It was a week before Chanukah and we were in the midst of our holiday preparations. A large number of our regular volunteers were out of town and I was concerned we may not have enough hands to help at the Chanukah Wonderland.
The answer came from an unexpected place.
I received a phone call from a non-Jewish teen at a local public High School. She leads a school club that sends volunteers to various organizations and events around town. She was calling to see if we might appreciate a group of teens helping out at the event. I couldn't believe it!
And boy did they come! About 15 of these wonderful teens were an enormous help and stayed to clean until the very end. Our own volunteers very much enjoyed working with them and sharing little bits about Judaism and Chanukah.
Two days later it was this experience that I wanted to share with the media during an interview following the various antisemitic incidents around Chanukah. The questions were being asked in such a way to encourage talk about hate and evil...though I kept trying to steer the conversation towards love and respect! Why talk about one person doing an act of destruction when you could talk about a large group of kids making a difference? Why only report hate of someone different, and not the sweet Indian teens who found themselves helping Jewish kids decorate donuts and build Menorahs?
I felt this throughout the holiday! Is it not a blessing to live in a city where there are large Chanukah events every night of the week? Where the town requests help purchasing a Menorah? When the newest shopping development (Fenton) reached out to me to see how they could this recognize Chanukah? To have Mayors (in plural) reach out to us about how much they care about our community?
This is the Cary, Apex, Morrisville, etc that I live in.
To be clear, the other reality sadly exists. And the authorities have to do their job and treat any such acts seriously. This is the world of law enforcement. But sometimes I wish (like when talking to the media!) that the world of kindness got portrayed at least as much (if not more!) as this world of negativity.
As we begin a new secular year, let's be a little more aware of the world we live in and try to make it a more positive one. That includes surrounding ourselves with happier people, learning Torah (which uplifts our mind), getting swept up in Mitzvot, and staying away from consuming too much media!
Consider this:
The "Word of the Year" was recently announced. This year's selection?
From Webster: ‘Goblin mode’ – a slang term, often used in the expressions ‘in goblin mode’ or ‘to go goblin mode’ – is ‘a type of behaviour which is unapologetically self-indulgent, lazy, slovenly, or greedy,
From Oxford: Gaslighting: Behavior that's mind manipulating, grossly misleading, downright deceitful.
My goodness! I assume there is good reason those words were chosen but we need not live in that world. Let's learn from Joseph, the first Jew to teach us the art of a positive perspective and even reframing negative experiences as something positive. (More on that in this excellent essay by Rabbi Sacks)
I'll conclude with a favorite Chassidic anecdote of mine:
The story is told of two men who traveled from Odessa to Lubavitch to see their Rebbe. The Rebbe asked each of them respectively how Jewish Life was in Odessa? The first responded that things are quite good BH! There are daily sessions in Torah, a regular Minyan that is well attended, and that the people are charitable. The Rebbe gave him a 10 ruble note as participation in the community's activities.
The second painted a bleaker picture. "The truth is people are so engrossed in their work they don't study or pray properly. The community is not as caring for each other as they should be. The Rebbe handed the man a one ruble.
He then complained: I said the truth! Why should I receive less than my friend who painted a rosier picture?
To which the Rebbe said: "I didn't really need to ask either of you about the spiritual situation in Odessa. I have other sources to find that out. What I wanted to learn from your response is which Odessa you live in.
L'chaim to living in a beautiful, love-filled, and Mitzvah-full world in 2023.