Posts

Showing posts from July, 2018

How Summer Can Fool You- The Spinning Wheel of Tisha B’Av and Chanukkah

Chanukkah kept coming to my mind.  Even when the rabbi said that, “Tisha B’Av is a a fast day like Yom Kippur and a day of restrictions like shiva,” images of menorahs in the window were in my head. Yes, in the midst of the most depressing holiday on the Jewish calendar, the concepts of Tisha B’Av’s timing and focus on space hearken me back to Chanukkah. Time In the middle of the winter, darkness pervades our lives.  Days are short and it is not unusual to experience some level of Seasonal Affective Disorder, where moodiness and depression emerge due to the sparse commodity of sunlight. LIke in many other religions, we, as Jews, celebrate a holiday to addresses those doldrums-- Chanukkah. Among the many lessons that Chanukkah, the Festival of Lights, teaches us is that even a little bit of light can chase away the darkness.  In the time of year where we can lose hope, comes Chanukkah to teach us that the spirit of positivity, of hope and of light is always present even when it se