The Chanukah Candle
Sedentary and stuck in place.
Has really gone much further,
Then the greatest marathon race.
It has walked and run,
Its survival a major feat
It has sprinted and swam.
To beat the best athlete.
It's come a very long way,
All through time and space
From times ancient 'til now
Virtually all over the place.
Overcoming hurdles
Its eight little wicks
With valor and strength
Outshine the Olympics.
Its torch has passed,
From the Maccabee band
One generation to the next,
And from hand to hand.
It hails from the Temple
And its Maccabees loyal
When Syrian Greeks invaded,
And defiled all pure oil.
Only one cruse remained
It didn't stand a chance
Yet the light persisted
And spread to all lands.
Illuminating the Dark Ages
In the poor shtetl and ghetto
Where they faithfully carved
Their Menorahs from potato.
Despite the nightmare
Of Hitler's Death Camps,
And in Soviet Gulags
We still kindled our lamps.
We'd light it furtively quick,
Or very cautiously slow,
The Menorah we kindled
Whether spirits ran high or low.
Israel's soldiers lit Menorahs
After Yom Kippur's War of Attrition
In ammo casings filled with oil
And a fiery sense of mission.
Chanukah's Light shines forth
In Peace and in War
Starting with one candle
Each night it adds one more.
Continuing links in a chain
Of generations gone by
The present relay runners –
They are You and I.
The Grand Relay of light
Will overcome evil men
Of Al Quaeda and intifada
And attacks of Nine Eleven.
It's the light at the end of the tunnel
Redemption our hope and aspiration
When Israel will finally
Be a Light to all the nations.
(c)2002 Rabbi Israel Rubin
