Today is the first day of Chanuka. (That means last night was the first night of the holiday.)  For those of you who follow the Gregorian calendar, you would say the holiday is arriving early.   Not as early as it did a few years ago, when it landed on Thanksgiving- but pretty early, nevertheless. (Chanuka always falls on the 25th day of Kislev, though, on our calendar.)

For those of you who celebrate Christmas, you might recognize that number- 25. That date wasn’t chosen by accident by the first Christians. (It also explains why this is one of the few- the very few- holidays Christians celebrate on the “eve”- because it derives from the Jewish rule that a day is one evening and one morning….)

But, it’s also important to realize that the holiday of Chanuka is  definitely not the same as Christmas. It is a minor Jewish holiday.   (The major ones are: Rosh Hashana and Yom Kipur, along with the 3 festivals of Pesach [Passover], Sh’vuot [Pentecost], and Sukot [Tabernacles].)

Since Chanuka is a minor holiday, there are no restrictions against working, even though many  say the “full Hallel”, either. (Hallel- ‘Praise’- are stated and sung to praise the Supreme Being on each holiday.)

Chanuka celebrates of the revolt of the Maccabees (Makabi’s) against the Greeks- in particular, against a boorish king called Antiochus. And, the Great Temple 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.

The official story is that during their purification, they found only one cruse of oil; to prepare more pure oil takes a week of preparation. But, that 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.

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

But, nowadays, we employ the Chanuka holiday to venerate our religious freedom- our 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 (these are the menoras with eight equal lights and one extra with which we light the others) are kept so 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, including 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!).  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.

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Happy Chanuka to one and all!

חג חנוכה שמח

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