Remember the Light, Find the Hope

Tonight, as we all prepare to celebrate and light our Chanukkiyot, my husband and I have an extra reason to celebrate; our own Chanukkah miracle you might say.

One year ago on the 25th of Kislev, we married.

By the graciousness of our rabbi, he let us get married on the first night of Chanukkah! He even suggested instead of a unity candle to light the Chanukkah menorah as our first act together as man and wife.

This year—for many, for all—we have endured unprecedented challenges. For us, as a new couple we faced even more than just a global pandemic. This year has felt dark, painful, hopeless.

Only as I prepare for this evening, remembering last year, how I vowed to my husband, “Through the joys and travails of life we will travel as one. Through all of time and space, there will be no story like ours. May it unfold in grace and beauty, shining like a light in the darkness,” as it reads in our Ketubah, I am encouraged. I am strengthened. I have hope.

We chose to marry on Chanukkah for this purpose—to remember the miracle, the light, the hope that are Hashem’s blessings to us that we might carry His light with us through our marriage and lives.

Sometimes I doubt I’ve honoured that solemn vow this year, to carry that light, but B”H this is also a time of rededication.

Thus, as we light our Chanukkiyot tonight, let us remember we rekindle hope, blazing in the darkness.

חג חנוכה שמח!!