Igniting the Light

Friday December 12, 2025/22 Kislev 5786/Shabbat Vayeshev

וַיֹּ֥אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֖ים יְהִ֣י א֑וֹר וַֽיְהִי־אֽוֹר

God said, “Let there be light”, and there was light

(Genesis 1:3)

Hevre/Friends,

For the second time in less than three months, Andi and I will be celebrating the marriage of one of our children this weekend as her daughter, Tamar, weds her beloved - and ours - Eitan.

Sunday afternoon’s wedding is taking place on the eve of Hanukkah which is Tamar’s Hebrew birthday, hence her middle name Liora, “my light”. It’s the perfect timing for them to sanctify their love and their shared commitment to Judaism by establishing their home and family during this particular moment on the Jewish calendar. 

With the winter solstice just a week away, bringing light into the darkness is a theme common to many cultures and faith traditions, including our own. When a group of us gathered at the Jewish Museum last week to explore “The Art of Light” through its magnificent collection of Hanukkiyot from across Jewish time and space, we were taken with how the varied designs and materials captured the indomitable Jewish spirit that has illuminated our story for millennia. One of the most moving pieces was a Hanukkiah made secretly by Jewish prisoners in Theresienstadt. How haunting that the IDF this week recovered footage showing hostages lighting Hanukkah candles while in Hamas captivity, as Hersh Goldberg-Polin, z”l, likened their circumstances to those in the Shoah when captives would pierce the monstrous darkness they faced with the light of their relentless faith. 

At the reception that followed our museum program we dove into the spiritual symbolism of light during which I shared Hasidic teachings  summoning us not just to light the Hanukkah candles, but to be them; not just to delight in their glow, but to truly seek their reflection everywhere we look.

The Sefat Emet urged us to allow the Hanukkah flames to rekindle the sacred light we each carry within us. The Rebbe summoned us to ignite the empty candleholders on each night by doing acts of kindness and chesed and literally being the light that’s yet to be lit. Rabbi Yirmiyah in the Talmud taught that one who sees a burning Hanukkiah must recite a blessing because the mitzvah is not only to kindle the light but to see the light as well.

Together, Tamar and Eitan beautifully embody these teachings. The radiance of Tam’s boundless warmth, kindness, and generosity lights up the worlds of our family, her friends, and the at-risk lives she works every day to protect. Eitan, a fun-loving outdoor adventure enthusiast living with retinitis pigmentosa and legally blind, teaches us all to be courageous enough to see light even in places you least expect it.  Earlier this week we gathered for a special showing of a film that tells his story, Looking Up, by chronicling his recent climb up El Capitan as a metaphor for the inner light which has guided him up the many life mountains he’s scaled, and those he has yet to. What a way to kick off their wedding week!

Finally, Rabbi Tzvi Elimelech of Dinov pointed out that the 25th letter in the Torah is the word “or/light”, found in Genesis 1:3 above. Coincidentally - or not! - Hanukkah begins on the 25th of Kislev. With a synergy that feels both natural and miraculous, this Sunday, in the darkness of a cold winter night, surrounded by family and friends, we’ll be dancing in the light of the first Hanukkah candle and in the light of Tamar and Eitan’s love, celebrating their - and our - inextinguishable commitment to a bright Jewish future.

May they, and may we all, be blessed to live in a world of enlightened unity, hope, and promise.

With continued prayers for the return of the last murdered hostage, Ran Gvili, for the bereaved and the injured, and with blessings for a Shabbat Shalom and a joyous Hanukkah,

Dini