Rededicating our Solidarity with Gaza: A Tzedek Chicago Supplement for Hanukkah 5785
Ner hashem nishmat adam: “The lamp of the Holy One is the Soul of Humanity.”
This classic line from the Biblical book of Proverbs calls out to us with profound moral force this Hanukkah. This year we observe our festival of Jewish freedom and liberation amidst a genocide in Gaza that has now entered its fourteenth month. In the name of “Jewish security,” the Israeli military has killed at least 45,000 Palestinians - more than half of them women and children. How then, will we celebrate Hanukkah this year? If the lights of Hanukkah are truly to be the lights of freedom let us kindle them in solidarity with the Palestinian people. If Hanukkah means “dedication,” let us dedicate our lights this year to the people of Gaza.
Tzedek Chicago invites you to use this Hanukkah supplement to dedicate each of the eight nights of Hanukkah to a specific group of Palestinians who have been subjected to grave and deadly harm during the course of the genocide. Each group is represented here by individuals whose lives and deaths testify to the dignity and humanity of the Palestinian people. We encourage you to read their stories aloud each night after reciting the Hanukkah blessings - and to learn more about them in the linked articles provided.
As we light our Hanukkah lamps this year, let us honor their memories by rededicating ourselves to a Judaism beyond Zionism and Jewish supremacy; to a world beyond militarism and genocide.
“The lamp of the Holy One is the Soul of Humanity.” Ken Yehi Ratzon - so may it be.
