A Chanukah Message From Rabbi Michael Bernstein

Chanukah in America is often a reminder of how Jews live at the intersection of our different identities. On one hand, the essence of the holiday is about resistance to assimilation, maintaining distinctive practices and faith in the face of great pressures from the predominant culture. On the other, there is no other Jewish holiday that has become so thoroughly embedded in the American calendar, no bigger opportunity for Jews to feel like a part of a shared holiday season even if we know well that Chanukah is not the Jewish Christmas. That our ugly dreidel sweaters and wrapped gifts under the menorah are on the other side of the tinsel and evergreen curtain.

While the clash of these two aspects of Chanukah might seem like an update of the Maccabees’ war against the forces of Hellenism, I see the situation differently. Rather than a winner takes all struggle of the few against the many, the modern Chanukah is a chance to find the blessing in being Jewish at this time and in this place. To celebrate what it means to choose our identity and embrace what it means to be Jewish separate from resisting the push of persecution and the pull of assimilation.

Finding these blessings is even more poignant this year, under the chilling shadow cast by the brutality in Pittsburgh and, in a less dramatic way, the increasing frequency of anti-Jewish, pro-Nazi provocations. Because neither abandoning our traditions nor backing away from public acceptance will keep us any safer. The only path forward is to affirm our distinctive ways with pride, while welcoming and building on the friendship and support of the wider community. In other words, celebrating all of the aspects of an American Chanukah.

Michael Bernstein is the rabbi of Congregation Gesher L’Torah in Alpharetta.

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