RABBI SIMEON KOLKO The light of freedom continues to glow

Today, Jews the world over are celebrating the first day of Hanukkah, the festival that commemorates the struggle for religious liberty and represents the triumph of the few against the many, the innocent against the guilty, the pure of heart against the arrogant.
In reflecting on the contemporary meaning of Hanukkah, two thoughts come to mind. Hanukkah continues to stir our religious and spiritual imagination because successive generations have grasped the opportunity to interpret its significance and meaning in light of pressing current concerns. When the Israelites found themselves coming terms with the loss of national sovereignty after the destruction of the Second Temple, the Rabbis of the Talmud interpreted the meaning of Hanukkah in such a way as to stress the spiritual aspect of the miracle of the oil burning for eight days. They ignored the military aspect of the Hanukkah story because they needed to provide the people with a framework for accepting the possibility of a creative and vibrant Jewish existence in the Diaspora.
Similarly, Israeli leaders have seized upon the Hanukkah story as providing a historical framework for appreciating the current struggle of Israel to defend itself against those bent on its destruction. In the United States, liberal Jews such as Peter Yarrow, in his classic song "Light One Candle," understand the message of Hanukkah as being the warning that we never become our own foes, that the quest for survival must never become an end in itself.
Freedom issues
The other salient point about Hanukkah is that it speaks to issues and concerns that are at the core of the quest of freedom seeking people everywhere. Properly understood, the miracle of Hanukkah is the story of the fight for freedom and justice being waged by people of good will on behalf of those denied basic human rights. It reflects the quest of Israel to assert its fundamental right to live in normalcy, free of the scourge of terrorism and the cowardice of suicide bombers.
It also encompasses the quest of Palestinians to eke out an existence in which the basic ingredients of human dignity are granted them by those on both sides of the equation who have denied them these sacred commodities for too long. It speaks to those in Iraq who are seeking to forge the path to a more hopeful future.
This past week witnessed the capture of the infamous dictator Saddam Hussein. The significance of his capture, without putting up resistance and finally submitting to the bar of human justice that surely awaits him, has been lost on no one. Stripped of the infrastructure of fear and tyranny that propped him up for so long, he has been reduced to the level of shame that he so richly deserves.
Make no mistake about it. The quest to defeat Saddam, the insistence that free people the world over have a basic obligation to help create the conditions for the spread and success of freedom in Iraq, is a mandate which flows inexorably from an accurate reading of the Hanukkah story. Its message for us today must embolden freedom loving people to perceive a more hopeful vision, to appreciate the bonds that link us together, and to insist on the possibility that darkness and despair will ultimately be overcome.
XRabbi Simeon Kolko is the rabbi at Beth Israel Temple Center in Warren. Hanukkah is the eight-day commemoration of the re-dedication of the Jewish temple by the Maccabees after their defeat of the Syrians.