Chanukah-Festival of Lights

Chanukah is officially termed a minor holiday in the Jewish calendar, yet in the modern world it is one of the best known of the Jewish holidays. Paradoxically, this shift is related to Chanukah's proximity to Christmas, which has become in the most popular Christian holiday in modern times. So, when Christians, and lots of other folk as well, are celebrating Christmas, Jews are conspicuously not celebrating Christmas, but their alternative holiday, Chanukah.

Another irony is that the earliest mention of the festival of Chanukah appears not in the Hebrew scriptures or in the rabbinic writings, but in what is usually, if mistakenly, considered to be a Christian book, the Gospel of John. "At that time the Feast of Dedication [English for the Hebrew term ‘Chanukah'] took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Yeshua was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon" (John 10:22-23). There are numerous explanations of how Yeshua's teaching in the following verses relates to Chanukah, but it's clear that Yeshua himself relates to Chanukah, as does John who records the story.

It's appropriate that Yeshua chooses this festival to take a walk in the temple, even though it's winter, because Chanukah celebrates the rededication of the temple in 165 BCE, 200 years earlier. The temple had been defiled as part of a campaign of suppression against Jewish practices by the imperial Seleucid dynasty that ruled Israel at that time. Under the leadership of a family called the Maccabees (or "hammers") Jews rose up against imperial forces and recaptured the temple grounds and eventually the whole city of Jerusalem and the surrounding area. These events are foretold by the prophet Daniel (chapter 11), but the holiday itself awaits mention until John 10.

The main mitzvah (commandment) of Chanukah is kindling lights at sundown for eight days to commemorate the rekindling of the menorah or candelabrum in the temple after it was re-consecrated. The eight-day duration has two explanations:

1) Sukkot, an eight-day festival, was delayed during the fighting for the temple, so Chanukah became a sort of belated Sukkot;

2) When it was time to relight the menorah, the Maccabees could find only a one-day supply of consecrated oil. Miraculously, it lasted for eight days until new oil was ready.

The theme of miraculous deliverance dominates Chanukah, and is reflected in a Hebrew prayer recited at this time, Al ha-nissim. "We thank you for the miracles, for the redemption, for the mighty deeds and triumphs, and for the battles which you performed for our fathers in those days, at this season." Another old custom is to play with a dreidel, or top, marked on each side with a different Hebrew letter representing the words, "A great miracle happened there." Players either win or lose based on which letter the dreidel lands on, but the important thing is to thank God for the miracle.

For more on Chanukah, check out UMJC Rabbi Derek Leman's blog: http://wp.me/p2Cp3-ue