The holidays can be a particularly difficult time for anyone dealing with grief, like Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg. This past year, she lost her beloved husband. In a Facebook post she wrote yesterday for the start of Hanukkah, Sandberg briefly reflected on the tough year.
But she didn’t just lament her losses, she wrote about hope–and how hope is intrinsically part of Jewish culture. This is something we can all remember especially during Hanukkah as the year comes to a close, and we begin to go forward into a new one. Sandberg stated in her post:
READ: Sheryl Sandberg Opens Up About Mourning Her Late Husband
“My children and I just lit the candles that mark the beginning of Hanukkah, the festival of lights. The story of Hanukkah is one of hope: after returning to find their temple in Jerusalem destroyed, the Maccabees found a flask with only enough oil to light a candle for a single night—and yet it burned for a full eight nights.
After such a difficult year, including the violent events in California last week, it sometimes feels like we are surrounded by darkness. This Hanukkah, let us all try to remember the triumph of light, and that there can be unexpected miracles in the hardest times.”
What I particularly found thoughtful about her post is the fact that she mentioned the violent events in San Bernardino last week, illustrating that we all collectively feel and experience pain. And in this way, we can all collectively support each other through our suffering, which is the true miracle of Hanukkah.
