Turn on the Lights.

A few years ago, I was visiting a client of mine at his office and while in the lobby, I noticed that the Menorah (it was the third day of Hanukkah) was lit backwards.  The candles were lit from the left, not the right.  I pointed this out to my friend and client, who turned the Menorah around and then proceeded to tell me this story:

“My first job was as a building engineer here in Cambridge.  I’d never had Jewish friend or anything growing up, so when I saw the Menorah there in our lobby I noticed that a whole bunch of the bulbs looked burned out.  I went to find replacements and came back to fix the situation only to find that the bulbs weren’t burned out at all – there just weren’t screwed in all the way.

“Well, I figured that was just sloppy work, so I went back and screwed the rest of them in.  Problem solved!

“The next day, same thing – most of the bulbs were still out, so I ‘fixed’ it again.

“Finally someone explained the whole thing to me, so I get it right now.  Except for which direction it starts, I guess.”

The sun sets at just past 4pm here now, and the cold is definitely creeping in.  Hanukkah – among other things – reminds us that light will continue to come back into our lives if we wait long enough.  And for now, the 7th night, we only have one broken light left…

Chris Steele is a husband and a father of 2 children in the Newton Public School system.  He is also an economic and community development consultant as well as an activist and volunteer.  You can contact him at steelch@yahoo.com