Lighting the streets

W h a t i s t h e p u r p o se o f t h e Ch a n u k a h c a n d l e s ? H o w c a n t h e p u r p os e l e a d u s t o a d i f f e r e n t k i n d o f i n t e r f a i t h w o r k ?

Rabbi Elazar Symon The Chanukah candles are traditionally lit on the window sill. The common explanation for that is that it is so they can fulfil their role of "Pirsumei Nisa" - spreading the word of the Chanukah miracle (ie that the oil lasted for eight days and the victory over the Greeks). But I have difficulty accepting this explanation. Why is it that we are not interested in similarly advertising other miracles? Why do we not hold our Seder outside so that people should hear about the miracle of the Exodus? Or put speakers facing the street when we read the book of Ester on Purim? On a textual level my question holds: the Talmud mentions that the Chanukah candles should make the Chanukah miracle known (Shabbat 23b). But that is not mentioned in the context of the duty to light them facing the street, nor is it offered as an explanation for the very existence of the mitzvah. Rather it is mentioned as a certain quality this mitzvah holds, underlining its importance when in contradiction with other mitzvot. That same quality is similarly attributed by the Talmud to parts of the Seder (Pesachim 112a) and to the reading of the Megillah on Purim (Megillah 3b). A different and rather simple explanation comes to mind. The reason we light Chanukah candles next to the window is because we want to bring light to the street. We want the public spaces to be safe and beautiful. The Midrash supports this idea by saying the candles are lit between dusk and until the streets are empty "so that people walking in the street may enjoy the light of the candles" (Sechel Tov, Beshalach, 17). This idea can be better understood in contrast with the other candles in our tradition, the Shabbat candles. The latter are lit inside the house, on the table or in the living room, and their purpose is to enhance the Page 11

"Shalom Bayit", the peace of the house. That is very fitting: Shabbat is about family time, about rest, about intimacy. Shabbat is when the famous Jewish home shines with all of its glory. And so when we are told that the Chanukah candles must be lit facing the outside world, we can see it as an invitation: an invitation to take that same inner light and let it light the whole street, to bring intimacy into the public domain, to use the strength of the Jewish home to bring peace not only to the house but to the whole world. In the Chanukah story, the Greeks attempted to put the Jewish light out. The response cannot be just preserving it, that is a given, rather it is letting it shine bright and strong through the windows to the whole wild world. This idea has led me to thoughts about to the role of Interfaith activity. Thankfully, Cambridge is bustling with such activity. Only this Michaelmas I have been lucky enough to participate, as part of my role as Jewish Chaplain, in an interfaith Friday Night Dinner at the students’ center in Thompson's Lane, a Quran and Torah reading group with some Muslim colleagues in the Woolf institute, and very soon a menorah lighting in participation with the Great St. Mary's Church. And there is much more activity, including scriptural reasoning, a multi-faith forum, and various reading groups and events. It is always a question what we are trying to achieve through interfaith work. In my experience, the objectives are usually determined by political factors. The reality of antisemitism and the tension over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, make it vital to create better understanding between people of different faiths. Therefore the goal set for interfaith work is to know each other better and underline the aspects in which we are similar, in the hope of shattering stereotypes and encouraging tolerant behaviour. Simply put, we hope to become friends. But maybe there is something else we could be focusing on: lighting up the streets. Each group in our Cambridge community has as inner light, unique qualities, that can benefit all of us, that can pour lights into our shared spaces. It's time we stopped being shy or modest, and try to bring these qualities forward. And most importantly, it's time we used these qualities to face together challenges in our Cambridge community. We should be asking ourselves questions such as: “What

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can the Jewish community offer the struggle against homelessness?” or “What Jewish perspective can help with the balance between free speech and inclusiveness?” At the same time we should truly believe that other groups have their own contribution, something that we lack yet doesn't contradict or threaten us, but rather completes us. Just as in the middle of the dark winter, the candles of the menorah and the Christmas trees spread their light side by side and make our streets beautiful.

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