Hanukah

I have been asked to speak about Hanukah. I originally wasn't going to, as this group is about community. Then I realized that Hanukah is, essentially, about community and its meaning. When the Judeans returned from the Babylonian Exile (c. 400 bce), they were vassals of Persia. We actually know less about that period than any other time in our history. Persia fell to Greece, in the time of Alexander the Great. Alexander died at the age of 33, in 323 bce. His empire was then divided among his generals. Judea was in a tug-of-war between Egyptian-Greek rule and Syrian-Greek rule. The Syrians eventually prevailed. The policy of the Alexandrian Hellenistic Empire was to conquer the known world (they came pretty close!) and to establish that culture on all subject peoples, while making allowances for local nuances. The majority of the Jews welcomed the opportunity to become "citizens of the world". The Temple of Jerusalem was converted into a Temple of Zeus. A small band of zealots, led by a Priestly family, rebelled. This was not, however, as usually pictured, a fight against foreign oppression and domination, but primarily a civil war between the more numerous Hellenists, and the smaller group of those loyal to Torah and Judaism. (Syrian Greek troops aided the Hellenists) The war lasted for seven years. Two years into the fighting, the Temple Mount was liberated, even though most of Jerusalem, as well as most of the country, were still in Hellenist hands. The Temple was cleansed, and the Divine Service was restored. If not for this event, Judaism would likely have ended at this juncture in history. At the end of the seven year struggle, a Maccabeean State arose. This was the only independence that Judea knew in the Second Temple period. As I wrote in my piece about Thanksgiving, the heroes of this story can be criticized for many things. Firstly, we are speaking about a bloody civil war. Secondly, the surviving Maccabees usurped the Throne, rather than re-instituting the Davidic Kingdom. After a few generations, they became oppressive to Judaism itself, and murdered hundreds of rabbis. Along the way, they forcibly converted the Iddumeans to Judaism, eventually resulting in one, Herod, seizing the throne and murdering the remaining Maccabees. Two Maccabeean brothers struggled for power, and one INVITED IN THE ROMANS! (Herod was their puppet). Hanukah gets one quarter of a page in the Talmud, while Purim gets an entire tractate. In fact, we have no Jewish source for the word "Maccabee". (There are two possible explanations for the word, and two possible spellings). So why do we celebrate Hanukah? For the rededication of not only the Temple, but the people to G-d, and the rebirth of Judaism. Hanukah means dedication. The story of the cruise of oil, and the Menorah burning for eight days, is unknown in our literature until three centuries after the event. (The Books of Maccabees are to be found in Catholic Bibles, not ours. They do not mention this event. Neither does the "al hanissim prayer which we recite during Hanukah). Many consider it a mere legend. In my opinion, it was a real event that was known only to the few. The historian, Josephus, writing in the first century, after completing the historical details, writes "it is also called the festival of lights, but I don't know why". It seems to me that there was a vague memory, which had been largely forgotten by all but a few. In any case, the miracle of the oil is secondary to the rededication, and rebirth, of Judaism. The Maccabees aren't even secondary. They are almost incidental. We ceelbrate the miracles of G-d, and His workings through history. The rabbis instituted the command of Hanukah candles, and put great emphasis on it. It is one of the few commands that we must sell our shoes, if necessary, in order to fulfill. That is becasue it is "pirsuma nisa", making the miracle known, recognizing that G-d is the G-d of history. Customs arose in Jewsih communities to eat fried foods, in memeory of the oil of the Menorah, as well as dairy foods, since one of the Greek generals was killed by a Jewish woman named Judith, who gave him dairy foods, causing him to sleep (This, too, is in the Catholic Bible, but is also preserved in a Midrash).. Once asleep, she killed him. (This is very similar to the story of Yael in the Tanach). Happy Hanukah!