Hanukkah is the Festival of Lights. Hanukkah is celebrated for eight days, from the Twenty-fifth of Kislev on, in commemoration of the dedication of the Temple under Judah Maccabee. The influence of this holiday on the liturgy is not especially great. Hanukkah has its own psalm, Ps.30; the psalm may derive its heading, “A Song for the Dedication of the House,” from this fact (Rubin 54). For the reading of the Torah. Lamps are the symbol of the Hanukkah holiday; hence Josephus calls it the holiday. “It commemorates the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem after its desecration by foreign forces. The celebration also reaffirms the continuing struggle to live by God’s commandments and to lead Jewish lives” (Hanukkah Jewish Outreach Institute 2008). The lamps were originally lit only in the home, but later also in the synagogue. Already in the time of the first amoraim special benedictions were recited during their kindling — three on the first day and two on the others; but there was also an opinion that benedictions should be recited only on the first day (Rubin 65).
The history of Hanukkah goes back to ancient times and is connected with such figures as Judah the Maccabee and Alexander the Great. The celebration was connected with a rededication of the Temple of Jerusalem (in 164 B.C.E), Maccabee won the battle over the Seleucid Emperor. The army did not have enough provision and needed some rest. When soldiers came to the Temple, it had a limited amount of oil to keep a flame or one day only. The soldiers and priests were impressed by divine power which allowed the oil to burn for eight days. Since that time, this event has been considered a miracle and became one of the main holidays for Jews. “Hanukkah” is translated as “dedication”(Rubin 11). Today, Hanukkah is seen as a symbol of religious freedom and the strong personal beliefs of followers.
If the Hanukkah lights go out, they must be rekindled, and second, their light may be used for reading. Hence, they require fine oil of the quality of Shabbat, though not, as we shall see, for the same reason. On Shabbat, the sacral lights may not be rekindled nor used for reading. Furthermore, in honor of the day and so that the lights do not go out or bum with a distasteful odor, fine oil, and wicks that prolong and enhance the burning are required. So, according to Rabbi Huna, Hanukkah and Shabbat are alike in that fine oil and wicks are used for both, but for different reasons. ”The brightness of the first Chanukah light had dwindled down. But the holy fires on the altar burnt again in the Beit Hamikdash, from morning to morning, as prescribed by the Law. The priests were again busily officiating in the old customary ways, and day in, day out they prepared the offerings. Order and peace seemed established” (Hanukkah. Jewish Holiday 2008).
The fact that the Talmud frequently reports traditions in which the chain of oral tradition is not clear (here either Rabbi Zera quoting Rabbi Mattena or Rabbi Zera quoting Rav) indicates the tradition’s willingness to acknowledge the unreliability in its own development. The note of uncertainty thus introduced should be read as part of the discussion, not as a “mere” or “minor” confusion. The difference between the purported speakers of this particular tradition is also important. Rabbi Mattena is a minor amoraic authority, whereas Rav is a major rabbinic figure, the first of the Amoraim and last of the Tannaim, “The weight of the difference between the two must be relevant” (Rubin 65). Moreover, immediately after Rav’s statement, the confusion continues, for Abbaye, Rav’s partner and equal to him in authority, changes his mind on the issue, admitting that he had not learned a tradition properly as a youth. We will investigate the exposition of this confusion as we proceed through the text. Although this discussion supports the position that the lights do not have to be relit and, therefore, do not require oil and wicks of Sabbath quality, we are finally given to understand, amid all the confusion, that the candles must, at least, be lit (Wilson 333).
Hanukkah is Hanukkah and Christmas is Christmas. It doesn’t matter if you are intermarried or “in”-married. We can acknowledge the similar folk-religion roots of both holidays (for example, lighting lights at the darkest time of the year). But robbing the beauty of one celebration to pay tribute to another is not the answer to the holiday challenge that some interfaith families face during wintertime celebrations” (Hanukkah Jewish Outreach Institute 2008).
There are three opinions concerning how Hanukkah is to be observed. The ordinary person must light one candle per night for his or her household. The zealous person would light one candle per person in the household each night. It is regarding the practice of the extremely zealous that Beit Shammai and Beit Hillel disagree. Beit Shammai teaches that we begin with eight lights on the first day of Hanukkah and that, on each night following, we decrease by one. Beit Hillel teaches that we begin with one light and each night we increase by one. In Palestine, there were two contradictory traditions explaining this dispute. The confusion, by now almost a theme of this passage, continues (Rubin 44).
