Give Light

Back by popular demand, the intergenerational power duo, Emmy Award-winning writer, director, producer Ann Druyan and her equally illuminating daughter, author Sasha Sagan join us for the 8th night of Hanukkah. On this night of miracles, they remind us of the awe and wonder of scientific discovery through the ages.

Rooted to the earth by the light of the flame, with shooting stars fading in and out of the night sky, Laurie Anderson muses on light, its absence, and faith in its presence, even when sensed but not visible.

Artists have employed light as metaphor throughout time. Shakespeare scholar and actor, Dr. James Allen Jones, takes us into the mind of Shakespeare’s Othello. In this intimate moment, Dr. Jones draws a parallel between the miracle witnessed by Judah Maccabee in the beloved Hanukkah story, and the guidance given by the Duke of Venice to Othello in Shakespeare’s classic play. Both moments of revelation symbolized with the power of light.

“Lessons from the Lockdown” is an animation-meditation with music, words and pictures from Rebecca Odes and Christopher Noxon and inspiration and organization from Beth Karlin. The project grew out of conversations during the pandemic lock-down. The short film offers eight points of reflection to light our way through the darkness, with narration by the Reverend RK Smith of Dexter Avenue Church in Montgomery Alabama.

Roger Bennett of Men in Blazers fame, Reboot’s co-founder and former Hanukkah cynic shares how soccer – the most beautiful game – provided a new appreciation for what he long considered an overblown holiday. As he sees (English) football as a light in the darkness of the pandemic, he sees Hanukkah as the light in the darkness of winter. And when he lights his candles this year, he will do it with gratitude and awe, love for his family and of course David Beckham.

Guided by her practice of moving meditation to process lived experience and give shape to the intentions and hopes she  has for the world, Olivia Guterson, along with fellow Jewish artist Laura Earle, designed and constructed solar-powered, recycled paper lanterns to shine light on the homeless situation in Detroit.Their interpretation of growth, resilience, and hope is embedded in the pattern of the lanterns. The lanterns served as beacons of light, beauty, hope and a reminder that there are no throw-away people or resources.