What Hanukkah means to me: One UNC physician’s perspective

This post was written by Adam Goldstein, M.D., M.P.H, from the Department of Family Medicine in the UNC School of Medicine.

Hanukkah, the Jewish Holiday of Lights, starts Friday evening, December 11th and runs for eight nights.

A menorah and special foods are part of the Hanukkah tradition.

Hanukkah is a joyous holiday for Jewish people around the world, celebrated with lighting an increasing number of the 9 candles each night of the menorah, or candelabra.  With the singing of songs, with the tradition of playing games of a spinning top, or dreidel, with the tradition of eating fried potato pancakes, Jews celebrate the successful rededication of the second Jewish temple, liberated from Roman desecration and occupation 2,100 years ago by the Maccabees, Jewish freedom fighters of the second century BCE.

The themes of Hanukkah are ones that resonate to both Jews and non-Jews
worldwide: Fighting for liberty, fighting for religious freedom, fighting for tolerance, and fighting for the preservation of culture.
The believe in the miraculous and hope for a better world underly Hanukkah, represented by oil that should not have lasted for more than one day when Jews re-entered the Temple, but somehow, it lasted 8 days.

Thus, unlike most Jewish holidays that occur predominantly inside the home or synagogue, Jews are commanded on Hanukkah to “light the menorah” publicly, in open spaces and windows, to show the world that we must constantly move the world to a better place, join together to fight oppression of all people outwardly, or to resist the inward struggles that can enslave us daily, such as greed, jealousy, pride, or power.

As a UNC physician, this time of year has special meaning to me, because so often I see patients of mine that are depressed, facing layoffs, unemployment, and rising medical bills. Anxiety sets in when people lose faith, in themselves and their community.

Hanukkah teaches me to reach out to my patients with an extra attentive ear, to offer encouraging words, to help people see hope where it is dim.  The Hanukkah lights reaffirm the value of life and living that we know is always precious but sometimes forget in the day to day struggle for food or medicine.

All of us, patients and physicians, struggle at times. This time of year, when holidays bring pressure for gifts or additional spending, we must remember that the patient-doctor relationship is one place that can reaffirm the highest spiritual or health aspirations we seek.

Dr. Goldstein is a professor in the UNC School of Medicine, a family physician and co-host of the Here’s to Your Health radio show.