Celebrating Hanukkah: Lights That Bind Us

Hanukkah begins at sundown on December 14 and concludes at nightfall on December 22, 2025. Rooted in Jewish history and faith, the festival commemorates the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem, and is marked by the lighting of the menorah with its nine candles, each flame a testament to perseverance, memory, and the enduring conviction that light can overcome darkness.

While deeply particular in its origins, Hanukkah carries a universal resonance. Across cultures and traditions, the symbolism of light affirms hope in the face of adversity and the moral responsibility to uphold human dignity. In this sense, Hanukkah speaks not only to the Jewish people, but to all who seek freedom, justice, and peace.

This year, Hanukkah is observed shortly after Human Rights Day on December 10, and during International Human Solidarity Day on December 20. This convergence invites reflection on the shared ethical foundations that undergird both religious tradition and international norms. The legacy of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, affirming that human dignity is the basis of freedom, justice, and peace, finds a natural echo in Hanukkah’s message of resilience and moral courage.

The Universal Peace Federation (UPF), founded in 2005 by Dr. Hak Ja Han and the late Rev. Sun Myung Moon, is guided by principles of interdependence, mutual prosperity, and universally shared values. These principles align closely with the spirit of Hanukkah: the protection of identity, the defense of conscience, and the responsibility to act for the common good.

For more than two decades, UPF has maintained sustained engagement in the Middle East through the Middle East Peace Initiative, fostering dialogue and trust through civil society diplomacy, fact-finding visits, interfaith encounters, and conferences that bring together religious leaders, parliamentarians, academics, women leaders, youth, and community representatives from Israel, the State of Palestine, and Jordan.

Women leaders have played a central role in these peacebuilding efforts, notably the 2004 Women of Peace mission, which convened 500 women leaders from over 40 nations in dialogue with Israeli and Palestinian counterparts. More recently, UPF-Israel’s Peace Sukkah gathering, held in Jerusalem on October 8, 2025, at the Har El Synagogue, offered an interfaith space dedicated to mutual respect and the pursuit of peace.

Such initiatives resonate with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, particularly Sustainable Development Goal 16: to promote peaceful and inclusive societies, ensure access to justice, and build accountable and inclusive institutions. They also reflect the broader multilateral focus on peace and inclusion that characterizes December, including United Nations deliberations on leadership, solidarity, and peacebuilding.

Hanukkah further invites reflection on the family as the first school of values, where respect, self-discipline, forgiveness, and service are learned and practiced. In an address delivered in New York on August 18, 2000, at a forum associated with the United Nations, the late Rev. Sun Myung Moon emphasized that effective multilateral cooperation is strengthened when complemented by moral and spiritual wisdom, including the constructive contribution of faith leaders.

In this season of light, UPF expresses solidarity with the Jewish community, with other faith communities, and with all people of good will. We encourage UPF Ambassadors for Peace, partners in government and civil society, youth, and religious leaders to deepen dialogue and cooperation, recognizing that peace is built patiently, relationship by relationship, through shared ethical commitment.

May the lights of Hanukkah inspire renewed dedication to dignity, understanding, and hope, so that humanity may continue its journey toward peace as one human family under God.

Dr. Tageldin Hamad, President, UPF-International December 14, 2025