In what would only make sense as an apocalyptical Sci-Fi flick gone bad, our world appears to be crumbling all around us. It's been a long string of painful misfortune perhaps stretching back to the dissolution of the great American economy to the weakening of all global markets. There was tragedy; Mumbai. There was scandal; Blagojevich. And then there was Bernie Madoff. Some thinkers claim to understand why man-made disasters tend to occur as a "series of unfortunate events." We are not prophets and we are not given the pristine clarity of some of the visionaries of time gone by. However, when we do face challenging events we must react.

Chanukah began last night on the 25th of Kislev (the date on the Hebrew Calendar). The Maharal notes that this date is one of the days of the year with the most minutes of darkness. On Chanukah our task is to find illumination from within the darkness. How we are impacted may be up to us but we must be open and ready to explore the life lesson embedded in the evil. The economic crash might remind us that G-d is in control, Mumbai might teach us that terror in the name of G-d is sacrilegious, and other events might guide us to emphasize giving to others over taking from others. There is a law that the flame of the Chanukah candles cannot be used for anything other than the Mitzvah itself. Why is that? In a world with so much darkness - we need to preserve light, preserve inspiration, and use any moment - even the most dark - as a vehicle for goodness in this world.