Chanukah - prayer and a teaching
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David Seidenberg
Dec 25, 2024, 4:09:32 PM12/25/24
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A prayer for all 8 nights of Chanukah (change and/or send me edits as you see fit):
Just as Chanukah marks the turning point in the year from growing darkness to growing light, may it also mark for us this year a turning point from war and killing and curse, toward peace and blessing and hope. May the hostages be returned speedily, may the destruction of Gaza stop, and may the way be cleared for peace blessing and justice throughout the land of the promise, for all her inhabitants, from the river to the sea. As the United States turns to installing a new administration, may we be strengthened in our resolve to care for the stranger, to fight for the climate and for all living creatures, and to live toward peace and justice. We ask of ourselves that we will protect just laws and vulnerable people, and that our resistance to unjust laws or unjust systems be firm. May our hearts be courageous. May our hands be strong. May our work succeed. V'hyi no'am Adonai Eloheinu aleinu, uma'aseh yadeinu kon'na aleinu, uma'aseh yadeinu kon'neyhu.
A note for using this prayer: Eight qualities are mentioned in the prayer: Peace Blessing Hope Return Promise Strength Life Courage. You can pick one to focus on each night (you can do them in the order they appear in if you like). Where do you find that quality in you? Where do you find it in the world? What will a life, or a world, transformed by that quality look like? Feel like?
And an article, "The Menorah, Part 3: Rabbis vs. Maccabees, Light vs. Fire" --
https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-menorah-part-3-the-maccabees-vs-the-rabbis-fire-vs-light/
May we find and create holy light seeding the holy darkness,
David Seidenberg
--
"Kabbalah and Ecology: God's Image in the More-Than-Human World" (Cambridge, 2015) is in paperback. Read sections and get more info at: neohasid.org/KAE/.
Just as Chanukah marks the turning point in the year from growing darkness to growing light, may it also mark for us this year a turning point from war and killing and curse, toward peace and blessing and hope. May the hostages be returned speedily, may the destruction of Gaza stop, and may the way be cleared for peace blessing and justice throughout the land of the promise, for all her inhabitants, from the river to the sea. As the United States turns to installing a new administration, may we be strengthened in our resolve to care for the stranger, to fight for the climate and for all living creatures, and to live toward peace and justice. We ask of ourselves that we will protect just laws and vulnerable people, and that our resistance to unjust laws or unjust systems be firm. May our hearts be courageous. May our hands be strong. May our work succeed. V'hyi no'am Adonai Eloheinu aleinu, uma'aseh yadeinu kon'na aleinu, uma'aseh yadeinu kon'neyhu.
A note for using this prayer: Eight qualities are mentioned in the prayer: Peace Blessing Hope Return Promise Strength Life Courage. You can pick one to focus on each night (you can do them in the order they appear in if you like). Where do you find that quality in you? Where do you find it in the world? What will a life, or a world, transformed by that quality look like? Feel like?
And an article, "The Menorah, Part 3: Rabbis vs. Maccabees, Light vs. Fire" --
https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-menorah-part-3-the-maccabees-vs-the-rabbis-fire-vs-light/
May we find and create holy light seeding the holy darkness,
David Seidenberg
--
"Kabbalah and Ecology: God's Image in the More-Than-Human World" (Cambridge, 2015) is in paperback. Read sections and get more info at: neohasid.org/KAE/.
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