So many people have been expressing how hard it is to find any joy in this holiday season. Many of us are tired and feeling somewhat hopeless about the state of the world. And yet, tonight is Christmas and tomorrow night is the first night of Hanukkah! In a world that seems so dark, in spite of the unseasonably warm weather, there is something hopeful about the confluence of these two festivals of light, miracles and good cheer. With such conflict in so many of our personal, societal and global relationships, perhaps
Chrismukkah can herald some healing and repair as our Hanukkah candles blend in with the Christmas lights. Although our Hannukiahs can hardly compete with some of the winter wonderland scenes that illuminate some of our neighbors' lawns!
Jewish people in England, in my experience, have a very different connection to Christmas than many American Jews. We kind of love Christmas and it is quite common to hear, of even very observant Jews celebrating Christmas Day with the traditional fare and the post feast afternoon watching the Queen’s Speech on TV, now of course the King’s Speech. At a recent Shabbat lunch in Jerusalem where the guests were asked to go round and say something about their relationship to Christmas, the Brits around the table all declared “I love Christmas.” This is partly because we don't have Thanksgiving, so Christmas is, in a way, the national holiday celebrated by all. Personally, I do love the lights, some of the music (not the cheesy Xmas playlists in the stores), the food and much more, but all from a nostalgic and entirely secular perspective. My spiritual winter holiday is, of course, Hanukkah with its multiple layers of meaning, but I don’t want to dismiss Christmas, even though there is a materialism and excess that goes with it that is challenging. That said, as I write this, I am soon going to church for a Christmas Mass with one of my Christian pastor friends as a further way to connect to the power of the two holidays!
As the sun goes down on Christmas day, Jews across the world will light the first candle of Hanukkah, with its sublime messages of hope, faith, courage, tenacity, resilience and chutzpah. In asking the question
“Mai Hanukkah? What is Hanukkah,” the Talmud mentions the miracle of the oil, which has no previous reference, and describes the ritual of lighting Hanukkah candles as
“pesumei nissah - publicizing the miracle.” So, just as our Christian neighbors put lights on the outside of their homes, the mitzvah of our candles is ideally outside the front door, but more commonly in a window that can shine the light out into the public street, as if to say “we are still here and we are proud and we are not giving up and we believe in miracles!”
This year I will be lighting candles for Jews everywhere who are afraid, for 100 hostages still in tunnels in Gaza; for the thousands of Israelis still displaced from their homes; for victims of violence everywhere; for the innocent Palestinians caught up in this bloody mess, especially the Palestinian Christians in Bethlehem in the West Bank who are effectively cancelling Christmas this year; for all the spiritual and moral darkness that plagues our world.
The days are getting longer again and each night, as was Hillel’s custom, we increase the light. May our candles illuminate the dark spaces within us and shine through our windows into all of the dark spaces in the world, restoring hope and wonder and faith in miracles that defy the imagination and make the impossible possible.
Happy Light Fest. Happy Hanukkah. Merry Christmas.
Joyful Chrismukkah
Rabbi Marc
PS - Here are some Hanukkah Stories for your listening pleasure:
Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins Simon and the Bear
PPS -
Join us for special Shabbat Hanukkah events and services! 
