Counting Down or Counting Up?

There’s a Talmudic teaching that Rabbi Hillel and Rabbi Shammai had differing opinions as to whether we should light the candles in ascending order (from one to eight) or descending order (from eight to one), with each sharing compelling precedents for their opinion.  It’s a debate I generally recall at this time of year not while I check the candle-to-menorah ratio from the Chanukkah bin in the basement, but as I hear children counting down – the days until school vacation, the winter performance, Chanukkah, a relative comes to town, or whatever else is special.  I know those countdowns build excitement.  I also know the countdowns that follow – how many days of winter break are left, for example, usually come with less excitement. 

Ultimately, we light the menorah according to Hillel’s opinion – from one to eight – with the final justification being that we should ascend in holiness, not decrease. 

Rosh Hashanah is our New Year, but December 31^st is still a distinct dividing line in many parts of our civil lives.  I could remind you that URJ Campership applications are due by December 31^st, or that year-end donations to Temple must be received in the office by December 23 to be processed before the office closes from December 25^th-January 1^st, and I imagine each of us has a few other things that bear a late-December due date too and that we too have mental countdowns, albeit potentially without quite as much enthusiasm as young children, that culminate in the next two weeks.

So how will you make the days count?  What will fall between the to-do list of wrapping, cleaning, packing, organizing, and ticking off other tasks on the to-do list?

Don’t miss these bright and joyous celebration—see you there!