Rabbinic Reflection: Rabbi Yael Splansky

My Three Days in Israel

 

I have recently returned from Israel, where the mood is heavy and the mission is focused. I know we are feeling it here, too, and our Chanukah celebrations are not as bright as in years past. 

 

Many have asked about what I witnessed in Israel.  To be honest, it’s taken me many days to unpack all I learned from this very short trip. Shabbat I shared a number of the testimonials I heard and the things I experienced. The sermon is entitled “Becoming Israel.”   You can listen here:

 

 

I’ll have more to share in the coming weeks. 

 

Rally for Israel 

 

I’m very proud of the countless congregants — young and old — who showed up for the Rally for Israel in Ottawa. I’m grateful for the organizers at CIJA and the UJA and for my amazing Holy Blossom colleagues for pushing through the bumps in the road and through the cold and snow. Nothing can get between us and our love for Israel.  

 

For those who couldn’t be on Parliament Hill in body, but were with us in spirit, here is the link to the rally.  There was a great range of voices. I was asked to offer a prayer for the hostages. That comes in at the 2:32 mark, right after two families of hostages spoke. It was very moving to be with them at this fragile time. 

 

 

A Chanukah gift for you 

 

We now have 137 seats reserved in our sanctuary.   

As you prepare to light the Chanukah candles this evening (Chanukah candles first, then Shabbat candles), I invite you to read this poem written by my childhood friend, Rabbi Hanna Yerushalmi. 

 

“These Lights of Ours — HaNerot Hallalu” 

 

These lights of ours  

Are eminently holy 

And more ancient 

Than our imaginings, 

Bursting into beams 

Shining, shimmering 

Splendid lamps 

To illuminate our way. 

 

Reflected and radiating 

From torch to torch 

From eternal light to 

Towering pillars of fire, 

Shards and sparks, 

From soul to living soul 

Making dark corners glow  

And stone hears thaw. 

 

These lights have travelled  

Through time and Torah, 

Braided wick and walled city, 

Vast exiles and small villages, 

Cracks and conquests, 

Faint and refracted 

Or blinding, spilling forth  

In crests and waves. 

 

Now these lights roam 

Anew, winding further 

Deep into dim tunnels 

To those who were taken. 

There are no menorahs there, 

But light there is, we pray! 

These ancient lights need 

Our imaginings once again. 

 

And so, as we strike the match  

here, 

May they sense the light  

there. 

And as we pray for a miracle  

here, 

May it come to be real  

there. 

 

Amen.  A thousand amens. 

 

 

Shabbat Shalom, everyone.  May it be a Shabbat filled with ancient and new light.