Upcoming Events
Chanukah, the Festival of Light, is an eight day holiday that is celebrated every year beginning on the 25th of Kislev (late November or December). It commemorates the miracle of the military victory of the Maccabees over their enemies and the rededication of the Temple after its defilement.
Learn about Chanukah from An Observant Life, by Alan Lucas:
By Alan Lucas
Excerpted from The Observant Life
Although both Hanukkah and Purim are considered minor festivals to which the laws regarding the prohibition of labor on festivals do not apply, both are significant in their own right and both have won a special place in the hearts of the Jewish people.
Some might find it strange to refer to Hanukkah as a “minor” festival, given that it is probably one of the best-known of all the Jewish holidays. But the fact is that Hanukkah has fared well in contemporary times for reasons unrelated to its traditional place in the pecking order of Jewish festivals. For Jews in the Diaspora, Hanukkah has benefited from its proximity to Christmas. In Israel, Hanukkah has benefited (far more reasonably) from the resonance its themes of national pride and identity have with the core values of the modern State of Israel.
The historical narrative that forms the background for Hanukkah is found in the First and Second Books of Maccabees, works preserved as part of the extra-canonical library known as the Apocrypha, as well as in some other ancient works, including the final sections of the Book of Daniel. Modern scholars debate the actual sequence of events that led to the Maccabean revolt, the success of which led to the institution of Hanukkah as a festival. However, the basic picture is clear enough. After the death of Alexander the Great, the Jewish homeland passed back and forth between the Seleucid Empire (based in Syria) and the Ptolemaic Empire (based in Egypt) until the land was firmly part of the Syrian empire named for Seleucus I (c. 358–281 B.C.E.), its first emperor. Some suggest that the Greeks grew impatient with Jewish resistance to Hellenization, and also with the slow spread of Greek culture, ideas, and spiritual/religious values in the wake of Alexander’s death and the dismemberment of his empire among his generals. Seeking to speed up the process, then, Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the Seleucid king, decreed that the Temple should incorporate sacrifices to Greek gods and that the law of Moses be rescinded as the law of the land. This development appealed to some assimilationist segments of the Jewish population, but dramatically less to the traditionalists among them, who rose up in a revolt led by one Matityahu (sometimes called Mattathias in English) and his sons, foremost among them the one history would eventually call Judah the Maccabee. (The names are a bit obscure.
“Maccabee” is sometimes derived from the Hebrew word for “hammer,” thus making Judah the ancient Jewish equivalent of Charles Martel. The term “Hasmonean,” also of obscure meaning and etymology, is used to describe his family as well.) In the first war ever fought for religious freedom, Judah, his brothers, and their followers drove the Hellenizers from the Temple, if not entirely from Jerusalem, and then managed to reestablish Jewish sovereignty. Other scholars, utilizing the same historical data, describe the revolt against the Seleucids as far more of a civil war between Jews enamored of the Hellenistic ideal and the so-called “community of the pious,” whose members were more zealous for the preservation and maintenance of Jewish law. When these two sides could not reconcile, Antiochus intervened on the side of the Hellenizers. The exact details of the conflict may never be known with certainty, but all scholars agree that, once the fuse was lit, an armed struggle ensued and the eventual result was the reestablishment of Jewish sovereignty over the Temple and throughout the Land of Israel. Among the first acts of the newly victorious traditionalists was the rededication of the Temple. When this was accomplished, a festival was proclaimed to commemorate the event.
The First Book of Maccabees (4:52–59) describes the inauguration of the festival in these terms: “Now on the twenty fifth day of the ninth month, which is called the month of Kisleiv . . . they rose up in the morning and offered sacrifice according to the law upon the new altar of burnt offerings, which they had made. At the very season and on the very day that the gentiles had profaned it, it was now rededicated with song. . . . And so they celebrated the dedication of the altar for eight days. . . .Moreover, Judah and his brothers, with the whole congregation of Israel, ordained that the days of the dedication of the altar should be observed with mirth and gladness in that same season from year to year for eight days, starting on the twenty-fifth day of the month of Kisleiv.”
In the talmudic era, the rabbis understood this event not so much as the historical victory of the Hasmoneans over the Seleucids, but as a miraculous triumph of God’s might in defense of the Jewish people. The talmudic discussion of these events (at BT Shabbat 21b) describes the Maccabees and their followers entering the Temple that had been defiled by the supporters of the Seleucids. Finding only enough consecrated oil to relight the Temple candelabrum, the m’norah, for one day and knowing that it would take a full week to produce new supplies of oil, they kindled the lights of the m’norah anyway, despite the obvious futility of such an act. However, a miracle occurred, similar to the one that Scripture describes in the story of the destitute prophet’s widow told in 2 Kings 4, and oil continued to flow out of the lone jug they had found for eight days, thus buying the faithful enough time to prepare new supplies and keep the m’norah burning.
