You can find a Hebrew version of this blog here.
The Rabbi nearly cried.
Hanukkah Shabbat 2025 was unlike any I had seen at Chabad. The shul was filled beyond capacity. The Rabbi and the congregation were sad, but resolute. There were no tears, only steely-eyed determination to shine light into darkness, even as we mourned the murder of a Chabad rabbi, a ten-year-old child, and thirteen others, and the wounding of many more in the terrorist attack at the Bondi Beach Chabad Hanukkah celebration in Sydney on December 14, 2025.
This weekend, I attended two Chabad gatherings in Miami. I never imagined that Jews would again worry about their safety while celebrating Hanukkah.
And yet, Hanukkah has never been only a story of darkness. It is a story of how light always shines through the darkness.
Once again, we are witnessing the resilience of the Jewish people; and something else just as profound: moments when others step forward to help that light endure.
This Hanukkah, I want to name those people Guardians of the Light. Righteous individuals who, in moments of danger or moral testing, choose to protect human life and dignity. They are not defined by faith or identity, but by choice. Like the oil in the Temple, their courage burns longer than reason would predict.
Over the past days, I’ve shared several reflections exploring both the darkness we are living through and the light that continues to emerge. Each begins in a different place, but all return to the same question: who guards the light when it is most at risk?
Guardians of the Light is a meditation on modern-day righteous gentiles—those who stand between violence and the vulnerable.
Modern Montana Maccabees tells the story of Billings, Montana, where a pastor and an entire town responded to antisemitism not with fear, but with paper menorahs and moral courage.
Light Shines Through the Darkness returns to the opening words of Genesis—“Let there be light”—and reflects on why moral clarity, not silence, is demanded in moments like this.
Remember the Rainbow That Remains reflects on the biblical rainbow as covenant and responsibility, asking what endures after the storm.
Lighting the Menorah in the GCC explores something extraordinary: in the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, Hanukkah has been illuminated on skylines and in public spaces—a sign of history bending toward hope.
The Infinite Light of the Menorah Shines from the World’s Tallest Building reflects on a historic menorah lighting atop the world’s tallest tower in the UAE, transforming a global landmark into a symbol of Jewish visibility and dignity.
Infinite Light: How the Menorah Can Inspire Peace and Hope looks back to 2015, when King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain hosted a Hanukkah celebration and menorah lighting at the Royal Palace—an enduring symbol of coexistence.
Hanukkah does not promise that darkness will vanish. It promises that light is worth lighting anyway.
May we honor those who guard the light. May we multiply it where we can. And may we never underestimate the power of choosing light—especially when it would be easier to look away.
In closing, I want to share a beautiful Hanukkah song that carries this idea not only in words, but in melody: A Symphony of Light.
Chag Hanukkah Sameach.
Menorah lighting at the Chabad Brickel, Rok Family Synagogue. December 20th, 2025.
You can read this blog in Hebrew here.
