Dedication on the 25th

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So, it’s getting close to the first or second holiest day of the year for Christians. And, it’s getting close to a minor holiday for Jews. One that Christians tend to elevate so that they feel they are “giving equal time”.

But, Chanuka is a pretty minor holiday. We don’t take off from work, so that should give folks a pretty good idea.  Chanuka doesn’t start until Saturday night- the exact same time as Christmas Eve this year, a very unusual circumstance.

Chanuka is the celebration of the revolt of the Maccabees against the Greeks- in particular, against a boorish king called Antiochus. And, the Great Temple (Beit Hamikdash) was taken back in the actions started by Matisyahu, a Kohen (priest). Yehuda, his eldest son, was the warrior/leader who led the battles and adopted the name “Makabi”, which means “The Hammer”….

The name- ‘Cha-nu’ ‘KH’- means ‘dedication on the 25th’ or ‘dedication here’. That’s the way folks want to remember the event. Once the Great Temple was freed from the Greeks, it was cleaned, purified, and rededicated to the uses of the Supreme Being.

Interestingly, the book of Maccabees  (one of  Makabi’s English spelling) was rejected for inclusion in the Jewish canon (the Tanach). Sure, the books can be found in Christian bibles, but never in the Jewish Tanach  (that is an acronym for Tora, Neviim (Prophets), and K‘tuvim (Writings).

The books might have been barred because the books of Maccabees list no miracles,  discuss no prophets, and lack any words of wisdom.  Or, maybe they were omitted because the fact that the Hashmonaim (another name for the Makabis) takeover of the reigns of the State, extending beyond their priestly duties, was verboten.  (We Jews really do require a separation between “church” and “state”. )   Or, maybe the books were prohibited because the Makabis forced conversions of others (which is also verboten in our tradition). But, it’s more likely that the rabbis were not happy with the concept of armed rebellion- after all, this Makabi rebellion eventually led to the total destruction of the Great Temple.  And, the Temple was destroyed not once, but twice, both times on the 9th day of Av after armed rebellions; rebellions also led to the forced exile of the Jews from their land of Israel.

Menora from the Knesset

The Chanuka back-story is that during the Temple’s purification, the Makabis found only one cruse of oil; and it would take a week to prepare more pure oil. But, that little fact didn’t matter to the Makabi- they would act now and see what happened… And, the menora (the ritual SEVEN branched candelabra) remained lit for eight days, until the new oil was ready. The lesson we draw from this is action is important- and there is no time like the present.

Erte sculpted this chanukiya of ours

(Maybe it’s time to remind folks that this version of events did not take hold at the time of the writing of the Makabi scrolls; it was mentioned some 1/2 a millennia later, found in the Talmud, whose scholars were looking for some sort of miracle to ascribe to the holiday. It’s entirely possible that the 8 days of Chanuka were chosen to mimic Sukot, the only other 8 day holiday we have. Because besides Sukot being the holiday of the harvest, Sukot also coincided with the celebration that Shlomo (King Solomon) effected when he completed the dedication of the first Temple. [Chanuka, the holiday of the Temple’s rededication- would, therefore, mimic the dedication of the very first Temple built by Shlomo.])

What is not normally discussed is that this holiday really celebrates not just the singular battle against the Greeks, but against the assimilators, the Hellenists. Any Jew who would not return to the fold was fair game. Not much different than the Tea Party trying to purge competing conservatives from the Republican party- except this Makabi purging involved swords and death…

But, nowadays, the Chanuka holiday serves to celebrate our religious freedom- the freedom to worship as we want. By lighting candles or oil lamps each night for eight nights. And, just like the Jews did when they were being released from Egypt (they put the blood of the animal [which was a god of the Egyptians, to boot] on their doorpost, making it clear to all within sight that they believed in the Supreme Being), our chanukiyas (with eight equal lights and one extra with which we light the others) are so placed that the world outside can see the light. It’s another way we bring light to the world.

Our celebration includes giving small gifts to our children (and, nowadays, extended to our relatives) and lighting the candles, as listed above. Besides the ritual prayers for lighting the candles (three blessings are sung the first night, two the rest of the nights), there are two other prayers: Haneirot Halalu- ‘these precious lights’- and Maoz Tzur- ‘Rock of Ages’ (which, contrary to popular belief, has many stanzas!) that round out the tradition. I recall with fondness one of the other songs (He Struck the Traitor to the Earth- or “Matisyahu”) I learned as a child- and taught my children.

I will spare you. I won’t sing it.

Happy holidays to one and all.

(Oh- and this serves as an introduction of sorts to tomorrow’s blog!)

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9 thoughts on “Dedication on the 25th”

  1. We did a study on Jewish holidays a couple of years ago. I believe that today’s Christianity has veered far from its roots in Judaism. To begin with, it was simply a sect of Judaism that believed that Messiah had come (in Jesus). In studying the holidays of Scripture, I loved seeing the purpose in them..whether to remember something God had done, or to point attention to His plan. Remembering and hoping. Pinning this to have a resource, and looking forward to tomorrow’s post!
    Susan Landry recently posted..Small Ways to Serve Close to Home this Christmas

    1. Well, I don’t disagree Ms. L with your statements.
      It was Saul- who changed his name to Paul- that worked to change the roots. Because he was angry that the Jews rejected his attempts to start a new religion. So, me moved to Syria, where he had much better success dealing with the local folks, there. (Oh, and then he went on to Rome to egg those folks on to eradicate the Jews in Israel….)

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