The power of the moon

“Sometimes, when things are chaotic here on earth, you have to turn to heaven. In heaven, there is clarity, there is vision, there is perspective.” 

That was the advice from Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak “YY” Jacobson – a prominent global Jewish scholar, author, and lecturer on Torah and Jewish mysticism – during a webinar centred on the role of the moon in Jewish thought. 

Jacobson used moon-related symbolism to deliver a powerful pre-Shavuot message about resilience, vulnerability, and renewal, during the Chabad webinar, which was dedicated to the memory of former Miracle Drive President Meyer Kahn. 

Introduced by broadcaster Howard Feldman in partnership with ChaiFM and Miracle Drive, Jacobson opened by acknowledging that speaking about the moon during a time of war, fear, and uncertainty might seem unexpected. 

But, he said, “The moon teaches us the power of rebirth, of recreating yourself. Sometimes it’s invisible, but that doesn’t mean it’s gone.” 

Jacobson repeatedly returned to the lunar cycle as a metaphor for both Jewish history and personal struggle. “Don’t let the moon deceive you,” he said. “You may not see it, but it comes back.” 

He said that while the sun generates its own light, the moon reflects light from another source, making it a symbol of humility and spiritual openness. “The moon doesn’t own the light. The moon knows it’s the sun’s light. All it can do is reflect the light.” 

Jacobson spoke candidly about his own life and the temptation of ego that comes with public recognition. “When people would compliment me about a lecture, I wanted to hijack the compliment,” he admitted. “Later in life, I realised that I’m stealing from G-d. When we think we own the light, we lose the plot.” 

Jacobson recounted the story of when Holocaust survivor Edith Eger, author of The Choice, arrived at Auschwitz as a teenager. Just before her mother was taken to the gas chambers, she told Eger, “They can take away everything you have. The only thing they cannot take away are the thoughts that you put into your mind.” Jacobson described how Eger survived by retreating into her inner world, imagining herself dancing in the Budapest Opera House, even while imprisoned in Auschwitz. 

“What she taught,” he said, “was literally the embodiment of the moon ‒ the ability never, ever to despair.” 

The audience discussion turned to the aftermath of 7 October and the ongoing trauma experienced by Israelis and Jews around the world. Feldman said, “October the 7th was very much a diminishing of light. We have tunnels where there’s no sun. There’s no moon. There has to be a message in this period of darkness that we have lived through.” 

In response, Jacobson shared the story of a hostage survivor who described how her understanding of faith changed during captivity in Gaza. At first, she found comfort in “a crack in the wall” that allowed a sliver of daylight into the room where she was held. Later, when she was moved underground, she focused on “a little glimmer of light” from an LED bulb. “But then,” Jacobson said, “she was taken into complete darkness. No crack in the wall. No LED light. Nothing.” According to Jacobson, the woman later reflected, “That’s when I found G-d.” For him, the story captured the essence of the moon’s message. 

“Sometimes our most powerful moments, the moments of deepest growth, transformation and rebirth, are the moments when we can’t see light,” he said. “It’s not because there is no light. It’s because that’s the moment when we’re actually absorbing the light from above.” 

Feldman said that he had heard similar sentiments repeatedly while interviewing survivors of the Nova festival massacre. “Every single answer involves G-d, or knowing there’s a different purpose,” Feldman said. “In that darkness and in that moment where there was no control, something changed.” 

Jacobson suggested that suffering often strips people of the illusion that they are fully in control. “The moments of deepest pain and surrender,” he said, “can also become moments of rebirth.” 

The lecture closed with one of Jacobson’s characteristic stories from the folklore town of Chelm. Asked whether the sun or moon was more important, the townspeople concluded that the moon mattered more because “the sun shines when you don’t need it. The moon shines when you need it.” 

Jacobson said the joke reflected a deeper spiritual truth. “We take the sun for granted because it’s daytime,” he said. “But our calendars are established by the moon because of the power of receptivity, the power of humility.” 

He ended by describing Kiddush Levana, the blessing of the moon, as more than a ritual. “It’s a celebration of human vulnerability,” he said. “A celebration of humility. A celebration of intimacy with our source. The celebration of knowing that I don’t have to control everything, and I can just be a channel for infinite light.”