Chanukah and 2025: Reflections

As Chanukah draws to a close, with the final candles now lit and the menorahs gently extinguished for another year, this feels like a natural moment to pause and reflect - not only on the festival just passed, but on the year of 2025 as a whole.

Chanukah is a story of resilience, continuity and quiet defiance. It reminds us that Jewish survival has never depended on overwhelming power, but on commitment, identity and the determination to keep a flame alive even when circumstances are difficult. As the last lights fade, their message lingers - and it resonates strongly with the experiences many of us have carried through this year.

Holding Light Through a Difficult Year

For Jewish communities across the UK and beyond, 2025 has not been an easy year. Ongoing global events, rising antisemitism, and a heightened sense of vulnerability have weighed heavily on many people. For some, Jewish identity has felt more visible and more scrutinised than ever before.

Yet Chanukah reminds us that light does not need to be loud to be powerful. Throughout this year, the Derbyshire Jewish Community has shown resilience in quieter but no less meaningful ways - by checking in on one another, by showing up, by continuing to gather, celebrate and live Jewishly even when doing so felt harder than it should.

Community in Practice

As a relatively small but growing community, Derbyshire Jewry has demonstrated that strength is not measured in numbers alone. Over the course of 2025, we have marked festivals together, supported one another through personal milestones and challenges, and continued to build a sense of belonging in a county without a permanent synagogue but with a very real Jewish presence.

Chanukah this year was not just about lighting candles, but about affirming identity. Every menorah lit in a Derbyshire home was a statement of continuity - that Jewish life here is lived, valued and enduring.

Looking Forward After the Lights

As Chanukah ends, the challenge is to carry its lessons forward without the visible reminder of the candles. The task now is to keep that light alive in our actions - through kindness, solidarity and care for one another - as we move into the year ahead.

2025 has tested us, but it has also shown what community can look like when people choose connection over withdrawal and hope over despair. As we turn the page into the coming year, may we continue to nurture a Derbyshire Jewish Community that is supportive, confident and rooted in shared responsibility.

The candles may be out, but the light remains.

Chag Chanukah Sameach - and onward with strength.