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What is Hanukkah?
Townhall.com ^ | December 12, 2009 | Paul Greenberg

Posted on 12/12/2009 5:39:01 AM PST by Kaslin

This evening we light the first candle on the Hanukkah menorah, for it's the first night of this minor eight-day Jewish holiday that's become a major one over the years. There are blessings to be recited, songs to be sung, latkes to be eaten . . . . But just what does Hanukkah celebrate?

Answer: A successful Jewish revolt against a Syrian empire ruled by the Seleucid dynasty of Greek kings some 2,200 years ago.

Well, not exactly. The revolt was not so much against the Syrian emperor, Antiochus Epiphanes, as against his attempt to impose Hellenistic culture on ancient Judaea.

Well, not exactly. It's not noised about, but this now-celebrated revolt against the Syrians was really something of a civil war between those Jews who proposed to adopt more of the fashionable Greek culture and those who rebelled against it. The rebels viewed its games and gods as a desecration, and fought for the old ways, the ancient practices and beliefs.

It may not be noised about in some politically correct circles, but this festival commemorates a military victory in a civil war -- of tradition over assimilation, of fundamentalism over modernism.

Well, not exactly. The military aspects of the struggle are scarcely mentioned in today's celebration of Hanukkah. The focus has shifted over the centuries. The very name Hanukkah, or Dedication, now refers to the cleansing of the Temple in Jerusalem after it was defiled by pagan rites.

After all, the holiday isn't named for any particular battle or campaign or hero. It isn't the Feast of the Maccabees, who led the revolt. Therefore the real theme of Hanukkah is the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem.

Well, not exactly. The essential ritual of the holiday has become the blessing over the Hanukkah lights. A talmudic story tells how the liberators of the Temple found only enough consecrated oil to burn for one day, but it lasted for eight -- enough time to prepare a new supply. We're really celebrating the miracle of the lights.

In the glow of the candles, the heroic feats of the Maccabees have become transmuted into acts of divine intervention. The blessing over the candles recited each night of the holiday goes: ''Blessed art Thou, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who wrought miracles for our fathers in days of old.'' Miracles, not victories.

At Passover, the story of the Exodus from Egypt is told with the same moral attached: It is He who delivered us, not we who freed ourselves. Freedom is a gift from God, not men.

Hanukkah isn't mentioned in the Old Testament. The swashbuckling stories of battles and victories have been relegated to the Apocrypha. A mere military victory rates only a secondary place in the canon. The victory is to be celebrated not for its own sake, but for what it reveals.

One more violent confrontation has left history, and entered the realm of the sacred. A messy little guerrilla war in the dim past of a forgotten empire has become something else, something that partakes of the eternal.

The central metaphor of all religious belief -- light -- reduces all the imperial intrigue and internecine warfare of those tumultuous times to shadowy details. And that may be the greatest miracle of Hanukkah: the transformation of the oldest and darkest of human activities, war, into a feast of illumination.

There is more than a single theme to this minor but not simple holiday. One can almost trace the ebbs and flows of Jewish history, its yearnings and fulfillments, its wisdom and folly, its holiness and vainglory, by noting which themes of Hanukkah have been emphasized when.

History may say a good deal more about the time in which it is written than the time it describes. The message of Hanukkah changes from age to age because the past we choose to remember is the truest reflection of any present. When Hanukkah is celebrated with pride, a fall is sure to come. When it inspires humility, hope is kindled.

If there is one, unchanging message associated with this minor holiday magnified by changing times, it can be found in the portion of the Prophets designated to be read for the sabbath of Hanukkah. It is Zechariah 4:1-7, with its penultimate verse:

Not by might, nor by power, but by My spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts.

Exactly.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: chanukah; hanukkah; paulgreenberg
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To: justiceseeker93; Kaslin


Blessed are you, Lord our G-d, King of the
Universe, Who sanctified us by his commandments,
and has commanded us to kindle the lights of Hanukah.


21 posted on 12/12/2009 9:24:59 AM PST by Lady Jag (Double your income. Fire the government)
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To: rmlew; Yehuda

ping


22 posted on 12/12/2009 10:07:31 AM PST by Cacique (quos Deus vult perdere, prius dementat ( Islamia Delenda Est ))
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To: ROCKLOBSTER
And here I thought the MacCabees were Scots.

