Kol Tzedek
  • Spiritual Life
    • Hanukkah
    • Shabbat Links
    • Spiritual Care
    • Yahrzeits
    • Life Cycles
    • KT's Simcha Band
    • New Siddur!
  • About
    • Purpose, Vision, & Priorities
    • Calendar
    • Staff
    • Community Resources
    • Black Lives Matter
    • Israel-Palestine
    • Budget
    • Event Requests
    • COVID Community Guidelines
    • Employment Opportunities
    • Access at KT
    • Contact Us
  • Membership
    • Become a Member
    • KT Community Brit
    • Member Login
    • Update Your Sustaining Share
  • Learning
    • Members' Teachings
    • Torah School
    • Adult Learning
    • Rabbi's Blog
    • Rabbis' Sermons
    • The KT Library
    • Sha"tz Training Program
  • Ways to Give
    • Donate
    • Sponsor KT's New Sanctuary!
    • Sponsor an Oneg
    • Sponsor Captioning
    • Dedicate a Prayerbook
    • Friends of KT

Rabbi's Blog

Let us rejoice fully!

12/27/2019

 
Last Friday night, we experimented with holding Friday night services at 707 [our office space]. The goal was to create a more intimate, resonant prayer experience. There is much to be said for the power of proximity in prayer. I personally refer to the space as the KT Beit Midrash, a community learning space. But many others call like it is, "the storefront." However mundane it may sound, it is undeniably true that it was built as a storefront, half a block off of Baltimore Ave, placing our prayers in the public domain. After services, more than one person commented they felt overexposed. It was vulnerable in this political climate to gather as Jews and pray in "public."

I have been holding these sentiments throughout these nights of Hanukkah. One of the core mitzvot of Hanukkah is to light the menorah in public, literally "to publicize the miracle." This is why many of us place menorahs in our front windows.

As we learn in the Talmud:

ת"ר נר חנוכה מצוה להניחה על פתח ביתו מבחוץ
It is a mitzvah to place the Hanukkah lamp at the entrance to one's house on the outside, so that all can see it. 

אם היה דר בעלייה מניחה בחלון הסמוכה לרה"ר
But if one lives upstairs, they place it in the window adjacent to the public domain. (Later commentaries add it should only be but a handbreadth from the window!)

(B.T. Shabbat 21b)

As we can see, the original intention was something akin to lighting the menorah in front of city hall, to make it known and visible for all to see. I hear there are some places where people still place little tables in front of their homes to light the menorahs outside.

But the Talmud is not naive, and this is hardly the first Hanukkah to be observed in a politically hostile context. And so it goes on to teach:

ובשעת הסכנה מניחה על שלחנו ודיו
And in a time of danger, one places it on the table (inside their home) and that is enough.

This year, for the first time in my adult life, I hesitated for a moment at the idea of placing a menorah in the window. Is this such a time of danger? The rise of antisemitic violence is destabilizing at best. And then I remembered this old photo that has been circulating on social media, the image of a menorah proudly burning in a window with a nazi flag hanging (perhaps equally proudly) from a house across the street.

It seems to me that this is precisely the moment to remind ourselves of the miracles in their days that are possible in our time too. This is precisely the moment to affirm our connection to hope through this communal practice. This is precisely the moment to sing and play and eat and advertise our joy in the public domain as a sign of our resistance and our resilience.

This Shabbat marks not only the sixth night of Hanukkah, but also the new moon of Tevet. Both holidays call for us to recite the extra-special psalms of Hallel (113-118), singing:

 לֹ֤א לָ֥נוּ יְהוָ֗ה לֹ֫א לָ֥נוּ
Not just for our sake,

כִּֽי־לְ֭שִׁמְךָ תֵּ֣ן כָּב֑וֹד עַל־חַ֝סְדְּךָ֗ עַל־אֲמִתֶּֽךָ׃
But for the sake of our collective dignity;
for the sake of living in service to a world full of compassion.

עָזִּ֣י וְזִמְרָ֣ת יָ֑הּ
Our strength comes through our song, it is our shield.

פִּתְחוּ־לִ֥י שַׁעֲרֵי־צֶ֑דֶק
Open, open up the gates of justice.

זֶה־הַ֭יּוֹם עָשָׂ֣ה יְהוָ֑ה נָגִ֖ילָה וְנִשְׂמְחָ֣ה בֽוֹ׃
Let us rejoice fully!

Let the new moon, the bright lights of Hanukkah, and the songs of Hallel call us to our higher purpose. Let us light our menorahs in our windows proudly.

Hodesh Tov, Hag Urim Sameach, and Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Ari Lev

P.S. For centuries people have participated in the practice of Daf Yomi, reading a page of Talmud a day. At this rate it takes 7.5 years to study the entire Talmud. A new cycle of study begins on January 5. For those interested in getting a daily teaching on the first masechet, Brachot (Blessings!), you can sign up here on My Jewish Learning. 

Comments are closed.

    Rabbi's Blog
    ​

    You can search Rabbi Ari Lev's blog below:

    Author

    Rabbi Ari Lev Fornari brings Torat Hayyim, a living tradition, to Kol Tzedek through thoughts about prayer, justice, and community. 

    Archives

    June 2025
    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Office & Mailing Address: 5300 Whitby Ave, Commercial #2, Philadelphia, PA 19143 
 General Questions: (267) 702-6187 or [email protected]
Shabbat Services: 5300 Whitby Ave, Commercial #1, Philadelphia, PA 19143 
  • Spiritual Life
    • Hanukkah
    • Shabbat Links
    • Spiritual Care
    • Yahrzeits
    • Life Cycles
    • KT's Simcha Band
    • New Siddur!
  • About
    • Purpose, Vision, & Priorities
    • Calendar
    • Staff
    • Community Resources
    • Black Lives Matter
    • Israel-Palestine
    • Budget
    • Event Requests
    • COVID Community Guidelines
    • Employment Opportunities
    • Access at KT
    • Contact Us
  • Membership
    • Become a Member
    • KT Community Brit
    • Member Login
    • Update Your Sustaining Share
  • Learning
    • Members' Teachings
    • Torah School
    • Adult Learning
    • Rabbi's Blog
    • Rabbis' Sermons
    • The KT Library
    • Sha"tz Training Program
  • Ways to Give
    • Donate
    • Sponsor KT's New Sanctuary!
    • Sponsor an Oneg
    • Sponsor Captioning
    • Dedicate a Prayerbook
    • Friends of KT