Mem – kaf – bet – yod – – the first letters of the first four words of the prayer mi chamocha. Today our religious school principal helped our students made the connection between the letters and the Macabee family so integral to the Hanukkah story. Miracles in the past – the splitting of the sea, the choice of Jews to stand up for Judaism and the joys that Judaism adds to our lives, the survival of our people despite an Amalek in every generation, and the smaller miracles of the Jewish growth of young people (despite their desire to absent themsevles from religious school emotionally if not physically).

During these darkest days of the year (in the Northern hemisphere) I pray that we find light, hope and the daily miracles around us.