A Few Words about Hanuakkah, Two Days before Christmas

OK--so tomorrow is Christmas Eve.  And I imagine many of you are expecting me to write about the annual celebration of Christ's birth.  And in a way, I am.  But I am also writing about Hanukkah which started last night.  In particular, I want to offer a few words about my friend, Rabbi Myra Soifer.

Myra was the rabbi here on Sanibel for three years, at Bat Yam--Temple of the Islands, the Reform Jewish congregation that shares our building, and much of our life.  I have had the good fortune of working closely with all three of the rabbis that have served here over the ten years I have been pastor here.  And just this year, as you may recall, my colleague and good friend, Rabbi Fuchs, the current rabbi at Bat Yam, co-led an amazing trip to Israel for both our congregations.

But this post is about Myra.  After she finished up here and re-retired, she decided that the next stop on her journey would be as a Peace Corps volunteer.  It took a while to finally happen, but two years ago she was assigned to serve in a small town in Panama, helping school children there learn English.  First though, she had to learn some Spanish!  And so she did.

Myra has a blog of her own, "Where in the World is Myra," and frequently posts about her adventures in Panama.  Several times she has written about the challenges of being Jewish in a decidedly Christian place.  But she has persevered, maintaining her spiritual life midst all the festivals and holy days celebrating this Christian holiday or that one.

Yesterday, on the first night of Hanukkah, she posted yet again about those challenges.  "You can take the Rabbi out of her synagogue community," she writes, "even plunk her in the middle of a town named for the Christian savior in the middle of a country that is constitutionally Catholic--but . . . ."  And then she goes on to share a piece written by Sarah Hurwitz called "Eight Nights, Eight Jewish Values:  reflections for Chanukah on the Jewish Obligation to Build a Better World."  Myra writes, "I am using her reflections, one at a time, for each night of Hanukkah as I light candles in my menorah."

The piece itself is very moving, and while they reflect, as Myra writes, "a very particular Jewish perspective," I would suggest they offer up values we can all emulate.  They begin with "tikkun Olam"--the idea of repairing the world, and end with "caring for the stranger."  Reading through the list, I have no doubt that the One whose birth I, as a Christian, am about to celebrate, would say, Amen!  After all, Jesus was a Jew, why not?

So, Rabbi Myra, Rabbi Steve, Cantor Murray, and all my many friends who are part of Bat Yam, as well as others who celebrate Hanukkah, like my dear friend Rabbi Bob Orkand, have a most blessed Hanukkah.  To my many, many Christian friends, parishioners and others, might you have a most blessed Christmas!  Might we all work together to repair the world and care for the strangers in our midst.

Thanks Myra, for the reminder!

(Photo:  Myra's Menorah in Panama!  Her blog can be found at hhttps://whereintheworldismyra.wordpress.com)