Dear Friend,

We’ve kindled the last Chanukah candle, fried the last latke, eaten the last doughnut, played the last round of dreidel and distributed the last Chanukah gelt. Soon our menorahs will be polished and put away for next year, and if we aren’t careful, the festivities may fade into oblivion.

In fact, next Tuesday we mark the 10th of Tevet, one of the saddest days on the Jewish calendar, with fasting and prayer. On the 10th of Tevet, 425 BCE, the Babylonian army laid siege to Jerusalem, which ultimately led to the destruction of the Holy Temple, and our people’s exile.

We start Chanukah with one small flickering light, adding velocity each night until all the candles are ablaze, flooding the world, and our souls, with light. And then—BAM!—it’s over. There is no gentle tapering off. It seems anticlimactic, but there is another way to look at it.

Every Chanukah we get to infuse our souls with light, increasing our stores day by day, until by the eighth and final day we have enough. Enough to light up the darker times of the year. Enough to remind us that miracles and salvation can happen, and that light always prevails.

Miriam Szokovski,
on behalf of the Chabad.org Editorial Team.