INSIDE/OUTSIDE

Mitzvot that regulate our relationships, especially relationships within families, such as a child’s obligations to their parents and a parent’s obligations to their child. The mitzvot of Shabbat, festivals, and learning and teaching Torah are all mitzvot that bring light into a Jewish home.

The mitzvot that regulate society, that contribute to tikkun olam (the redeeming of, or fixing, the world) bring light to the outside world. These are the civil laws, such as tzedaka, environmental laws, and the laws of returning of lost articles.

There is a core principle in Judaism called “kiddush Hashem” that expects a Jew to live their life so that it is a credit to God, and thus model the values of the Torah. We do this by keeping mitzvot for all to see, but also in all other areas of our lives, such as how we treat people. When Jews live their lives as ambassadors of God, they bring light to the outside world.

FROM THE THOUGHT OF RABBI SACKS

Judaism has a unique message for humanity that it transmits through modelling as a nation how to build communities and societies based on the moral and ethical values found in the Torah. This is the national mission of the Jewish people.

The Ḥanukka lights, which must face a window or be lit outside, illuminating the public square, represent the light that Judaism can and must shine on the outside world.

IT ONCE HAPPENED…

Rabbi Sacks often said that non-Jews respect Jews who respect their Judaism, and non-Jews are uncomfortable around Jews who are embarrassed by their Judaism. Ḥanukka is a time when we are proud to take our Judaism into the public space. We are not trying to impose our ideas on the non-Jewish world. We only hope to expose the world to the beauty of Judaism, so that everyone can benefit from its light.