If you have struggled in recent days with sustaining your hope in tomorrow, this sixth night of Chanukah is for you. After all, our lives inevitably include profound setbacks that deeply challenge our resilience. The Maccabees knew this firsthand, as they confronted the overwhelming numbers and power of Antiochus’ forces. Who could have blamed them if they had surrendered to their doubt and discouragement? Instead, they showed that our perseverance, even in the face of the most daunting obstacles, is always the key to our liberation. We need their example perhaps more than ever today. Our legacies are forever defined by our commitment to believing in tomorrow.
Our Talmudic sages taught that when we are summoned to judgment, we will be asked four questions: “Were you honest in business? Did you devote yourself to family? Did you set aside time for the study of our tradition? And tzipita lishua – did you anticipate redemption?” When our living stories are left to our descendants and disciples, they will reveal our answer: Did we spend our lives – even in the darkest, bleakest moments – seeing a tomorrow in which our actions in the world today will have mattered, even after we are gone?
It is no coincidence that we add just a bit more light to the chanukiah each night – for even when the days get darker, we Jews remain the kindlers of new and greater light. Hope is born in that growing light. Let this sixth candle spark a new light in you.
– Rabbi Ken Chasen, Senior Rabbi at Leo Baeck Temple, Los Angeles
This year, we have been in desperate need of visionary leadership. We have far too much war and far too little diplomacy on the ground. At home, we have seen US leadership try and fail to end the war, save the hostages, alleviate the crisis in Gaza and lay out a vision that promises safety, dignity and freedom for both Israelis and Palestinians.
On this sixth night, we look back at the trail we left behind before looking to the choices we have left ahead. It is our job to rekindle hope, to use our agency and ensure our vision for peace stays alive.
Earlier this year, we released our vision for the future: A comprehensive regional peace plan to establish normalization and security guarantees between Israel and the 22 nations in the Arab League and lay out a pathway for US recognition of a Palestinian state.
We always have known at J Street that we’re playing the long game – that peace will not come easily – but this makes our movement’s work no less critical. We must remind ourselves that hope is a verb, that if we want to realize a better future for Israelis and Palestinians, it’s up to us to lay the groundwork today, even if we don’t yet have the leaders we would wish for.