2 min read
It would be impossible to ignore the darkness the Jewish world has faced in recent times, particularly since October 7. However, as we lit the Chanukah candles, we watched the tiny flames, dancing effortlessly on our windowsills, shining outward and proudly, inviting us to celebrate miracles, resilience and joy.
The horrific attack in Sydney shook so many of us, as did the Manchester attack on Yom Kippur. We are here in another moment that was meant to be filled with Jewish pride and celebration.
Whilst it is hard to speak about joy when so many of us are grieving, anxious, or simply exhausted by the relentlessness of it all, this is precisely why Chanukah matters so deeply. It is the story of people refusing to let darkness define them. It is a festival about courage in impossible times and about our community who dared to kindle that light, even when the world around them looked hopeless. Sharing this story and ensuring as many people as possible see our candle-lighting shows the world that we, as Jews, live on and thrive. That message has never felt closer to WIZO’s mission were spreading our desire for light cuts across Israeli society.
Every day, I am reminded that WIZO’s work in Israel and the sparks of hope are not abstract. They are lived, real and transformative. They appear in the most practical of places: in a day-care centre offering safety and stability to a child whose home life has been shattered; in a therapeutic session, where a teenage girl learns that her voice matters, or in a women’s shelter, where the simple ability to sleep without fear is a miracle in its own right. I have seen for myself on missions, that these are not just services, they are lifelines. They are modern manifestations of the oil that keeps burning long after the world says it should have run out.
October 7 has only deepened the needs of WIZO, working with displaced families, traumatised women and children experiencing anxiety.
WIZO has helped communities struggling to rebuild their sense of safety. On a recent trip, I was taken with how services have been stepped up to expand trauma support, adapting educational programmes, creating emergency frameworks for mothers and babies, and strengthening the infrastructure of care that so many Israelis rely on.
It is impossible not to feel heartened when you witness the bravery of those who walk through WIZO’s doors from the service users to the dedicated staff.
Stories of mother’s escaping violence and being able to trust again and the positive changes a teenager experiences from being angry and closed off to being excited about their future, are due to the care, love and support of WIZO. It doesn’t erase the darkness but punctures it and shows us that even in the bleakest moments, there are people in our orbit who insist on building, healing and nurturing life.
This year, when I lit the candles with my family, I thought of the children in WIZO day-care centres being given expert trauma therapy; I thought of the girls in our youth villages who are setting and smashing their goals; I thought of women who were told education wasn’t for them and are now graduating with degrees. Their courage is a flame worth protecting.
WIZO’s work is not theoretical. It is the everyday miracle that keeps children in Israel safe, supports women in crisis and strengthens Israel’s diverse social fabric. A reminder that despair does not have the final word.
This Chanukah, we honoured those harmed in Sydney by refusing to dim ourselves, and may we continue, together, to create the sparks of hope our world so urgently needs.
Danielle Shane is the chair of WIZO UK
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