“This people of mine, this nation of mine, has been such a light to me.”
This week, as Jews around the world celebrate the eight days of Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, these words are fitting, aren’t they?
“In this holiday of lights, I just wish for one miracle. For the hostages to come home and the war to end…”
These words, spoken with both sadness and hope, perfectly summarize how all of us here in the Holy Land are feeling, as we enter the holiday season.
With Hanukkah this year coming at the same time as Christmas, it is a wonderful reminder for us all—Christians and Jews— that God’s light continues to shine through the darkness, and He continues to perform wondrous miracles which we still witness, and pray for, each day.
While Hanukkah commemorates the miracle of oil that lasted for eight days, it also celebrates the miraculous victory of a small rag-tag group of Jews, known as the Maccabees, over a much more powerful enemy who was trying to destroy their faith. The story of Hanukkah is a story of survival. It’s a story of heroism. And it’s a story of miraculous victory—of light over darkness, freedom over oppression.
This season of light and miracles is also a poignant reminder that the people of Israel are now more than 400 days into a battle for our very survival. Like last year, we observe Hanukkah against a backdrop of war, suffering, and loss. And as we have for thousands of years, we continue to defend our land and our faith, and trust that God will bless us with victory. With survival.
This Hanukkah, I want to share with you eight incredible stories of Jewish heroes whose lives have inspired and encouraged me during this season of darkness. All eight of their stories bring light to the darkness, and the miracles they experienced bring me hope this Hanukkah. I pray they will bring you light and hope, too.
Today, I share the extraordinary stories of Benni Shukroon and Rabbi Yigal Tzipori, whose faithful devotion to feeding Israel’s neediest during a time of war has inspired my own faith. Benni has been a cook at the Beit Betya Soup Kitchen in Kiryat Shmona, a town in northern Israel just miles from the Lebanese border.
Since the war started, the Beit Betya soup kitchen, managed by Rabbi Tzipori and supported by the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, has prepared and served more than 1,000 meals each day. And while many in this area have left or been evacuated because of the constant threat of war, the soup kitchen has stayed open because of what they call their sacred obligation to feed the needy who cannot leave.
Earlier this year, the unthinkable happened. Rockets began exploding nearby. Benni ran for the bomb shelter, which miraculously saved his life as a rocket hit the roof of the soup kitchen. As he climbed out of the bomb shelter to survey the damage, Benni then heard cries from across the street. The house of an elderly couple who eat at the soup kitchen every day had suffered a direct hit in the rocket attack.
With little regard for his own safety, Benni rushed into the house, where thanks to their own bomb shelter and God’s divine protection, Avraham and Zahava survived. After helping the couple escape from the rubble of their home, Benni immediately returned to the soup kitchen to keep serving food to the needy.
Much like the miracle of the olive oil lasting eight days on that first Hanukkah, despite having only one working oven, Benni and those at the Beit Betya Soup Kitchen faithfully continued to provide 1,000 meals to embattled Israelis, like Avraham and Zahava, who without the soup kitchen would have nothing to eat.
This Hanukkah, Rabbi Tzipori hopes for a world where “we all live in harmony, that good prevails for all nations, that redemption comes, and that all people unite. All of this will come through good deeds.”
It is these miracles of good deeds, faith, and light shining through the darkness that brings much-needed hope to me right now. And that’s the message of Hanukkah. When it looks like there is no hope left, you do what you can to be a light. You remain faithful and continue to serve others no matter the circumstances, as Benni and Rabbi Tzipori did that day and every day since.
Their story is also a poignant reminder that the people of Israel continue to suffer as they fight against the darkness of terrorism. Now more than ever, they need your prayers and support. During this holiest time of year, I ask our Christian friends continue to light the way for their Jewish brothers and sisters. Together, like the Maccabees, we can overcome our enemies and conquer darkness with the light of faith.
Yael Eckstein is President and CEO of The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, one of the world's largest religious charitable organizations. The Jerusalem Post's 2023 Humanitarian Award recipient and 4-time honoree on its 50 Most Influential Jews list, Yael is a Chicago-area native based in Israel with her husband and their four children.