As I sat down to write this blog and mined through the pages and pages saved for research, fresh in my mind was the recent rise of anti-Semitism running amok in today's society, wondering how that would affect and impact the reasoning for celebrating Hanukkah this year. However, anti-Semitic bigotry and hatred is not a new phenomenon, but an all too frequent occurrence throughout history. From such major catastrophic vitriol as the slaughter of World War Two to tweets on Twitter, the degradation of the Jewish people is something not unfamiliar. As a Fundie Christian, I was taught that the Jewish peoples and nation were Chosen of God, with the pastors quoting the scripture to back up this rhetoric, "I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you" (Genesis 12:3), insinuating that America must continue to unabashedly support Israel or face the curse of the Almighty. Imagine my utter surprise and horror when I learned of the atrocities of the Israeli government...yet this isn't an expose on the crimes of governments and my country, USA, is not innocent in horrors of conquer. Moreover, the people of Israel and those who align themselves either by religion or otherwise are not guilty of the crimes of their government, like any other country, and are not deserving of such spiteful degradation. On a level more discreet, the heightened hype of the holiday season's focus on Christmas, (commercially and, in the growing rise of Fundamentalist Christianity, religiously, if it can be called that), the Jewish people seem to smile with understanding, humility, and a true grace that reflects true religion setting them apart from other belief structures.
All of that shared, the importance of sharing the history and meaning of these "Eight Crazy Nights" is all the more necessary.
During the second century BCE, the Holy Land of Israel was controlled by the Syrian-Greeks who tried to force the Jewish people to denounce the Jewish religion and take up the Greek religion and culture. In 165 BCE, Emperor Antiochus IV desecrated the Jewish temple leading to a revolt by the Jewish priest, Mattathias, and his son, Judah the Maccabee, who overtook one of the strongest armies in the world. Upon taking back the city, Judas Maccabee returned to purify the altar and temple, finding only a small jar of oil enough for the candle burning of one day. However, miraculously, the oil sustained the candles for eight days, in honor of this Hanukkah is celebrated for eight days during which candles are lit on the menorah each night. (Another tradition details that on the first night all eight candles should be lit, then decreasing the lighting over the next seven days.)
This occurred in the Jewish month of Kislev 25, according to the Gregorian calendar, that month is December. However, the Jewish tradition follows that of the lunar calendar, the reasoning behind why Hanukkah occurs on eight different dates each year. Although considered a minor holiday in comparison to the high holy days such as Yom Kippur, Purim, or Passover, Hanukkah has become a holiday of significance both commercially and spiritually. More than just eight days of presents, the celebration marks the understanding that God will prevail and sustain through the darknesses within and without.
Articles uses as research:
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