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Chanukah Chanukah - An Overview 25 Kislev Chanukah is celebrated on the twenty-fifth day of Kislev, close to or at the winter solstice. It is dark and cold at night, akin to the spiritual despair our ancestors must have experienced in the days of Antiochus Epiphanes, king over Syria and Judea. It is also a perfect counter-point for a holiday of dedication, celebrated by blazing lights. The time is 169 to 166 B.C.E. The land of Israel is then a subject state, ruled by the Seleucids, a Syrian-Greek dynasty descended from a general in the armies of Alexander the Great, whose empire had been divided up by his military captains upon his death. Antiochus had first invaded Jerusalem in 170, putting many to death, entering the Holy Temple, and seizing its wealth. In addition to the physical trauma, the assimilation to Greek-Hellenistic culture is reported to have been strong, so that significant numbers of Jews embraced the more worldly, more philosophical, more hedonistic ways of their foreign rulers and were collaborators with Antiochus in his efforts to Hellenize the Jews. Perhaps in retaliation for a revolt against him, Antiochus attempted to stamp out Jewish worship and ritual, burning the Holy Books, banning the Festivals, kosher food, and circumcision, and decreeing death for all who sought to remain loyal to Torah. The Temple in Jerusalem was dedicated to the Greek god Zeus and defiled by pagan ritual and sacrifice of unclean animals, a national calamity and disgrace. Jews calling themselves "Hasidim", "pious ones", practiced defiance and passive resistance to spiritual death, and many met actual death. The first story of Chanukah is a story of civil war and of desperate, heroic resistance to superior force and religious-cultural oppression. The resistance was a prolonged guerilla war led by a priest named Mattathias and his five sons, including the famous Judah, called "Maccabee" or "hammer". Their forces recaptured Jerusalem in 166 B.C.E. The narrative of these events is contained in a book called "Maccabees", thought to have been compiled during the reign of the Jewish king John Hyrcanus, (136-5 B.C.E.). It describes how the victorious Maccabees rededicated the profaned Holy Temple, by rituals of purification, by tearing down the defiled altar and building a new one of unhewed stones, by restoring and rebuilding the Temple and its grounds, replacing the sacred ritual vessels and rekindling the menorahs and reinstating the sacrifices. According to I Maccabees, the sanctuary was purified and dedicated to God on the 25th of Kislev, the same day of the month on which it had first been defiled. The dedication of the altar was accompanied by a joyous celebration that lasted for eight days, similar to the rejoicing of Sukkot. Scholars believe that the Maccabees were reenacting Sukkot because both the First and the Second Temples had been dedicated on that important pilgrimage festival, and because they had been unable to observe this major holiday while the Temple was in pagan hands. Note that there is no mention of the single cruse of oil that burned for eight days. You should know that the books celebrating the victory of the Maccabees are not part of the Hebrew Bible. They were rejected from the canon and declared Sefarim Hizonim, works to be hidden or kept secret: in Greek, apocrypha. The reading of them was banned under penalties of severe punishment. The story of the Maccabees and their violent struggles survived in the Greek language, and because the Christian Church included them, among many other books expelled by Judaism, in their "Old Testament". Many Jews still have never read these books, though they are of course widely available in translations. It is clear that the rabbis and scribes who determined the admission or exclusion of a book from the Holy Scriptures sought to de-emphasize the Maccabees' revolt as the primary symbol of Chanukah. The Maccabees had usurped power after a while, making themselves and their progeny, kings and high priests at the same time, in defiance of the ancient tradition of keeping religious and civil power separate. Their descendants had invoked Roman interference in their dynastic struggles, leading to Roman conquest of all Judea. The Jewish world had been brutally crushed by a remorseless Rome, the Temple destroyed in 70 C.E., and the land depopulated of Jews by death, enslavement, and forced exile after Bar Kochba's revolt some sixty years later. To emulate the Maccabees was senseless and suicidal. The rabbis had other values and lessons to teach than armed struggle. THE MIRACLE OF THE LIGHTS During the eight days of Chanukah, the Torah is read every day. On the first Shabbat of the holiday, the prophetic reading or haftarah, is from the book of Zechariah, recounting his mystical vision of the rededication of the Second Temple after the return from Babylonian exile.In Chapter 4, the Prophet, shown a menorah of gold by an angel, asks "what are these"? The angel tells him "This is the word of the Eternal... Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit..." In the rabbinical tradition therefore, the meaning of Chanukah is not to be found in the temptation to identify with the strength of human power and the force of arms; not by might but by the divine spirit. In the Talmud, (Talmud Bavli, Shabbat 21b) the rabbis are discussing what and what not may be used to kindle the Sabbath lights. They digress into a discussion of the rules for Chanukah when a surprising question is asked: What is Chanukah? The answer given is: "Our rabbis taught that on the 25th of Kislev began the eight days of Chanukah, when mourning for the dead and fasting are forbidden. For when the Greeks entered the Temple, they defiled all the oil there. When the Hasmonean dynasty overcame and defeated them, on searching, they found only a single cruse of oil that had the seal of the High Priest. In it was oil enough for one day. A miracle was wrought and it burned eight days. They ordained a festival with songs of praise and thanksgiving". As Chanukah competes with Christmas, as we face our own challenges of assimilation, as simple Chanukah gelt is replaced by an expectation of expensive gifts, remember that Chanukah means dedication, whatever version of the holiday you may wish to emphasize in your own observances. CHANUKAH BLESSINGS Following the teaching of the school of Hillel, as reported in the Talmud, one candle is lit the first night and the number is increased by one each night thereafter, for eight days.The reason given is that holiness should be increased, not diminished. Traditionally, the menorah must have its eight lights in a row, none higher than the other. The lamp is to be placed where the light can be seen from the outside, to celebrate publicly the miracle of the lights. The candles should be able to burn for at least half an hour. The first night, the candle is placed on the right side of the menorah. On each successive night, one more candle is added, placed from right to left. The first candle lit each night is the one representing the new day, so that the candles are lit from left to right, but placed in the lamp from right to left. Since it is prohibited to use the lights for any work or practical use, a special candle called the Shammas or Shamash is used to light the others and to provide light. On Friday night, the Chanukah candles are lit before those for Shabbat. The following blessings are recited after the Shamash is lit and before kindling the lights: Baruch atah Adonai eloheynu melech ha-olam, a-sher kid'shanu b'mitzvotav vitzivanu l'hadlik ner shel Chanukah. Blessed are You, Eternal our God, Ruler of the universe, Who has sanctified us through your commandments and Who commands us to kindle the lights of Chanukah. Baruch atah Adonai, eloheynu melech ha-olam sheh asah nissim l'avo-teynu ba-yamim ha-heym baz-man ha-zeh. Blessed are You, Eternal our God, Ruler of the universe, Who worked miracles for our ancestors in those days at this very season. The following blessing, "who has kept us alive" is only said on the first night. Baruch atah Adonai eloheynu melech ha-olam sheh-hechianu v'ki'manu v'higianu laz-man ha-zeh. Blessed are You, Eternal our God, Ruler of the universe, Who has given us life, sustained us, and brought us to this season.
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