{"id":27140,"date":"2017-12-01T03:12:54","date_gmt":"2017-12-01T11:12:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=27140"},"modified":"2017-11-30T00:16:17","modified_gmt":"2017-11-30T08:16:17","slug":"time-to-light-the-lights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2017\/12\/01\/time-to-light-the-lights\/","title":{"rendered":"Time to light the lights"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chanukah lights (photo from pxhere.com\/en\/photo\/285940<\/a>)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Rabbi Kibbitz! Rabbi Kibbitz!\u201d Young Doodle ran into the rabbi\u2019s study, breathless and excited. \u201cRabbi Kibbitz! It\u2019s time to light the Chanukah candles!\u201d<\/p>\n

Doodle stopped cold. The senior rabbi of the village of Chelm sat behind his desk, with his head drooping in his hands, staring blankly into nothing.<\/p>\n

\u201cRabbi Kibbitz, are you all right?\u201d<\/p>\n

The wise old man shook his head.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you having a heart attack? A stroke? Indigestion?!\u201d<\/p>\n

Again the rabbi shook his head.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re not getting a divorce are you?\u201d<\/p>\n

The rabbi\u2019s head shot up. He stared at Doodle, and firmly shook his head, no.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen, Rabbi, what is it?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe world, Doodle,\u201d the rabbi said. \u201cIt\u2019s falling apart. The czar is going crazy and so is the king of Poland. It looks like war may happen at any time, and Chelm is right in the middle.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not new,\u201d said Doodle. \u201cThe czar is always crazy. I hear last week he commissioned a jeweler to make a dozen eggs out of gold!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s crazy about that?\u201d asked Rabbi Kibbitz.<\/p>\n

\u201cEggs come out of chickens for free,\u201d Doodle said. \u201cWith real eggs, you can eat \u2018the gold.\u2019 But golden eggs, it seems like you\u2019re paying a lot for nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The rabbi nodded. He\u2019d never been able to understand how Doodle thought.<\/p>\n

\u201cCome, Rabbi,\u201d Doodle said. \u201cIt\u2019s time to light the Chanukah candles. Everybody is waiting.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe harvest was poor this year,\u201d the rabbi said. \u201cIt\u2019s been poor the last four years. I don\u2019t know how we are going to feed ourselves this winter. And, if next harvest is bad, then I\u2019m sure we will all starve.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cActually, rabbi, it\u2019s been six bad years,\u201d Doodle corrected. \u201cAnd you know what they say in the Torah? After seven years of famine, there will be seven years of feast!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not sure it says that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPerhaps not,\u201d Doodle said. \u201cBut we will figure it out. We always do. If nothing else, we can always move somewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBorders are closing, Doodle. Nobody wants to have poor refugees.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn America, there is plenty of opportunity!\u201d<\/p>\n

The rabbi shook his head. \u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCome, let\u2019s light the candles,\u201d Doodle said.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are becoming so hateful.\u201d The rabbi\u2019s head slumped back into his hands. \u201cNeighbours fight each other. Everyone looks out only for himself or his tribe. I always thought that, over time, the world would become a better place, but I hear the news about this revolution or that uprising or this massacre and that famine and all I see is darkness.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s light the candles,\u201d Doodle insisted.<\/p>\n

\u201cEnough with the candles!\u201d The rabbi burst with frustration. \u201cChanukah is not even a major holiday. With all the problems of the world, it just doesn\u2019t matter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Doodle stood still and stared at the rabbi. \u201cIt does matter. Every year, on the last night of Chanukah, our whole community gathers in the synagogue to light the candles. We kindle a shammos from the eternal lamp, and then that flame is passed to every shammos. We sing the blessings, and then one light becomes eight lights, multiplied by every single family in the village. It doesn\u2019t matter how cold it is outside. We are warm and together in celebration. Even in the darkness the menorahs glow as bright as day.<\/p>\n

\u201cCome, Rabbi. Let\u2019s light the candles.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rabbi Kibbitz looked up at the young boy. The wise old man had tears in his eyes. He nodded and stood.<\/p>\n

Just then, Reb Cantor the merchant burst into the rabbi\u2019s study.<\/p>\n

\u201cRabbi Kibbitz! Have you heard? They\u2019re devaluing the currency. The money \u2013 all the money \u2013 is going to be worthless!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cReb Cantor,\u201d said Rabbi Kibbitz. \u201cIt seems very dark and bleak sometimes, doesn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/p>\n

Reb Cantor nodded in agreement.<\/p>\n

\u201cIsn\u2019t it wonderful,\u201d the rabbi said, \u201cthat it is time for us to gather in the synagogue and light the Chanukah candles?\u201d<\/p>\n

Reb Cantor took a deep breath and nodded. \u201cYou are a very wise man, Rabbi Kibbitz.\u201d<\/p>\n

Together, the rabbi and the merchant left the study and their troubles behind.<\/p>\n

Doodle rolled his eyes. Then, he grinned and ran to catch up. \u201cRabbi Kibbitz, Reb Cantor! Wait for me!\u201d<\/p>\n

Mark Binder<\/strong> is a Jewish storyteller and the author of <\/em>A Hanukkah Present! Twelve Tales to Give and Share and Matzah Mishugas. These and other books are available in print and ebook on Amazon, iBooks, Google Play Books and other booksellers. To learn more about Binder, visit markbinder.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chanukah lights (photo from pxhere.com\/en\/photo\/285940) Rabbi Kibbitz! Rabbi Kibbitz!\u201d Young Doodle ran into the rabbi\u2019s study, breathless and excited. \u201cRabbi Kibbitz! It\u2019s time to light the Chanukah candles!\u201d Doodle stopped cold. The senior rabbi of the village of Chelm sat behind his desk, with his head drooping in his hands, staring blankly into nothing. \u201cRabbi […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27026,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[781],"tags":[2517,2648,4838],"class_list":["post-27140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-holidays","tag-chanukah","tag-chelm","tag-storytelling"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27140","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27140"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27140\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27026"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}