As we are about to enter the eight, light-filled days of Chanukah, I find myself returning to a personal story shared by Rabbi Minna Bromberg, a fellow Hebrew College alumna and the founder of Fat Torah. In her moving reflection in a blog post, “A Miracle of Fat”, Rabbi Bromberg recalls a moment of joy, a Chanukah party for preschoolers, that was ruined by the sting of a fatphobic comment, masquerading as a funny remark. This “joke,” intended perhaps as lighthearted, landed as a painful reminder that even in our most joyful communal spaces, fatphobia can lurk, undermining belonging, joy, and dignity.

Within this personal story, there is a deeper truth waiting to be reclaimed. Rabbi Bromberg reminds us that fat is not something to hide or fear, but something that has been central to our Jewish story from the very beginning. Our holiday foods — latkes, sufganiyot, the shimmering oil itself — point us toward a spiritual truth: that our bodies are miracles, that sustenance can come from places others might overlook, and that joy is a mitzvah we are called to reclaim. As the blog reflects, “Chanukah is, in fact, a holiday that celebrates fat as that which sustains and renews us.”

To celebrate Chanukah this year means more than lighting candles. It means standing in solidarity with all bodies, especially those marginalized, shamed, or erased, and insisting that every body deserves belonging. It means rejecting the small voice of internalized stigma and instead echoing the call of liberation and love.

That is precisely the vision of Rabbi Bromberg’s new book Every Body Beloved: A Jewish Embrace of Fatness, which reveals to us that our tradition, our stories, and our holidays all can become sources of healing. She invites us to imagine communities in which bodies are not judged but valued, in which fatness is not demonized but honoured, and in which every person, as they are, is welcomed fully.

As we kindle each flame this Chanukah, may we rededicate ourselves, like the Maccabees before us, to courage, liberation, and the radical belief that every human being is created b’tzelem Elohim, in the image of God.

Wishing you a Chanukah filled with light, joy, and the miracle of being fully, beautifully you.

Shabbat Shalom and Chag Urim Sameach,

Cantor Audrey