Rabbi and author Michael Lerner offers Chanukah greetings, and reflects on the Chanukah reading from Zechariah, "in which God reveals a central message of Judaism: Not by might, and not by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord who has ultimate power."

So he ponders the need for breaking the cycles of violence between Israel and the Palestinians. "So this year," he concludes, "we truly need a miracle" among all the peoples of the world.

But what will we be celebrating?

The Talmudic rabbis worried that the celebration would miss its mark by focusing on the military victory of the Maccabees. So they chose for the Haftorah for Shabbat of Chanukah the selection from the prophet Zechariah in which God reveals a central message of Judaism:

Not by might, and not by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord who has ultimate power.

It seems almost impossible to hear this still small voice of the Jewish tradition at a moment when our world is rejoicing over its power. Every night on t.v. we see images of the U.S. bombing and destroying the enemy and patriots shouting for joy. I have no sympathy for the Taliban, rejoice that they will no longer be in a position to oppress women and spout their anti-Semitic hatred, and will be delighted to see its leaders brought to justice. But I also know that millions of Afghannis are facing starvation, and that what we are offering to do to offset that is very little compared to what we do to show our military might.

What a different world it would be if we were to act with dedication to saving human life. What a different world it would be if the US were to announce a global Marshall plan to eliminate all hunger and poverty-related diseases.

But we have not learned that the anger which brought the attacks of Sept 11th had everything to do with our insensitivity to the pain of people around the world. We have not yet learned that it is the spirit of economic and political justice combined with love and open-hearted generosity that will provide us with the best chance of security.

So, too, Israel has not yet learned the lesson of Chanukah. I share the mourning of our people for the horror of recent Hamas terror. But for fifteen years I and others have warned our people that their only safety and security would come from withdrawal from the Occupation, dismantling of settlements, and reparations to refugees.

Instead, Israel has increased its power and settlements--but this has not brought increased security, but increased suffering of the Palestinian people which then results in increased suicide bombings.

In the week before the latest set of terror activities, Israel assassinated one of the leaders of Hamas. Of course they knew that Hamas would respond with new terror attacks. In fact, it is reasonable to assert that there is a covert alliance between Hamas and Ariel Sharon: both want the PLO destroyed. Sharon wants to be able to eliminate the PLO's insistence on negotiations leading to a Palestinian state--he has never wanted such a state, and his interests would be far better served by a Palestine dominated by Hamas (he could use their terrorism as adequate excuse to re-occupy all of the West Bank and create many more new settlements and once and for all make any kind of Palestinian state impossible). Hamas would be delighted to have Sharon eliminate the Palestinian Authority, so that the fundamentalists would become the dominant power in Palestine--and they would be willing to endure another 20 or 30 years of Israeli rule, certain that eventually they will get the weapons and power to destroy the Western infidels.

The only path out of this is for Israelis to open their hearts to the Palestinian people and for Palestinians to do the same for Israelis. But both sides have the fantasy that power is what will save them.

So this year, we truly need a miracle. We need the spirit of Chanukah, the spirit of the message of Zechariah, to permeate the peoples of the world. May God bring us this miracle.

Blessings and Happy Chanukah.

Rabbi Michael Lerner

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