The Light of Hanukkah

A Special Welcome and Torah, Old and New

Chag urim sameach, Happy Festival of Lights!

For the many of you who have just joined the Ya’aleh community, hello! I’m Talia, and I write here about how Jewish wisdom can ground us, empower us, and sustain us in an ever-changing world, with a particular eye towards holiday and ritual. For more information about who I am, head over to taliakaplan.com/about.

Over the past few years, I’ve noticed how my social media feeds have become filled with more and more images of candles, their reflection glowing on windows and computer screens. We have taken to the injunction to publicize the miracle of Hanukkah in a myriad of ways. How we understand this miracle, and how we understand light, is both personal and communal.

This December, I’m sharing my piece from last year on the “true” miracle of Hanukkah along with some more recent Torah about the challenges of rhetoric that prioritizes light over darkness from Kendra Watkins. May the glow of candles and the darkness they punctuate—in windowsills, on instagram, or inside us—attune us to our own understanding of the miracle of Hanukkah.