As mentioned briefly above, Hanukkah is a holiday that has been embraced in modern times by many different kinds of Jews for many different reasons. Modern Israel has embraced the m’norah as its national symbol, and Hanukkah has come to be seen as a festival of Jewish rebirth in defiance of overwhelming odds. Modern Diaspora Jews identify Hanukkah with their own ongoing struggle against assimilation and, indeed, the m’norah shines brightly in many nonreligious Jewish homes as a badge of honor and identity. The real challenge for Jews of all types, secular and religious, inside and outside Israel, is to identify with and affirm Hanukkah’s authentic message of optimism and faith. As is stated in the haftarah read in synagogue on the Shabbat of Hanukkah: “Not by might, nor by power, but by My spirit, says the Eternal One of Hosts!” (Zechariah 4:6).
By Alan Lucas
Excerpted from The Observant Life
The m’norah may be lit anytime after sundown, except on Friday evening when the m’norah should be lit just prior to the Shabbat candles. Special effort should be made on Friday night to make sure that the Hanukkah candles lit prior to sundown are long or thick enough to last well into the evening. Other than on Shabbat, the candles may be lit into the evening for as long as there are people out and about in the street to see them burning (SA Orah Hayyim 672:1).
The shammash is lit first and it is used to light the rest of the candles. On the first night of Hanukkah, the shammash is used to light one candle. On the second night, it is used to light two, and so on, until all eight candles are lit on the eighth night of the holiday. The candles are placed in the m’norah from right to left as one faces the m’norah, but are lit from left to right so that the first candle lit first is the one being kindled for the first time that evening (SA Orah Hayyim 676:5).
After the shammash is lit, but before the rest of the candles are lit, three blessings are recited the first night, and two on each remaining night. These and the following prayers can be found in any standard prayerbook. The first blessing is barukh attah adonai, eloheinu, melekh ha-olam, asher kidd’shanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivvanu l’hadlik neir shel hanukkah (“Praised are You, Adonai, our God, Sovereign of the universe, who, sanctifying us with divine commandments, has commanded us to kindle the Hanukkah lamp”). The second is a blessing recited in only two contexts in the course of the year, when we read the Book of Esther at Purim and on this occasion of lighting the Hanukkah candles: barukh attah adonai, eloheinu,melekh ha-olam, she-asah nissim la-avoteinu bayamim ha-heim ba-z’man ha-zeh (“Praised are You Adonai, our God, Sovereign of the universe, who wrought miracles for our ancestors at this time in ancient days”). On the first night of Hanukkah, the She-he˙eyyanu blessing is also recited. The candles are then lit. After lighting the candles, it is customary to recite the paragraph Ha-neirot Hallalu, which makes explicit the purpose of our lighting the m’norah and the prohibition of making practical use of the light it casts. (That is why we use the shammash in the first place, to guarantee that the light of the m’norah is always mixed with other light, thus at least ensuring that it is never used all by itself for practical purposes.) This is followed by the singing of Ma·oz Tzur (Rock of Ages), the most famous of all Hanukkah songs.
If the m’norah has been lit elsewhere, it should then be placed in a window, a doorway, or any place where it will visible from the street (SA Orah Hayyim 671:5). This is done because the express purpose of this mitzvah is to publicize the miracle that happened so long ago, an aspect of the mitzvah usually referenced with the Aramaic expression pirsuma d’nissa (literally, “the promulgation of the miracle.”) To share the light of our m’norah with all who pass by is the fulfillment of this mitzvah. Given that the newest candle should be the one the furthest left and that the point of the mitzvah is to publicize the miracle, the general custom is to light the m’norah in the correct way for those looking at it from inside the house, then to turn it around to facilitate proper viewing from the street when it is on display.
The shammash should be allowed to burn with the rest of the candles and not be extinguished after use, because its presence also guarantees that the light of the “real” Hanukkah candles are not used for any other purpose without the admixture, at least, of some “permitted” light (SA Orah Hayyim 673:1).
During Hanukkah, a special prayer, called Al Ha-nissim (after its first words), is interpolated into both the penultimate blessing of the Amidah and the Grace after Meals. Also, the complete Hallel Service is recited every morning just after the repetition of the Amidah. Except on Shabbat and on the day or days of Rosh Hodesh, there is no Musaf Service on Hanukkah. It is customary to light the m’norah in synagogue just before the Evening Service and to recite the appropriate blessings. It is also customary to light the m’norah in synagogue before the Morning Service, but without saying the blessings. This is not intended as the performance of the specific mitzvah to kindle lights at Hanukkah (which must be done in the evening), but merely to publicize the festival and to proclaim a community’s faith in the miracle story that rests at its center.
The Torah is read each day of Hanukkah. Three individuals are called forward for aliyot; the reading, taken from the seventh chapter of the Book of Numbers, details the gifts the princes of Israel donated to the Tabernacle when it was inaugurated for use. The reading for each day follows the Torah’s description of the twelve days of the Tabernacle’s dedication (with the passage detailing the last five of the twelve days, ending at Numbers 8:4, read on the eighth day of the holiday).
