When he completed the letters, he found he could not part with the atara. It now adorns his tallit. And for the first time he feels that his work is personal and enduring. The lights of Hanukkah remind us how the Maccabees made the Temple pure, worthy of becoming once more the center of ritual and prayer. Yet the Torah also reminds us that God dwells in the sanctuary only if the people themselves remain holy.
Art is one path towards that kind of spiritual renewal and rededication.
Helen Belitsky is a Maryland-based writer.