Peace Chanukah: Kindling the lights of peace
CELEBRATED IN TAOS since 2002, Peace Chanukah is an interfaith celebration on the Jewish holiday of Chanukah. Everyone is welcome to participate in this gathering to celebrate peace with representatives from many of our community’s different faith traditions. The evening includes prayer, song, storytelling and the lighting of candles for the traditional Chanukah menorah (or Chanukkiah).
The 19th annual Peace Chanukah takes place Wednesday (Dec. 16) from 5:30 to 7 p.m. online on a Zoom platform. Peace Chanukah is free to attend, but pre-registration is required at taosjewishcenter.org. The Zoom room will open at 5:15 p.m.
Bette Myerson has been one of the main organizers of Peace Chanukah here in Taos. She is the treasurer of
B’Nai Shalom Havurah, one of three Taos organizations sponsoring the event. The other two co-sponsors are the Taos Jewish Center and Taos Interfaith Gathering.
Speaking on the importance of Peace Chanukah, Myerson said, “I really feel we all need to emphasize things we have in common and work together to make this world a better place. This is something that’s very, very near and dear to my heart.”
“2020 has been a very difficult year for everyone,” Myerson noted. “It is especially important that we all gather together and share thoughts, words, songs and prayers to give us hope.”
Facilitating this year’s Peace Chanukah is Rabbi Judith HaLevy. She is the rabbi of the Taos Jewish Center.
The Chanukah story will be told by Rabbi Chava Carp, who will be participating in Peace Chanukah for the first time. Though she now lives in Albuquerque, Rabbi Carp has a long history with the Taos community. She was the spiritual guide for B’Nai Havurah in the early 1980s and was ordained as a rabbi in the Jewish Renewal movement in 1992. During her 18 years in Taos she says she made connections with many Christian churches, the Hanuman Temple and the Lama Foundation.
“We gather together, as a whole community, to bring as much light as we each can carry into the world. This year, light is more important than ever so that we can embrace ourselves, our neighbors and the strangers among us,” said Rabbi Carp.
Debora Seidman will lead the holiday blessings said before lighting the Chanukah menorah. All participants are invited to have a candle or a menorah near them that they can light.
“We invite everyone to light a candle and join us in lighting some light for the world,” said Myerson.
This year’s speakers will share messages of peace from their respective spiritual perspectives. Speakers include Father Mac Brown from Saint James Episcopal Church, Mary Alice Martinez from Taos Pueblo, Habib Chishti (Muslim), Dottie Butler from Clearlight Quaker Fellowship, Rev. Gary Kowalski from the Unitarian Congregation of Taos, Ted Wiard from Golden Willow Retreat Center, Annapurna Sydell from Neem Karoli Baba Ashram, Father Daniel Gutierrez from Our Lady of Guadalupe Church and Rose Gordon (Buddhist).
Singer and guitarist Julie Greer has organized the singing of songs, which will be recorded beforehand and
presented on Zoom so that everyone can sing along from their own location. Handouts with the program and song lyrics will be available beforehand at the Taos Jewish Center website, taosjewishcenter.org.
This is the first year that the Taos Interfaith Gathering has co-sponsored Peace Chanukah. Pastor Cheri Lyon of El Pueblito United Methodist Church, who is part of the spiritual collective, said the purpose of the Taos Interfaith Gathering is “to promote interfaith understanding and mutual respect through building relationships to support the needs of our community in creative and transformative ways.” She said there have been other groups who gathered in previous years with a similar purpose, but that this iteration of a gathering of interfaith communities in Taos began in 2019.
Pastor Lyon said that the group facilitates gatherings of interfaith leaders so that they can share spiritual practices and build relationships to support work in the community. The group hosted a Homeless Memorial Service in December 2019 to honor those homeless Taoseños who had passed away. Taos Interfaith Gathering also supports the Taos Medical Debt Relief Project spearheaded by Reverend Pamela Shepherd of Taos United Community Church.
According to Pastor Lyon, “the Taos Interfaith Gathering is a co-sponsor of Peace Chanukah as we are committed to actively working together to support, promote and engage in peace practices that strengthen the well-being of our community and all creation.”
An important part of Peace Chanukah has always been to collect food and donations for those organizations that feed hungry Taoseños. This year, since Peace Chanukah takes place virtually, its organizers are inviting people to donate directly to the following organizations in Taos:
810 Dillon Lane, Taos, NM taosimmigrantallies.org
facebook.com/sinfronterasnuevomexico
Heart of Taos, P.O. Box 613, Taos, HEARToftaos.org