Finding Faith in Moments of Darkness

This class will study a sermon for Hanukkah delivered in the Warsaw Ghetto in 1941 by Rabbi Kalonymus Kalman Shapira, the Piaseczner Rebbe. The sermon asks how we maintain faith when going through difficult times, whether individually or as a nation. Rabbi Shapira weaves together the Hanukkah story, the oppression he and his followers are enduring, and a wide variety of rabbinic texts to give a framework for holding onto faith and purpose in the midst of darkness. The class will focus both on analysis of R. Shapira's sermon and a discussion of how his ideas about faith and suffering are similar or different from our own. All texts will be provided in translation. Artwork: Child’s Drawing of Hanukkah in Terezin - Helga Weissova (b. 1929), Hannukkah in the Attic L410, 1943 . . . Rabbi Michael Fraade is a home hospice chaplain at Beth Israel Lahey Health at Home. Born in Connecticut, he was raised in a family that fostered his love of Judaism from an early age. In the past he has worked as a farmer and Jewish outdoor educator in the south; learned Torah at a variety of progressive yeshivas including Hadar, Yashrut, and Pardes; and volunteered with nonprofits focused on food justice, reproductive rights, and Jewish communal life. He was ordained by Hebrew College in 2024, and previously worked as a chaplain at Massachusetts General Hospital. Michael’s interests include being outside, Talmud, cooking, sports, dogs, and ancient Israelite agriculture. He lives in Cambridge, MA with his wife, Rabbi Jenn Queen, their son Ezra, and their dog Priya.