Hannukah 2024 And An Alphabet Of Hope

Eighth Night Menorah (Scazon Photo/Flickr.com, under Creative Commons License)
Eighth Night Menorah (Scazon Photo/Flickr.com, under Creative Commons License)

Shalom and Happy Hanukkah! What an interesting coincidence this year as we celebrate at the same time as Christmas and Kwanzaa. Many messages to consider! As I was thinking about this, I reflected back on the dreidel and the letters: nun, gimbal, heh and shin, that form the message that “a great miracle happened there”. So, I began to play with the letters to consider some message that could be interpreted for us, as we grow older.

So, here is a little reinterpretation of those letters on the dreidel, sort of a spiritual primer for us in this season as we look forward. Let’s begin with that “nun” and think about it standing for the word “n’shamah”. We read in the daily service the fact that our “n’shaman”/soul is a gift. Our soul, that life force that vibrates within us, is central to who we are. As we grow older, we also understand how fragile it is as we consider that we have no control over the time we have and thus THE spiritual question for us remains (as we have mentioned in numerous classes), what do we do with the time we have left knowing we cannot control the time we have left?

The next letter, the “gimel,” easily stands for the Hebrew word “g’vurah.” In Pirke Avot it has the sense of might or strength. This is the strength we have from our own life experience.

We all have been through “stuff.” One hopes these experiences have made us stronger. There is strength in living life, a strength not only of body but of soul. This is a great teacher, as we come to understand things in ways we could not do when younger. This is a spiritual strength that drives many of us to seek meaning and purpose as we age.

That next letter, the “heh”, I suggest can stand for the word “ha’yom”. This is the day. Today, Judaism understands, I think, that we cannot replay what was, that we cannot control what will be, but we can manifest some control over the now. We can live for today. I think this becomes ever more important as we age. We celebrate each day with the “modeh ani” in the morning realizing that each day is a gift and that we need to live, not merely exist. When the tradition says that we are to live each day as if it were our last, it teaches that, since we cannot know when that last day will be, we are called to honor and celebrate each day for its own sake.

Finally, the “shin.” Let me suggest the word “shleimut.” Yes, that is from the root for shalom and this word carries with it the sense of completeness or wholeness. If we live each day to its fullest, our souls can be strengthened and, if we choose, we can live a life that celebrates the sacred and gives us the ability to live a complete and holy life. This quest for wholeness, a life of fulfillment speaks to our hope to live a life of our choosing, where we find ourselves completed, whole and at peace.

Nun, gimel, heh, shin: soul, strength, the day and a life of wholeness: a miracle or a dream, a wish or a possibility for each of us as we transition in life to new stages, hopes and possibilites? Have a safe, sweet and healthy Hannukah season

Shalom,
Rabbi Richard F Address

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