 All right. Happy Hanukkah, everybody. Welcome. Hanukkah together, the festival of lights. It might be cold and windy on the outside, but inside our hearts are warm and glowing. It's a wonderful sight to see so many people here gathering together to celebrate Hanukkah. My name is Drazy Unik and I'm a proud to be a native Vermonter. I am the co-program director at Chabadah Vermont Jewish Community Center and founder of Tamim Academy, Vermont's first and only holistic Jewish elementary school. As we prepare to kindle these holy lights, we pay tribute to the heroes of long ago, the Maccabees, whose courage and refusal to surrender in the face of terrible and overwhelming odds blaze the trail for the survival of the Jewish people and the freedom to practice our faith. Not so long ago, these lights of Hanukkah were forced into hiding. In the darkest corners of the world, in the camps during the Holocaust, countless Jews braved death to kindle flames of hope and light during Hanukkah. In the Soviet Union, Jews hid behind closed doors and drawn curtains to light a menorah. Today, we stand here, free to celebrate our cherished traditions, not only in our home, but as a community in a public celebration. We kindle the menorah out in the open with the official blessings of this country and the participation of its elected officials. The word Hanukkah is rooted in the word Chinook, which translates as education. As we ignite the lights of the menorah, let us remember that each flame represents a soul, another person, who we are brightening and lifting. Hanukkah is a time for us to reflect on the importance of educating and instilling our traditions and values into the next generation. Each one of us can be a shamish, the tallest candle whose mission is to light the other candles to increase more light, joy, and hope in terror communities every single day. We are honored to have with us here tonight, Justice William Cohen, and Associate Justice of the Ramon Supreme Court. Please join us in welcoming Justice William as he shares a Hanukkah message with us. Thank you, Governor Scott, Rabbi Zunek, Raskin, Weisman, and all distinguished guests who are here tonight. I'm honored to be here today to help celebrate Hanukkah and to wish you all happy holiday season. My name is Bill Cohen. I'm a Justice in the Ramon Supreme Court. I grew up in Rutland, where my family made up a percentage of a small but tight knit Jewish community, and where many of my family members remain involved in the Rutland Jewish community today. In thinking about what to say today, I was struck on the dual concepts of the legal field of the letter of the law, which goes to what the law literally says, compared to the spirit of law, which goes to what law means to say. The Hebrew word of Hanukkah, I don't mean to disagree with you, literally translates to dedication in English. But in spirit, Hanukkah in my mind means more about resiliency of the Jewish people. The Maccabees survival and rededication of the temple speak to the larger aspect of the resiliency inherent within the Jewish culture that is exemplified by the way that this holiday has been celebrated, essentially the same way every year for over 2,200 years, despite repeated attempts to prevent us from doing so. The tradition associated with Jewish holidays are so important to our culture and to our religion, and as a great tribute that the state of Vermont is recognizing this holiday. The spirit of the Maccabees lives on today in so many ways. I had the opportunity this summer to watch the Maccabees games in Israel, which is generally considered to be the Jewish Olympics. 10,000 Jewish athletes from all over the world, including significant delegations from South America, Australia, Europe, and the United States competed in a variety of events, including one Vermont runner who happened to be my daughter. It was such a lovely and such a joy to watch Jews from six continents march together and engage in friendly competition, knowing that similar simple act of joyfully gathering was really an act of dedication to community and resilience against hatred. I've similarly found unwavering dedication and resilience within the values of Vermont and Vermonters, from the brave fighters of the Civil War, a depiction of which you can see and be found in the famous painting hanging in the State House right behind us, to the people from the small state who made extreme sacrifices through this country's freedom in both world wars. Vermonters have dedicated themselves to public service and shown resistance against a variety of obstacles. Their spirit lives on in all state employees who ensure Vermonters today are provided access to resources and services and when needed, justice through the courts. I'm proud to work with many remarkable people who share those values of dedication to the work and resilience in the face of challenges and I thank you all for allowing me to be here tonight. Thank you so much, Justice Cohen. I would now like to call upon Rabani Tobi Weisman, a proud Montpelier resident, director of Jewish Communities of Vermont and a co-organizer of tonight's program. Tobi is dedicated to all the Jewish organizations in this state and continues to be instrumental in bringing Jews together to explore our traditions and build joyous community. Thank you, Tracy. It's overwhelmingly wonderful to be here again. It's usually 15 degrees or below or snowing or blizzarding and it's a wonderful, wonderful feeling to be here