The sixth day of Hanukkah is always Rosh Hodesh, the beginning of the new month of Teivet, and so two scrolls are always removed from the Ark. Three people are called forward for aliyot as a passage about Rosh Hodesh is read from the first scroll, then a fourth individual is called up for an aliyah as a passage about Hanukkah is read from the second scroll. In some years, however, Rosh Hodesh is observed for two days and so the sixth and seventh days of Hanukkah are both days of Rosh Hodesh. In years in which the seventh day of Hanukkah is the second day of Rosh Hodesh, the Torah reading procedure (with the exception of the specific passage read as the fourth aliyah) is the same for both days.
Depending on the year, one or two Shabbatot will fall during Hanukkah. On such days, two scrolls are taken from the Ark. The portion for the week is read from the first and the maftir reading, in honor of Hanukkah, is read from the second. The haftarah is Zechariah 2:14–4:7, which contains not only a reference to the m’norah but also the verse: “Not by might, nor by power, but by My spirit, says the Eternal One of Hosts,” which can serve as an appropriate motto for the entire holiday. In years in which there are two Shabbatot during Hanukkah, the haftarah for the second Shabbat is 1 Kings 7:40–50, which also deals with the Temple. If Rosh Hodesh and Shabbat fall on the same day of Hanukkah, then three scrolls of the Torah are removed from the Ark. (This happens only rarely.) In such a case, the weekly portion is divided into six aliyot, which are read from from the first scroll, the Rosh Hodesh portion is read from the second scroll as the seventh aliyah, and then the Hanukkah portion is read from the third as the maftir. The haftarah on such a Shabbat is Zechariah 2:14–4:7.
By Alan Lucas
Excerpted from The Observant Life
Although both Hanukkah and Purim are considered minor festivals to which the laws regarding the prohibition of labor on festivals do not apply, both are significant in their own right and both have won a special place in the hearts of the Jewish people.
It has become customary to celebrate Hanukkah by eating potato pancakes, commonly called by their Yiddish name, latkes, by Ashkenazic Jews. In Israel, jelly doughnuts, called sufganiyyot in Hebrew, are the more common holiday delicacy. What they have in common is that both are cooked in oil and so are able to evoke the miracle of the oil. Other Jewish communities also have special fried foods associated with Hanukkah for the same reason. Another custom associated with Hanukkah is the four-sided spinning top called s’vivon in Hebrew, but more commonly referred to by its Yiddish name, dreidel. Each side displays a Hebrew letter that corresponds to the first letter of the words: neis gadol hayah sham (a great miracle happened there). In Israel, the final letter is the first letter of the word poh (here) instead. The sentence is just a made-up phrase, however; the real meaning of the letters has to do with the rules of the popular gambling game played with the dreidel, in which, depending on the letter one spins, one may win all or half the pot, or have to give some coins into it. (Although some rabbis have suggested the dreidel dates back to Hanukkah’s origins and was used as a ploy to distract the Greeks while the Jews studied Torah, Rabbi David Golinkin argues that the dreidel is based on a sixteenth-century game popular in England around Christmastime called totum. Our dreidel games are very similar to a German version of this game.)
The giving of gifts in the days and weeks around the winter solstice, when daylight is minimal and the weather is cold and unpleasant, is part of many cultures, especially those indigenous to temperate climates where the distinction between the seasons is the most pronounced. The point is clear. Giving gifts is a sign of confidence in the future and in the eventual arrival of spring: one can afford to be generous with one’s stores since one clearly believes that they will soon be replenished. Thus, gift-giving is connected in different cultures with winter festivals—with Hanukkah among Jews, but also with Saturnalia among the ancient Romans, Christmas among Christians, and Diwali among Hindus. Traditionally, Jews gave children coins. (Among Ashkenazic Jews, these coins were called by the Yiddish name of Hanukkah gelt.) In North America and Western Europe, this has mostly developed into more elaborate gift-giving, especially to children. While there is nothing wrong with making Hanukkah into a holiday that children associate with presents and thus anticipate all the more keenly, care should be taken not to allow that specific aspect of the holiday to overwhelm its spiritual character or to make its historical background seem to be of lesser importance.
In some circles, and especially in North America, the Christian festival of Christmas exercises a distinctly counterproductive influence on Hanukkah. Indeed, when Jewish parents make the holiday into a parallel orgy of materialistic acquisitiveness, imagining just a bit pathetically that they are merely helping Hanukkah to “compete” successfully with Christmas for their children’s attention, they are merely bowdlerizing the meaning of the holiday, subverting its significance, and ruining its spiritual potential. Sensitive Jewish parents will always try to resist unfair comparisons to the festivals of other religions, for no good can ever come from fostering the impression that Judaism is merely the Jewish version of Christianity (or any other faith, for that matter). Hanukkah is not the Jewish Christmas any more than Passover is the Jewish Easter, and suggesting even obliquely to children that this is the case will at best confuse them. Moreover, doing so will set up a kind of competitive evaluative process that will inevitably denigrate the worth of both festivals and both faiths.