Hanukkah occurs at the darkest time of the year—literally. The holiday is the only Jewish holiday that actually occurs over two months—the four days leading into the new moon and then through the fourth of Tevet. These are the days when the moon is at its smallest and sheds the least light in any given thirty day period. Further, Hanukkah occurs at the time of year when the days are shortest and the nights are longest here north of the equator. Thus, we are brought into questions of darkness and light.
We absolutely need to ask: What in us needs to be relit? What have we been passionate about in the past, where our ardor has dimmed? Where in our lives do we need more light?
Yet it’s not as simple as turning from the dark towards the light. Too often, that teaching is a way for us to ignore our shadow sides, the dark parts of us that we don’t want to acknowledge. Left unaddressed, our shadow sides wind up too often projecting our unsavory parts onto others, and then acting as if the other were the problem. We see this throughout the developed world today where the autocrats claim they are defending democracy while doing everything they can to destroy it.
Reckoning with our shadow is really difficult work, but in my experience it can be a source of great freedom and power. It is deep and profound work.
One of the practices I intend to undertake this Hanukkah is to think each day about something I am not acknowledging about myself. As I light each candle, I will pray that the Hanukkah lighting will illuminate some part of my shadow self.
For me, none of this work would be possible if I were not grounded in my connections to my ancestral heritage, and to what David Abram calls “the more than human world” (nature). I am a child of a suburban elite background and I was raised with the idea that physical work with the earth was beneath me. I was also raised with the idea that going camping meant staying at the Holiday Inn. The Judaism I was raised with was both a blessing and never really spoke to my deepest spiritual longings
Wilderness Torah is a revelation and an affirmation of the possibility that we can be connected to both Judaism and the more than human world. We need your support, so please give generously. Giving tzedakah, charity, is a wonderful gratitude practice. Cultivating gratitude has meant in my life that I have been able to let go of many resentments and complaints—and wouldn’t we all like to complain less and feel better about ourselves? So please join me in giving. You can donate in the box just below.
About Your Teacher:
Jared Gellert is a committed tribal Jew who believes that the whole world is alive and that our connection with mother earth needs to be grounded in our ancestral traditions. He has an academic background in Philosophy and Religious Studies. He blogs and teaches at earthbasedJudaism.org