together with so many Jews and friends of Jews tonight. I would like to sincerely thank Governor Phil Scott and Supreme Court Justice William Cohen and the entire State House staff for welcoming the Jewish community tonight to the State House on the third night of Hanukkah. So I agree with Tracy and Justice Bill Cohen that Hanukkah actually means dedication and education. So our sages teach us not to focus on the miraculous victory of Hanukkah, but on the spiritual one where one cruise of oil, a fuel oil was found to light the menorah and instead of lasting one day, it lasted for eight days. What is the main message of Hanukkah? What do we need to teach when we're celebrating Hanukkah? What do we need to dedicate ourselves to? The most important message of Hanukkah is that the hidden oil that was found to light the menorah in the holy temple over 2,000 years ago is really the spiritual light that resides within each person, as Tracy said. And each one of us is an infinite, unique, pure light with, we have that light within ourselves, each person in the whole universe has that. And we all need to be able to shine our own unique light into the world that only we can shine. Our sages teach us that just like a flame does not diminish when it lights another candle, our light only grows when we help another person's light shine. There are many people in our communities in Vermont and beyond who are not able to shine their own light. We need to be like the Shamish, the middle candle of the menorah that lights all the other candles of the menorah. We need to lift up every single person so that they too are able to share their unique light. So as we light the menorah tonight and on each night of Hanukkah, let us see the light reflected in ourselves and in each other and helped us lift each other up to shine our light and everyone's light even stronger. Let us visualize a time when every person will be able to shine their own unique light, creating a time of peace and harmony throughout the world. All right, thank you so much. I would now like to call upon Governor Phil Scott to address us assembled here tonight. We are most grateful to the governor for hosting this Hanukkah lighting tonight and celebrating with the Jewish community. We are enormously appreciative of his strong leadership, approachability and commitment to the well-being of the citizens of this state. Thank you so much. Well, thank you all very much. Really good to be here in person once again and I want to thank all the rabbis for having me with you tonight and thank you all for joining to celebrate our menorah lighting at the State House this year. And again, this includes our Supreme Court Justices Cohen and Wapels as well. It's great to have you here as well as Dr. Levine. I hear that I pressured you in to come tonight. You're doing the tour I hear. You were in Shelburne last night. Yeah, so he's on tour of the menorah lightings. I also heard Justice Cohen that not only was that person your daughter, but she won a silver medal at those games. Correct? Did she tell you that? Listen, her secret is safe with me, okay? Thank you, Governor. Yes, won a silver medal. Wow. And many others of my administration and cabinet members are here as well tonight. It's important to me to be part of this and have the opportunity to wish you all a very happy Hanukkah. This is a holiday that celebrates peace and light. Two things we could use a lot more of these days, by the way. So tonight, I want to take a moment to shine a light on all the good in Vermont. Two years ago, I started what we call Raise of Kindness, an initiative to remind Vermonters of the good during some of the darkest days of the pandemic. So there's no better place than at the celebration of the Festival of Lights to recognize a few of those Rays of Kindness. I believe we have a couple here tonight, Gary Liberin from Derby and Lindsay Etchison from Rutland, who are both nominated for helping kids in their communities in different ways. This includes Gary's work to help students at the Career Center and Lindsay's kindness with students at Northwest Primary Schools Planning Room. Both of them step up time and time again to support our kids and set a good example. And we've recognized dozens like them, the acts of kindness, large and small, things like getting groceries for neighbors, supporting foster families, helping a stranger stranded on the side of the road, donating gifts, lifting spirits at a senior center, visiting veterans and friends who are just in need of a friendly face and so much more. These Vermonters prove that even a small act of kindness can make a big difference and can light the way for a more hopeful, peaceful state and nation. So let's give them a round of applause. To me, it's reflecting on the good, on the light that make this time of year so special, no matter which holidays you celebrate. It's a time to connect with friends and family, to give back to those less fortunate and a time when we're just a little bit more kind to one another. Acts of kindness can go further than you think and can inspire others to do the same. And while I know we have many challenges and we've been through a lot over the last few years, these rays of kindness remind us that good things are happening around us every single day, not just during the holiday season. So it's more important than ever that we remember the good in each other, regardless of our differences. To remind everyone, we can find common