We have come to banish the darkness! These are the opening lyrics to a classic children’s song in Israel. In Israel, “Ba’nu Choshech L’garesh” (the Hebrew title) is a classic Chanukah song as ubiquitous as “I have a little dreidel” in the United States. To match the words, when little kids perform this song throughout Israel, they all hold individual candles or flashlights. The lyrics go:
We have come to banish the darkness.
In our hands are light and fire.
Everyone is a small light.
But together, we are tremendously bright.
Flee, darkness! Be gone, night!
Flee before the Light!
The lyrics make sense in December. We have the fewest hours of sunlight during this time of year, but daylight will become longer and longer after Chanukah. Yet, we all pick up on the deeper meaning of the song. The darkness in the song is not just the absence of light; rather, it is the presence of evil in our lives. Chanukah commemorates the Maccabean War to drive the evil Assyrian Greeks from the Land of Israel.
In every generation, Jews have had to drive away darkness and evil. Today, just as in the days of our ancestors, we are each a single light turning away the dark; however, together, we are a tremendous power capable of keeping the evil forces of our world away.
May the light of our menorah on this final night of Chanukah remind us that we are capable of not only driving away the darkness but also bringing together the light.
Chag Urim Sameach
Happy Festival of Lights
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Max
