True strength always was inside of a tired tribe of believers who still remember how to sing.

Hallelujah is the wordless sound a soul makes when it chooses God even while trembling.

A broken heart lives inside of a whole, complete heart. Only always, never not.

Essence never needed protection. Essence IS protection. Only the forgetting of it does.

In each metaphorical or actual night and time of darkness for this world, the light grows - not because the world improves, but because we do. We learn how to add, grow, rise when everything says be scarce, be quiet, be small.

Humankind. Humans becoming more kind. That is the only antidote for anything other than that.

This is Jewish hope, this is human hope.

On Chanukah we light candles for what lasted longer than it "should" have (if we were to try and make sense of it with our minds). We light for courage that lives beyond reason. For faith that did not ever wait to feel safe to BE-lieve. We light for faith that remembers - it IS safety itself, and holds the fear inside of its cocoon, allowing it to feel what it feels, every single day.

When I heard this song tonight at the beautiful concert, I felt that declaration: We are still here. We are still singing. And the light - the light is winning.

So we light for the ancestors who chose God when it cost them everything, and for the children who will inherit a world still bright enough to live for... Infinitely brighter. Children who will know how to pray, grieve, believe, Be, play, and stay human and kind.

This is Jewish strength: To feel and Be with and Be human and allow Being. And to build a tomorrow with a fire and a blessing and an open heart.

To sing hallelujah not after the victory, but inside it all.

We are luminous. We know how to pray. We are a miracle. And we are still here, for Eternity. In the Now... The only moment that exists.

Happy Chanukah, night number 2. Hallelujah ✨️🤍