ABOUT THE HOLIDAY



Chanukah literally means “rededication,” and it is a time when we rededicate ourselves to the sacred undertaking of keeping the light of our heritage aglow. There is a straightforward and easy telling of the Chanukah story, which is the one we usually share with our children. There also is the more difficult version that invites us to draw parallels between our own lives and the choices our ancestors faced long ago.

The first Chanukah was celebrated in Jerusalem on the 25th of Kislev, 165 B.C.E. The story begins during the reign of Alexander the Great who conquered Syria, Egypt, and the land of Israel. The conquerors’ rule was relatively gentle, and lands under Greek control could practice their own ways of life as long as they paid their taxes. The Greeks established theaters, gymnasia, and temples to their many gods. They introduced fashions, manners, language and foods unknown to the Jews. Many Jews were attracted to these novelties and adopted aspects of Greek culture in their own lives.

More than a century later, a successor of Alexander, a Syrian-Greek Selucid named Antiochus IV, was in control of the region. He fanned the flames of discontent between Jews assimilated into Greek culture (Hellenists) and those who were more traditional. Antiochus oppressed the Jews severely, declared himself a god, required Jews to worship idols formed in his image, and banned the core Jewish practices of Shabbat, circumcision, kashrut, and Torah study. At times, the Jewish Hellenists encouraged the Syrian regime’s sanctions against the Jewish traditionalists. When a Greek “puppet” replaced the Kohane haGadol (High Priest of the Temple in Jerusalem), the rift between the Jewish groups widened, and atrocities multiplied. A famous story of that time is that of Hannah and her seven sons, who one by one were tortured by the Syrians and put to death in front of their mother rather than renounce their Jewish faith.

In the small village of Modi’in, Syrian soldiers ordered Jews to sacrifice a pig in compliance with the edicts of Antiochus. As one Jew was about to comply, an old Kohane named Mattathias (Mattetyahu) rose up and killed his fellow Jew. Mattetyahu tore down the idol and called upon the faithful to join him and his five sons in revolt against the Hellenists and ruling Syrians. Thus began a guerilla war against the conquerors that lasted for two years (some sources say three years). Judah Maccabee (Judah the Hammer) led the band of fighters after the death of his father, and the fighting farmers of Judea became known as the Maccabees.

The Maccabees recaptured the Temple mount in Jerusalem only to find that it had been brutally desecrated. The Temple was cleansed and the altar rebuilt. According to some sources, the golden menorah was relit, and the Jews belatedly celebrated the festival of Sukkot for eight days. According to the Talmud, there was only enough ritually pure oil remaining in the Temple to last for one day. The oil was lit, and a messenger was sent to obtain more pure oil. Instead of burning out after only one day, the oil lasted for eight days, long enough for the messenger to return to refill the cherished menorah. Unfortunately, the story does not have a completely happy ending. The traditionalist Jews (Hasmoneans) continued to fight amongst themselves, and ironically, many of them became Hellenized. Seventy-five years later, Rome captured a weakened and fragmented Judea, leading to the tragedies of Masada and the destruction of the Temple.

Today, we focus on the faith and hard-won victory of a small band of Jews whose dedication to the continuation of their heritage inspires each of us. Note that the miracle we celebrate is the miracle of the oil -- not a military victory. Our Rabbis have posed the provocative question: Which miracle required greater faith - the miracle of the oil burning for eight days or the miracle of the optimism of the human spirit, the faith demonstrated by the human being who lit the lamp against all logic that it could remain burning?