Meditation isn’t always easy for me. Like many of us, my mind can be a busy place. There’s often a long list of things that need to be done. Projects I’m working on. Deadlines. Responsibilities. The quiet hum of worry about what might not get finished. Fear, doubt, and endless to-do lists can quickly fill the mind and make it challenging to truly settle in. But this day was different.

Hanukkah celebrates the triumph of light over darkness and freedom over oppression. I, along with Jews around the world, am lighting candles this week in honor of the tradition. But this year, it's with a heavy heart, as we mourn the loss of at least 15 Jews gunned down by a father and son in Australia while Jewish friends and families celebrated the first night of Hanukkah on a beautiful beach.