Wonder Days

Have you ever been in a place that was very, very dark, and then seen a small light? Maybe just one candle, or a flashlight through a crack in the door. Did you notice how much a tiny light can do? How far it reaches?

There is a holiday that begins with exactly that — one small flame. And what that flame stands for is something people have needed to hold onto for thousands of years.

The story takes place more than two thousand years ago, in the land of Judea. A powerful empire called the Seleucid Empire had taken over the land and its great Temple in Jerusalem — the holiest place in the world for the Jewish people. The rulers banned Jewish prayers, Jewish customs, Jewish life.

A family called the Maccabees refused to give up. The father, Mattathias, and his five sons — especially the one called Judah — gathered others who were willing to fight. They were outnumbered. Their army was small, their weapons were few. But they fought, and they kept fighting, and against every reasonable expectation, they won. The Temple was theirs again.

When they went to rededicate the Temple — to clean it and light the great menorah that was supposed to burn there always — they found only enough pure oil for a single day. It would take eight days to prepare more.

They lit it anyway.

And it burned. One day, then two, then three. It burned for all eight days. Enough time. Enough light. Exactly what they needed, and no one has ever been able to fully explain it.

That is the miracle people remember. Not just that they won, though that was remarkable. But that the light held.

How people celebrate today:

Hanukkah lasts eight nights, one for each night the oil burned. Each evening, when it gets dark outside, families gather around a special nine-branched menorah called a hanukkiah. There is one candle for each night, plus a helper candle called the shamash that is used to light the others.

On the first night, one candle is lit. On the second, two. Each night the row of flames grows. By the eighth night, the whole hanukkiah blazes with light. Families put them in windows so the light shines out into the street.

There are foods fried in oil, to remember the oil that burned so long. Crispy potato pancakes called latkes, eaten with sour cream or applesauce. Round jelly-filled doughnuts called sufganiyot with powdered sugar on top.

Children play with a small four-sided spinning top called a dreidel, each side stamped with a Hebrew letter. The letters stand for a phrase: a great miracle happened there.

But the heart of it is simple: a small light, held on to even when it seemed impossible. Even in the dark.

Hanukkah says: the light matters. Keep it burning.