When Hopes Seems Lost

Enter the Chanukah Miracle

Chanukkah began as a military holiday celebrating the capture and rededication of the Jerusalem Temple around 160 C.E.

About 200 years later, however, the Temple was destroyed by the Romans.

Some Jewish leaders of the period said Chanukkah should be abolished. Since the Temple was destroyed, how can we celebrate its rededication?

The answer lay in one of the most profound truth of faith: hope. While the Temple was destroyed, God was not. Hope was not.

Hope is not blind optimism. It is faithfulness, confidence, and vision, combined with a determination to act. 

Hope is the conviction that what was once destroyed can be rebuilt. Hope is not only about one person or one nation. It is about each of us.