Now don't ya be lookin' under no kilts to check...

LOL!

(I have a Jewish friend who owned a Scottish pub.)

23 posted on 12/12/2009 12:53:54 PM PST by Sir Francis Dashwood (Arjuna, why have you have dropped your bow???)
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To: Kaslin; Cacique
Well, not exactly. It's not noised about, but this now-celebrated revolt against the Syrians was really something of a civil war between those Jews who proposed to adopt more of the fashionable Greek culture and those who rebelled against it. The rebels viewed its games and gods as a desecration, and fought for the old ways, the ancient practices and beliefs.

It may not be noised about in some politically correct circles, but this festival commemorates a military victory in a civil war -- of tradition over assimilation, of fundamentalism over modernism.


Yes and no. Israel was occupied by the Seleucid empire and they had gotten involved in naming the Head Priest. There were entire classes of Jewish collaborators with Seleucid rule, some acting on fear and others who liked Hellenistic culture. The Temple had been desecrated. The Hasmoneans were priests in Modi'in, who took up arms when the Seleucid troops and collaborators tried to bribe them to lead prayers at a pagan altar. Instead Mattathias slew a Jew who was praying at the pagan altar and led his sons in kiling the Seleucid official, troops, and collaborators in Modin. But the Hasmoneans then had to flee into the hill country and led a war against the Seleucid troops as well as the collaborators. It was both a civil war and a war of independence.

Well, not exactly. The essential ritual of the holiday has become the blessing over the Hanukkah lights. A talmudic story tells how the liberators of the Temple found only enough consecrated oil to burn for one day, but it lasted for eight -- enough time to prepare a new supply. We're really celebrating the miracle of the lights.

In the glow of the candles, the heroic feats of the Maccabees have become transmuted into acts of divine intervention. The blessing over the candles recited each night of the holiday goes: ''Blessed art Thou, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who wrought miracles for our fathers in days of old.'' Miracles, not victories.


This is a drastic oversimplification. Firstly, without zealous mean, there would be no miracle. Secondly, the Rabbis spun the holiday only after the the failure of the first and second Greats Revolt against Rome.

24 posted on 12/12/2009 3:23:30 PM PST by rmlew (Democracy tends to ignore..., threats to its existence because it loathes doing what is needed)
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To: JoeProBono

Love the great photo of deer. Rudolph would never fit in...he knows he’s a fake. LOL


25 posted on 12/12/2009 3:44:51 PM PST by IIntense
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To: justiceseeker93
It may not be noised about in some politically correct circles, but this festival commemorates a military victory in a civil war -- of tradition over assimilation, of fundamentalism over modernism.

'Amen ve'amen!

26 posted on 12/12/2009 3:50:59 PM PST by Zionist Conspirator (Vaya`an Yosef 'et-Par`oh le'mor bil`aday; 'Eloqim ya`aneh 'et-shelom Par`oh.)
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To: IronJack
It is true that Hanukkah was a relatively minor Jewish holiday until several decades ago. But the one event that was most responsible for making it into a bigger event was the founding of Israel in 1948. The Jewish desire to have a holiday of "theirs" around the Christmas season was also a factor, but that desire came from ordinary, middle-class Jews. It was basically a grassroots movement, not directed from above. There's no Marxist conspiracy about it. BTW, deeply religious Jews (Orthodox) still do consider Hanukkah a minor holiday compared to Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah.

Now Kwanzaa...that is a holiday designed by Marxists to dilute Christmas.

27 posted on 12/12/2009 7:24:57 PM PST by JillValentine (Liberals are the real climate change deniers. They deny that climate change is caused by nature.)
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To: Kaslin

I always appreciate these kinds of articles...thx


28 posted on 12/12/2009 9:38:07 PM PST by cherry
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To: Lady Jag

Just lovely.


29 posted on 12/12/2009 10:26:06 PM PST by Ciexyz
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To: Condor51

“and I KNEW its about ‘the oil’ and ‘celebrating the miracle of the lights’.”

Not really.

That is the part has become popularized and the ritual that symbolizes the holiday. But the essence of the holiday is the triumph of the Maccabees over the assimilated Hellenized Jews.

