Hanukkah: Igniting Small Change For Long Term Impact
Hanukkah teaches how small things can have huge impact. A single cruse of oil becomes the fuel for a miracle that stills speaks the message of religious liberation thousands of years later. A small group of fiery zealots leads a revolt that shifts the politics of a whole region and becomes a focal point in the identity of a people.
Today, a few women speak out and that triggers a social and cultural earthquake that may change the character of whole industries and cause a dramatic shift in consciousness for both men and women. In another instance, a historically disenfranchised minority votes and tips the scales of an election in which so much was at stake.
At The Jewish Education Project we’ve believed that introducing important ideas to a relatively small number of people can result in educational transformation. This year's Jewish Futures Conference set out to do just that. People came up to me at the end of the day and said this conference tackled an issue that too many people have been ignoring. If it works as planned, ripple effects could be profound.
Education is all about small changes. An education is earned over time. Now and again it feels as if we are illuminated by a sudden revelation, the classic “aha moment,” but rest assured, there was a lot of history or prior learning behind that sudden flash of insight.
There is the famous story of Rabbi Akiva at age 40 out in the fields with his sheep when he sees a stone that has been drilled through by a small but steady little rivulet of water. The revelation that something as soft and minimal as tiny stream of water could pierce solid rock set him on his path late in life to become the greatest scholar and most influential rabbinic leader of his time. Paradoxically, he had a life-changing revelation of the power of small but steady steps.
Hanukkah is not a theologically or conceptually complex holiday. It is minor (another emblem of smallness) in the cannon, yet it is one of the most popular and durable of our celebrations. May yours be joyous and filled with the little lights that sustain us and inspire us to take small steps that make a big difference.
