By Shayna Kaufmann, Ph.D.
SAN DIEGO — Today is a magical synchronicity of darkness and light. It is both the Winter Solstice, the longest night of the year, and the last night of Chanukah, the brightest night when all nine candles of the menorah shine. I love that the Chanukah candles will be at their fullest luminosity on the darkest day of the year. It feels auspicious…like a cosmic reminder that illumination is born from darkness.
My rabbi recently shared a Chanukah tradition I had never heard and immediately loved: on the eighth night, before the candles burn brightly, people are invited to write down a wish and place it beneath the menorah. In the spirit of the Chanukah miracle—when oil sufficient for one day lasted for eight—the wish may even be for a miracle. And then…they leave the paper under the menorah for a whole year, allowing the wish to quietly manifest in the unseen.
The Winter Solstice carries a similar invitation. Many people reflect on what they want to release into the darkness and what they hope to welcome as the light returns. These intentions are often written down—some released symbolically into a fire, others spoken aloud or saved—and entrusted to the turning of the season.
So here is an invitation. Join my household this evening and write down a wish for the coming cycle.
A true wish.
Not the reasonable kind, but the one your heart holds quietly.
- Write it down and fold it gently.
- Place it somewhere sacred and let the darkness hold it.
- Let the returning light tend to it in ways you cannot control.
Perhaps this is how miracles work—not through effort, but through allowing, trusting, and giving our longings a place to rest.
May the meeting of darkness and light remind us that beginnings often take root in the unseen. May your wish be held tenderly in the quiet until it’s ready to emerge.
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Clinical psychologist Shayna Kaufmann, Ph.D. is an author and freelance writer.
Shayna, you write so beautifully. I love reading your columns email etc.