While we will always pray for miracles, such as oil lasting longer than it should, the lesson from Chanukah is that we don’t need to wait for a miracle to occur, we can create miracles for ourselves and others. If we work hard, our collective light will last forever. May we all find courage, comfort, health and hope on our journey together.

This year, as with all other Jewish festivals, Hanukkah appears early on our secular calendar. Just as we conclude the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, we begin to kindle the first Hanukkah lights. Although the winter solstice is nearly a month away, the shortened periods of daylight have already descended. The radiance of glowing candles in the menorah offers a welcome break from the shadows of evening that have come to shorten our day too soon.

A semblance of normalcy is returning to CMI. Since September we are back in the Sanctuary having services, and I am again teaching my B’mitzvah students in person. We are back inside the building, the CMI Community has returned! COVID has proved to be much more of an ongoing challenge to all of us and our families but like everything else in life, this too shall pass. Not only will it pass but it will make us so much stronger.

The beauty of the High Holy Days, accompanied by the splendor of ancient sounds of the shofar and festival music that fill our hearts and homes, is still with us. We are commanded to seek forgiveness and to return to righteous living—the concept of teshuvah. Before the spirit of teshuvah leaves us for the colors of autumn and shorter days, we might ask ourselves how best to re-engage with our congregation.

I am excited to say that we have now gone into a post COVID period and that means returning to shul. Yet, the excitement is tempered by the fact that it will be a measured opening, determined by the virus status and health guidelines. I cannot wait to see all my little friends running gleefully once more down our infamously long hallways and hear their sweet voices in song in the choir room.

This is a year of turning: turning to reflect upon our past and then turning to embrace our future. This concept is embodied in teshuvah, our process of repentance throughout our High Holy Days. According to Rabbi Eliezar, teshuvah was created even before God began to create the world. Our existence depends so much upon our ability to reflect, reconsider, and return to our best selves that it was a necessary building block of creation.