According to one tradition, a person reduces the number of lights to correspond to the smaller number of days remaining of the festival, whereas some people’s lights according to the days that are gone. According to the other tradition, a person can decrease the number of lights to match the decreasing number of sacrificial bullocks brought to the Temple on the eight-day festival of Sukkot and Shemini Atzeret, whereas some people maintain that the number increases on the basis of a general principle: that we always increase in matters of sanctity, never decrease. When Hanukkah was observed as a ritual re-creating the sacrificial observances of the Temple, it lacked an important element. Only by taking seriously the ethical dimension could the Rabbis restore what was lacking. In other words, only if the celebration of Hanukkah combined the views of Beit Shammai and Beit Hillel, could it take its place in the sacred calendar of Judaism.
A good-looking candelabrum is the center of celebration; some homes provide Hanukkah lamps for each member of the family and for the guests invited to share in the holiday party. For those people who may not know the blessings or songs, these should be made available in Hebrew and English. The candle lighting event should be distinguished and striking. All or most of the lights in the home can be lowered or turned off. Following the kindling of the lights and the singing of “Hanerot Hallalu” and “Maoz Tzur”, presents can be given to guests and special games played. A traditional meal is served on at least one evening. The setting of the latke party is decorated in the spirit of the holiday. Parties can be held for children, youth, adults, and entire families (Winter 143).
The unique celebration may include a variety of elements: kindling the lights, singing songs, playing games and other activities, storytelling, readings or dramatizations, listening to songs, folk dancing, distribution of gifts and Hanukkah gelt, and, of course, serving latkes (Hanukkah Jewish Holiday 2008). “Hanukkah concerts are conducted in many communities with performances by cantors and choirs, guest soloists, and instrumentalists. Appropriate for such an occasion is the well-known oratorio” (Rubin 22). During the celebration, young people and adults can be encouraged to organize a group of volunteers to serve as “Maccabean Messengers” to visit those that are shut-ins or otherwise incapacitated, patients in hospitals and veterans’ facilities, and residents of homes for the aged. Arrangement for each visit should be made in advance (Hanukkah Jewish Holiday 2008).
On a cultural level, the understanding of Hanukkah refers not only to the historic event but rather to the ever-recurring narration of the survival of religion. Time after time the trust of the Jews has been in danger, but always it has met and overcome the antagonistic forces. Through all their wanderings over the land and through all the persecutions inflicted on them, the people have had to struggle against the danger of national destruction (Rubin 13).
Today the threat is more visible, but no less real, for now, people must be attentive for easy, slow assimilation of their religion into a more friendly, but non-Jewish tradition (Rubin 13). So Hanukkah has a modern as well as an ancient meaning as a festival of lights, and a unique symbol of the life the Jews maintain the integrity of their religion in the face of both physical power and foreign influence. American Jews make much of this winter celebration, perhaps because American Christians at the same time of year are making so much of Christmas. In fact, the traditions of Hanukkah are not unlike the customs of Christmas. The giving of gifts, the lighting of candles, the decorating of the home–all these fit in well with the high atmosphere of the state at this period of time, but people also understand their distinctly Jewish identity. Traditional Hanukkah symbols are the six-pointed “Star of David” –and blue and white crepe paper. Blue and white are the Jewish colors. Hanukkah presents are wrapped in these colors. A special gift of the holiday is the elephant, because of the trained elephants used by the Syrian armies and the hammer, in commemoration of the Jewish leader Judas Maccabeus, who was called “Judas the Hammerer.”
Works Cited
Wilson, B. In Celebration and Remembrance. Feminist Studies, 22 (1996), 333-334.
Hanukkah Jewish Outreach Institute. 2008. Web.
Hanukkah. Jewish Holiday. 2008. Web.
Rubin, B. Dedicate and Celebrate!: A Messianic Jewish Guide to Hanukkah.
Messianic Jewish Resources International, 1999.
Symbolic Ethnicity or Religion Among Jews in the United States: A Test of Gansian.
Hypotheses. Journal article by J. Alan; Review of Religious Research, 37 (1996), 137-165.