Translated by Janine Muller Sherr
Major Rav Eliav Tourjeman of battalion 551 joined my Chanukah broadcast yesterday while stationed on reserve duty in Gaza. His message was powerful:
“Chanukah gives us the language to describe what is happening now. On Simchat Torah 5784 we witnessed tremendous darkness, and since then we have become “Warriors of Light”— fighting to bring more light into the world.
We are now engaged in a war with an enemy intent on destroying us; on Chanukah, however, the Greeks didn’t want to kill us. They would have allowed us to live, but not to live as Jews! They wanted to destroy our spirit, not our physical existence — the battle was spiritual not physical. Therefore, Chanukah is the celebration of our Jewish identity and spiritual strength.
In almost every house in Gaza, we have seen pictures of the mosques of Al-Quds (the Arabic name of Jerusalem). But we are here representing the Jerusalem of light, life, and holiness. “Banu Choshech Legaresh" —We have come to banish the darkness.”
Happy Chanukah!