Without that Judaism would not have survived. And for Christians it means Christianity would not have been born.


30 posted on 12/13/2009 12:16:22 AM PST by dervish (I never saw a wild thing sorry for itself)
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To: IronJack

It is not a “minor” holiday in its importance to the survival of Judiasm.

It is post the Canon period.


31 posted on 12/13/2009 12:26:08 AM PST by dervish (I never saw a wild thing sorry for itself)
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To: Condor51; Kaslin
I'm Catholic, grew up in Chicago, and I KNEW its about 'the oil' and 'celebrating the miracle of the lights'.

Same here--I was raised Catholic and grew up in a town with a sizeable Jewish population, so I was familiar with many Jewish traditions as well. In grade school during the holidays we sang BOTH Christmas carols and Hannukah songs.

Yesterday I read 1 Maccabees (the rededication of the Temple is in 1 Macabees ch. 4) and could not find any mention of the oil for one day lasting eight days. I then read elsewhere that the miracle of the oil was a Talmudic tradition.

32 posted on 12/13/2009 12:34:21 AM PST by thecodont
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To: Kaslin

A great read on this cold winter morning when I’m headed to the Abbey for 7 A.M. Mass. Well worth pondering, esp. when the White House can’t bring itself to send a Christmas card with any mention of the birth of Christ.


33 posted on 12/13/2009 3:43:02 AM PST by hershey
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To: dervish
I knew about the Maccabees too.
I'm fairly sure I first heard about them in .. 'Catechism Classes' (not kidding). In our 2nd year (or 3rd?) we had an old Nun (veeeery old) who taught us about the 'Old Testament'. Like David and Goliath, etc.

She also warned us about all the Communists in Hollywood. And said to be careful watching 'Father Knows Best' ( I guess the writers were part of those outed by HUAC)

34 posted on 12/13/2009 6:47:47 AM PST by Condor51 (The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits)
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Comment #35 Removed by Moderator

To: FrPR
“When Hanukkah is celebrated with pride, a fall is sure to come. When it inspires humility, hope is kindled.”

I think this statement is TOTAL B.S. Otherwise, great article.

And I will add that the Maccabees, had they had the chance, would have kicked every single jive-ass “Messianic Jew” clear out of Judea.

I find it a bit disingenuous to assign to me the quote from the article.

You seem quite confused as I did not post the article.

When you say "kicked every single jive-ass "Messianic Jew" clear out of Judea"
were you referring to Peter, James, Matthew, John or Paul ?

I do not discern the chesed(lovingkindness) of Yah'shua(Jesus) in your statement.

shalom b'SHEM Yah'shua HaMashiach
36 posted on 12/13/2009 6:00:58 PM PST by Uri’el-2012 (Psalm 119:174 I long for Your salvation, YHvH, Your law is my delight.)
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Comment #37 Removed by Moderator

Comment #38 Removed by Moderator

To: Kaslin; kosta50
Hanukkah isn't mentioned in the Old Testament.

As a Catholic it is in MY Old Testament, and that of the Orthodox so that three quarters of all people who read the Bible for religious purposes have the Maccabees in their canon. Jews decided after the fall of the Temple not to put it in their canon, Christians kept it. 1500 years later Protestant leaders removed the Books of the Maccabees from their Bible. The Orthodox have a Third Book of the Maccabees, which is not about the Maccabee family or the Seleucid Dynasty, but is about oppression of Judea under the Egyptian Ptolemaic Dynasty. The Orthodox generally also honor a Fourth Book of the Maccabees which is not canonical for them but is for the Georgian Orthodox. It is not a history book but is a philosophical discourse.

39 posted on 12/14/2009 4:45:14 PM PST by Lucius Cornelius Sulla (a wild-eyed, exclusionist, birther religio-beast -- Daily Kos)
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To: Lucius Cornelius Sulla; Kaslin
As a Catholic it is in MY Old Testament, and that of the Orthodox so that three quarters of all people who read the Bible for religious purposes have the Maccabees in their canon

That would be correct.

40 posted on 12/14/2009 11:16:44 PM PST by kosta50 (Don't look up -- the truth is all around you)
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