Courtesy of JewishSacredAging.com

As many in the Jewish community know, mid-December brings us again to the festival known as Hannukah.

The myths and legends about this festival are many, and the sociological challenges presented to our community to NOT turn it into a sort of over-the-top commercial extravaganza are also the stuff of sermons. But that is not the purpose of this little reflection. I leave that to my colleagues at the thousands of Hannukah services that will take place on Friday night, December 11, when the first candle is lit.

Part of the tradition of the festival is the dreidel game, in which a small top, engraved with Hebrew letters that stand for types of wagers, is spun. Round and round it spins while children giggle with gleeful anticipation to see if they can win a piece of Hannukah gelt (little pieces of chocolate candy). It is fun to watch and even to play. However, as I began to think about the festival, for some reason, I went back to the image of the spinning dreidel and the concept of the randomness of life. We spin the dreidel and do not know upon which letter it will land. For a second or four or more, we wait in anticipation to see what the future holds. I think the symbolism is quite profound. Many of us are at a stage of life when the challenges are growing clearer. Dealing with financial issues, caring for our children (and often our aging parents), facing our own mortality, and coping with the random acts of life (i.e., the cards we are dealt) become more filled with consequences. And it is how we choose to deal with this randomness that so often determines the type of person we become.

I think this concept of greater consequence plays on us in many ways. Often, the challenges presented by life's randomness cause us to stop short of fulfilling our own dreams—not out of fear, but out of real responsibilities. We may want to retire or change life direction, but the demands of our parents or children or grandchildren may cause us to further delay our dreams out of a real sense of responsibility. Many of the people we know are "on hold" because of the impact of the economy. I know many who have delayed pursuing their dreams because the markets of the past two or three years have eroded their ability to spin their symbolic dreidel for themselves.

Yet, others are confronted with life's randomness and remain frozen. They want to (and can) make a move, dare to dream, live their "bliss," but something in them stops that leap. Is it fear, or messages from their childhood? Who can know? The choices we do make are still influenced in a large way by the genetic codes that rush through each of us, as well as those numerous messages that were imprinted on our psyches as we grew up. How many of us are spending a lot of money in therapists’ offices to try to reprogram those tapes?

The message, then, of this spinning toy? Perhaps it is in the need to see strength in our own souls and selves to deal with whatever life hands us. Perhaps it is the reality that the choices we make in light of the randomness of life can be supported and enhanced by caring and loving friends, family, and community. In this coming month, many of us will celebrate great religious festivals that have at their foundation a belief in the power of the self supported by faith. So, in the spirit of Hannukah, a festival that speaks to the ideals of faith and equality, my hope for everyone is that whatever life hands us, we will have the faith in ourselves to choose life, growth, and love.

Shalom.