Jewish Life Digital Edition November 2014 | Page 14

CHANUKAH 5775

How the mighty
I LOVE THE STORY OF CHANUKAH, FROM START TO
finish. The astounding fact that the world
could be seized by such secularism; and the
solidity of Jewish values – for the most
part – in its midst. The juxtaposition of the
spiritual versus the physical. The unification of the religious and the Zionistic
among us, which of course brings me to the
whole military dimension – I mean, we are
talking about the Greek army here – and
our surprising (at face value) victory.
It always reminds me of the story of David and Goliath, one of those well-loved bible stories that, to me, typifies much of the
essence of the Jewish people. First and
foremost, its hero is the great King David,
who not only shows loyalty, commitment
and true emunah to Hashem, but also cunning and humility in the face of what was
perceived as the unbeatable foe. But also,
it’s the archetypal underdog story, the sizedoesn’t-count-despite-what-the-worldaround-you says fairytale. After all, they
are the ones who are the Philistines. The
Jewish people have always been the people
of David, from whom our much anticipated
redemption will come. We are small in
number, less than 0.2 percent of the world
population, seemingly insignificant; yet if
we look at how we fare when faced with the
Goliaths of the world, true to form, we
have a special might about us.
Look at us physically – we are that dot
on the map with an army that is ranked
among the most powerful in the world.
Look at us spiritually – we are a moral and
connected people, our service consists of
both spiritual and practical religious obser-

10 JEWISH LIFE

ISSUE 79

vance. And look at us as a nation – we are
one. No matter where you were in the
world last month, you were proudly Jewish
on the Shabbos of the Chief Rabbi’s Shabbos Project. Am yisrael chai! And never
more so than now, in the wake of the antiSemitism unleashed throughout the world.
Still, we are strong. We are mighty. To the
world it is inexplicable, uncontained, and
enduring, just like the Jews as a people.
But to us, this might stems from only one
place – from Hashem, and from our deep,
enduring connection to Him. Because how
do we survive, and endure, otherwise?

LET’S START WITH
TOGETHERNESS
“Unity is precious. It is about belonging,” explains Chief Rabbi Dr Warren Goldstein.
“Our Torah teaches us that we do not merely
exist in this world as lone individuals, but
that we are part of something greater. And
this affords us a privilege that so many people in the modern world long for – a sense

of belonging. We live in a world of increasing fragmentation, in which the bonds that
bind people to each other – marriage, family, community – are gradually being dislocated. This is a great tragedy for human civilisation, because these bonds are, to a
large extent, what make us human. Together, we are so much more than when we are
separate. When we come together in a spirit
of unity, as the Talmud says, as ‘one person
with one heart’, we can achieve greatness.”
And greatness we did achieve, despite
the near torrential (well, for us South Africans, at least, it felt that way) rain and the
lightning and the wind, and maybe because
of the extra commitment that emerged out
of it. We flocked to challah bakes and concerts and shul and meals to feel this unity,
and to be inspired by the magic of the special gift of Shabbos. “The Shabbos Project is
about ‘keeping it together’ – reconnecting
with ourselves, our families, and our community. This year, we had the opportunity
to unleash the power and energy of Jewish

PHOTOGRAPHS: ILAN OSSENDRYVER

ROAR

A meditation on the power of
Jewish unity, prayer, learning and