The Bright Light of Freedom

I am blessed to have many Jewish friends, including a number of rabbis.  To a person the rabbis in particular all say that Chanukah is (relatively speaking) a minor holiday on the Jewish liturgical calendar.  Not that it is unimportant, but rather that it is rather outsized in America due to its proximity to Christmas.  It is not one of the three major festivals (Shavuot, Sukkot
and Passover)--nor is it one of the high holidays (Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur).  But more than likely it is the best known of the Jewish holidays among those of us who are not Jews.

And who can resist it?  Candles, latkes (sour cream with mine, please), a miraculous story, gelt (or at least chocolate coins covered in gold foil), dreidels . . . not to mention gifts.  Still, the importance of the holiday is so often lost.  Because in the end, it is really about religious freedom.

There are those who would disagree, I am sure.  But I think religious diversity such as found in our nation, is one of the things that gives us real strength.  And protecting the rights of others to believe and worship as they see fit, is a foundational responsibility for all Americans.  Not so much standing up for my right to worship as I please (or to not worship at all), though that is important as well, but rather standing up for the other guy, the other gal.

Chanukah calls us all, whether we are Jewish or not, to protect the rights of all to observe or not as they feel led to do.  In his famous letter promising freedom of religion to the people of the Touro Synagogue in Newport Rhode Island George Washington wrote of his vision for the new nation as a haven for all people.  "Everyone" he wrote, "shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree, and there shall be none to make him afraid."  Might it be so!

As each candle is lit on the Chanukah menorah, might it remind us of the bright light of freedom--for all!