A Light in the Dark
Hanukkah is a topsy-turvy holiday that often seems more commercial than spiritual, more exciting to children than adults, growing in importance the closer it is to Christmas. Its central beauty often gets lost in December’s excesses, its message of fierce self-determination at odds with the benign fuzziness of Yuletide wishes.
But during this dark time of war and economic uncertainty, the sheer joy of this holiday is more welcome than ever. So go ahead: Eat another latke. Treat someone to a sweet gift. And relish the steady escalation of hope that embraces us each day another candle is lit. A freylekhn khanike! Hanukkah sameach!
It’s our birthday and we’re still celebrating!
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news.
This week we celebrate 129 years of the Forward. We’re proud of our origins as a Yiddish print publication serving Jewish immigrants. And we’re just as proud of what we’ve become today: A trusted source of Jewish news and opinion, available digitally to anyone in the world without paywalls or subscriptions.
We’ve helped five generations of American Jews make sense of the news and the world around them — and we aren’t slowing down any time soon.
As a nonprofit newsroom, reader donations make it possible for us to do this work. Support independent, agenda-free Jewish journalism and our board will match your gift in honor of our birthday!
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
