*The Sufganiyah and the Dreidel: How to Look at Life* |
Hanukkah teaches us to look beyond what is on the outside and to focus on what is inside. Two familiar symbols—the sufganiyah and the dreidel—offer a clear lesson about life, guided by HaKadosh Baruch Hu.
The Sufganiyah
By way of derash, the word sufganiyah can be read as sof–gan–Yah—“the end of the Garden of G-d.” After Adam and Chava left Gan Eden, they entered a world that is no longer perfect. The sufganiyah helps us reflect on that world.
Like the sufganiyah, the world is round and complete. It has an outside and an inside. If we do not handle it carefully, it can become messy. But the most important part is not the outside—it is what is inside.
Life works the same way. The outside consists of work, responsibilities, stress, and daily worries. We cannot avoid it.........