As the Holidays Approach
By Sherwin Pomerantz

Friends, on Tuesday evening Jews worldwide will kindle the first candle on the Chanukah menorah to commemorate the victory of good over evil, of honesty over lies and of the belief that miracles do happen. Someone once said that a menorah is like the nightlight of our people. In times of darkness it shines on the whole world reminding us not to be afraid to be different but to be proud of whom we are.

For Christians worldwide Friday will wind down rapidly to Christmas eve and the promise of peace on earth, good will towards (wo)men that still eludes us. Charles Dickens described the eternal allure of Christmas when he wrote in 1836’s Pickwick Papers “Happy, happy Christmas, that can win us back to the delusions of our childish days; that can recall to the old man the pleasures of his youth; that can transport the sailor and the traveler, thousands of miles away, back to his own fire-side and his quiet home!”

Certainly for all of us it is a time of memory, a time for a bit of reflection and perhaps even some wistfulness for times gone by, albeit those times seem to appear better with the passing of the years. Syndicated columnist and humorist Dave Barry may have hit the nail on the head when he said: “In the old days, it was not called the Holiday Season; the Christians called it Christmas and went to church; the Jews called it Hanukkah and went to synagogue; the atheists went to parties and drank. People passing each other on the street would say "Merry Christmas!" or "Happy Hanukkah!" or (to the atheists) "Look out for the wall!"

But it was probably Helen Keller who in her succinct way summed up the meaning of the season best when she said : “The only blind person at Christmastime is he who has not Christmas in his heart.”

In many respects the past year has been a disappointment what with financial crises worldwide, the continued absence of peace in so many parts of the world, an incredible number of natural disasters and rampant political upheavals that do not yet seem to hold out the promise of positive change. Yet we humans have this uncanny ability to remain optimistic, to hope for a better future and to envision the light at the end of the tunnel even if it is not exactly visible to us.

Let us hope that as we go through this holiday season full of light and joy, that the new year about to burst forth in 12 days will be one of fulfilled dreams, good health and a peaceful universe in which we can finally experience the prophesy contained in the second book of Isaiah: “And they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not life up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.