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Listen "“The Light of the Spirit Never Dies” by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks | From the Jewish Tradition"
Episode Synopsis
From the Jewish Tradition | “The Light of the Spirit Never Dies” by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks
Read by Madeline Levy, MTS II
Seasons of Light is hosted by Harvard Divinity School's Office of Religious and Spiritual Life under the direction of Christopher Hossfeld, Director of Music and Ritual, and Kerry A. Maloney, Chaplain and Director of Religious and Spiritual Life.
The full video recording of Seasons of Light 2020 can be found on the HDS YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVuYb9d7tCc&t=587s
TRANSCRIPT:
There’s an interesting question
the commentators ask about Chanukah.
For eight days we light lights,
and each night we make
the blessing over miracles:
she-asah nissim la-avotenu.
But what was the miracle of the first night?
The light that should have lasted one day
lasted eight.
But that means
there was something miraculous
about days 2 to 8;
but nothing miraculous about the first day.
Perhaps the miracle was this,
that the Maccabees found one cruse of oil
with its seal intact, undefiled.
There was no reason to suppose
that anything would have survived
the systematic desecration
the Greeks and their supporters
did to the Temple.
Yet the Maccabees searched
and found that one jar.
Why did they search?
Because they had faith
from the worst tragedy
something would survive.
The miracle of the first night
was that of faith itself,
the faith that something would remain
with which to begin again.
from 8 Short Thoughts for 8 Chanukah Nights
https://rabbisacks.org/8-thoughts-8-nights/
Read by Madeline Levy, MTS II
Seasons of Light is hosted by Harvard Divinity School's Office of Religious and Spiritual Life under the direction of Christopher Hossfeld, Director of Music and Ritual, and Kerry A. Maloney, Chaplain and Director of Religious and Spiritual Life.
The full video recording of Seasons of Light 2020 can be found on the HDS YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVuYb9d7tCc&t=587s
TRANSCRIPT:
There’s an interesting question
the commentators ask about Chanukah.
For eight days we light lights,
and each night we make
the blessing over miracles:
she-asah nissim la-avotenu.
But what was the miracle of the first night?
The light that should have lasted one day
lasted eight.
But that means
there was something miraculous
about days 2 to 8;
but nothing miraculous about the first day.
Perhaps the miracle was this,
that the Maccabees found one cruse of oil
with its seal intact, undefiled.
There was no reason to suppose
that anything would have survived
the systematic desecration
the Greeks and their supporters
did to the Temple.
Yet the Maccabees searched
and found that one jar.
Why did they search?
Because they had faith
from the worst tragedy
something would survive.
The miracle of the first night
was that of faith itself,
the faith that something would remain
with which to begin again.
from 8 Short Thoughts for 8 Chanukah Nights
https://rabbisacks.org/8-thoughts-8-nights/
In God we trust