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\\tThis morning has been so beautiful, so joyful, just what we needed. Daniel\\u2019s Bar Mitzvah. Eli\\u2019s Bar Mitzvah. Ronna\\u2019s birthday. Elizabeth\\u2019s naming, three generations of love.

\\tAnd the reason it is especially joyful is that things have been so dark. Eight weeks of war later, with no clear end in sight, we don\\u2019t know when it\\u2019s going to end, we don\\u2019t know how it\\u2019s going to end, it\\u2019s dark. What the hostages who have been freed have reported about their captivity, what they had to endure, is dark. The hostages who have not been freed, what they and their families are going through, is dark. The hostages who have been murdered, dark. The resumption of war, and what that means for Israelis who are now in battle, and for Gazans who are caught in the crossfire, who have been so ill served by Hamas, is dark. What do with do with all this darkness?

\\tI have wrestled with this darkness. I have found two positions that are not helpful.

\\tI have tried disconnecting from the heartbreak. Not reading the news. Following only sports stories. But I know that is not okay.

\\tAnd I have fallen into a rabbit hole, following the news obsessively, worrying all the time, not sleeping through the night. That doesn\\u2019t help anybody.

\\tIs there a way to engage the darkness without becoming dark? Is there a way to engage this depressing reality without becoming depressed? Is there a way to follow a story that generates heart ache and heart break every day without falling into a rabbit hole?

\\tThe holiday of Hanukkah offers us some helpful insight here.