"U'lecha asita shem gadol v'kadosh b'olamecha. You have made Your Name great and holy in Your world." (From the Al HaNissim Chanukah prayer)
Greatness and holiness. Both are crucial.
The miraculous story of Chanukah demonstrated God's power and spirit. The victory in battle restored Jewish sovereignty, affirming the enduring strength He grants the Jewish people. The rekindling of the Temple menorah visibly reestablished the divine presence, the Shechina, in our midst.
That remains the story of Jewish survival: power and spirit, greatness and holiness. That is our story this Chanukah, following the miraculous successes granted by God to Tzahal and to our people in Israel, ensuring our physical survival together with our enduring morality and spirit. International courts searching throughout the battlefields of Gaza, Lebanon, Yemen, and Iran will find only one batch of pure arms – neshek tahor – dedicated to defend innocents rather than to inflict harm upon them.
In Israel and in America, it is insufficient for the Jewish people to survive. We must also illuminate the world with the beliefs and the values of the Torah that define us and our way of life. Gadol v'kadosh, greatness and holiness, power and spirit.
The story of Chanukah then and of our victory now are God's responses to what we ask for every time we recite the kaddish: Yitgadal v'yitkadash shmei rabba, may God's name be magnified and sanctified, endowed with both greatness and holiness. He has blessed the Jewish people on the battlefield and in the Temple, granting us the strength of endurance and the glory to sanctify His name to the world.
We are grateful to be able to continue to live as a nation dedicated to bringing God's light to the world, committed to both greatness and holiness.
Chanukah Sameach.
Sincerely,
Rabbi Moshe Hauer
Executive Vice President
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