Chanukah represents the ultimate symbol of Jewish hopefulness
Not only silly, but a vice: “Optimism and pessimism are both dangerous vices, because they are both invitations to passivity.”
“Hope,” by way of contrast, “is a virtue, and so it sits between those vices [i.e., optimism and pessimism]. It tells us things could go well and invites us to take action that might help make that happen and might make us worthy of it happening.”
It occurs to me that Jews are the exemplars of hope. We have always followed the advice contained in Chizkiyahu Hamelech’s dismissal of the prophet Yeshayahu, “Even if a sharp sword is on his neck, he should not despair of Divine mercy” (Berachos 10a).
Without hope, Jewish survival throughout the millennia is inexplicable. Without belief in a beneficent G-d, Who has a plan for the world, which He will bring to fruition, we could never have endured what we have and remained intact.
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