We met for our annual hanukkah/solstice service about embracing the dark as part of the great cycle of the natural world. As a spiritual community, we reject the idea that light and dark are a binary that represent good and evil, or joy and pain – especially the ways in which Western thought have applied this binary to demean and enslave Black and Brown people. Instead, we follow the wisdom of farmer/poet/activist Wendell Berry, who honors the cycle of the year and knows that the dark is a time of rest and renewal, a strengthening for times to come.

You can view our liturgy here. For torah study, we learned about the Hasmonean kings and what lessons from their violent and fundamentalist reign we see reflected in our world right now. The text is in the liturgy.

Our discussion was, as always, passionate and wide-ranging. A few of the resources that came up include:

Standing Together, a model for a path forward in Palestine/Israel

Temu Okan’s necessary work on white supremacy culture

Rabbis for Ceasefire Hanukkah Guide, with a blessing for each night

Groundwork, a podcast about Palestinians and Israelis working towards justice

Some of our music today:

“To go in the dark,” lyrics by Wendell Berry, music by Katie Hicks

“Shadow/Light,” lyrics drawn from Rumi with music by Juliet Spitzer, recorded by SheWho, Otter’s vocal group

Si Kahn’s “Come Darkness, Come Light.” This version is recorded by Orion Johnstone. (Also, because this is how we roll, one of our participants today went to high school with Si.)

Cedar Ranney’s “Ozi V’zimrat Yah“

And, as always, our deep thanks to artist Wendy Elisheva Somerson who gifts the world her stunning art and allows us to use it as another way to express the emotions of our prayers.