, if one only has enough money to buy oil or candles for Shabbat and Chanukah but not wine for kiddush, the Chanukah lights take precedence because of the principle of “Pirsumei nisah/Publicizing the Miracle.” The public nature of the Chanukah lights is a key part of the mitzvah.  

Rabbi Shalom Noach Barzofsky (d. 2000, Israel), the Rebbe of Slonim, explains the deeper meaning of Pirsumei Nisa/Publicizing the Miracle, which is specific to Chanukah and doesn’t play a role in Passover or other holidays. A key message of Chanukah is that, despite how hopeless and discouraging things seem, there is a deeper light and hope that is always available in the knowing that Hashem’s presence is always accessible and that change is always possible. However, we ourselves need clarity about this reality of hope, possibility, and presence to manifest it in the midst of such hard times. This clarity is what it means to Publicize the Miracle - even if we are lighting candles inside and even if only you see them, you are declaring with clarity for yourself that change is possible, and Hashem’s presence is still there.  

This Chanukah, which coincides with the Tea Party anniversary, may we know with clarity that liberation is possible. May all of us and our leaders speak with clarity that an inclusive society that works for all and is not based in fear and division is what we expect and demand from all levels of our collective project, which is our democratic government.