ground, we can heal divisions, and we can have compassion for one another. So I thank you all for being here and being part of this. I hope all who celebrate in the Jewish community across the state enjoy a peaceful holiday and a very, very happy Hanukkah. Thank you very much. Thank you so much, Governor. I would now like to call upon Rabbi Raskin, the Regional Director of Chabad-e-Vermont. Established in 1984 during the snowy winter season, Rabbi and Mrs. Raskin set out to light Vermont's first public menorah. The Lubavitcher Rebbe of Blessed Memory taught us that the Hanukkah lights are meant to illuminate and encouraged us to continue to bring light to the darkness. Today, 39 years later, there are seven Chabad centers thriving across the state, and public menorahs set up in Brattleboro, Middlebury, Manchester, Bristol, Jericho, St. Albans, Waterbury, Shelburne, Burlington, Montpelier, and Virginia. What an incredible tribute to the light that we are all dedicated to spreading throughout the state. Thank you, Rezy. Happy Hanukkah. Happy Hanukkah. And it's nice to see the governor year after year. Thank you very much, and justice come, and justice. Wonderful. Thank you. And everyone that's here. Something very interesting about this holiday. You know, many holidays, when you do different things, you do it maybe during the day, the afternoon, in the temple, where this is copying now the lighting of the candles. Actually, the lighting of the menorah was during the day. And by Hanukkah, the way it was established, is at night. After sunset, as we are now when the night is here, we're going to sunlight the third candle and join many, many places all over the world, and especially with the 5,000 Chabad branches all over the world. Everyone, every Jewish institution tonight is lighting the third candle. You know, sometimes there is this agreement about different things, but regarding the third candle that it is tonight, everyone is tonight lighting the third candle. The only thing is that we're doing it at night. And that has a very important symbol, because this is to teach us the idea is to light up the night. Night, darkness sometimes that represents the dark times when there was an Israel those times and they had to fight and they won, and then was that spiritual victory. And this had become a message for all the generations to come till us here tonight in Montpelier 2022, a message that to light up the darkness and to be very strong. Since before some passages of the Talmud was mentioned, I'll just mention something very interesting. There's a question about this whole story of Hanukkah, because everyone knows what's the miracle. The miracle is there wasn't enough for one night, and then the miracle was that it lit for another seven days, and that's why we celebrate eight days. Wait a second, but for one night there was enough oil. So Hanukkah should be seven days, not eight days. I know the kids are soon going to scream, don't do that. But the miracle is only for seven days. And there's many, many answers. I have a book in my house with a hundred answers to this question, but I'm not going to do that and tell you all the hundred answers now. But something very interesting. So one idea that exists for the fact itself that they found the oil, the jar of oil that was sealed and hidden, that by itself is a miracle. So that itself finding the oil is something special. I want to add on something more than that, based on the teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe. The courage that they had. Imagine what went on in those days. You come into the temple after victory, and everything is desecrated, and it looks so bad. So you would think maybe some of these people would go into a depression, wouldn't even want it to continue. You see the holiest thing in front of your eyes, all destroyed, doesn't look good. They took the courage, and they said, we are going to search. And when they found the oil, it's only enough for one night. They could have said, you know what, let's not bother. It's not going to work. They didn't give up. And with all the strength, they put out that night. And then in return, God gave them a miracle that there was enough for the next seven days. The lesson is to all of us, whatever situation we find ourselves, that courage, that strength, that exists in each one of us, comes out. And this is what Chanukah is with the universal message, all of us. So happy Chanukah, and may these lights shine forever for all the generations to come, especially in this state and in this capital, Montpelier and the whole Vermont. Happy Chanukah. OK, thank you so much. So I think now we are ready to light the menorah. So we're going to call upon Governor Phil Scott, who's going to help us light the shamish. And then we're going to call upon Justice William Cohen to recite the blessings and light the menorah together with us. So the menorah is on my right, I think. And just a note, following the menorah lighting, everyone is invited to step inside the state house for more festivities. You can join us for latkes, and donuts, and all of the children are invited to listen to a very special Chanukah story that's going to be read by the governor. And when we are done celebrating, everybody can go home and light your own menorahs and continue to bring light to your home, your streets, and communities. So here, you can give your attention now to the lighting. It's a good one, so, so, so, so, Chanukah, Hukakto. It's a good one.