At the end of such a difficult and intense week, after turbulent events, and above all, the horrific terror attack at Bondi Beach in Sydney, I draw strength from a small, innocent, and sweet child named Beni.
Seven-year-old Beni attends a public elementary school in Basel, and on Sundays he studies at JUDA, the Jewish Sunday school founded by my colleagues Rabbi Motti and Sara Gruzman at Chabad of Basel.
His mother told me that at the public school, the teacher was teaching the children about the Christian holiday approaching at the end of December. Beni raised his hand and said, “I don’t celebrate that holiday. I celebrate Chanukah.”
When the teacher asked what Chanukah is, Beni proudly and innocently explained everything he had learned at JUDA.
The teacher did not stop there, but asked that Beni’s mother and father come to explain to the entire class what Chanukah is. “And now, because of you, I have to prepare a Chanukah program for Beni’s whole class,” the mother concluded with a smile of joy and Jewish pride.
That’s our story. We simply keep moving forward, one Beni, and then another Beni.
Shabbat Shalom, a good month, and a happy Chanukah,
Rabbi Zalman Wishedski