This Hanukkah began in darkness, in the brutal massacre of Jews in Sydney, Australia. Our hearts are broken, but our light is not dimmed. In this episode, we dive into the meaning of Hanukkah in the Jewish tradition and draw lessons from it for these painful times. This episode is sponsored by Donna Silbert and Kevin Foley and dedicated to the memory of Thomas Irwin Glasser. Tom Glasser was murdered by Islamist terrorists as he worked at his desk in the south tower of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. At the time of his passing the New York Times said Tom's occupation form would have read: "philosophy major-track star-standup comic-restaurant owner-bartender-partner at Sandler O'Neill." A senior partner and head of mortgage-backed securities sales and trading at the Wall Street firm Sandler O'Neill, Tom was brilliantly funny and broadly loved throughout the bond trading community, by clients and competitors alike. A talented and fiercely competitive collegiate athlete, Tom earned a gold medal in track and field representing the United States at the 1981 Maccabiah Games. One of the best athletes ever to attend his beloved collegiate alma mater Haverford College, in Pennsylvania, Haverford honored him by naming its sports hall of fame the "Thomas Glasser '82 Hall of Achievement." The Glasser family established a scholarship at Haverford in Tom's honor. A firm supporter of Israel and Jewish causes, had he lived Tom would have led from the front in the fight against antisemitism at Haverford College. A devoted husband and father, Tom is forever mourned by his wife Meg, sons Dylan and Lukas, parents Anne and Gerry, sisters Laura and Margie, brothers-in-law Joel and Sam, numerous nieces and nephews and hundreds of friends. If you like what we do here, please join our Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/c/AskHavivAnything. There you can ask the questions that guide the topics we cover on the podcast, join in our great discussions where listeners share news and valuable resources, and take part in our monthly livestreams where Haviv answers your questions live. If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at
[email protected]. Musical intro by Adam Ben Amitai.
