Make the016.com a preferred choice with Google by clicking here
Alan Avery-Peck, College of the Holy Cross
Every December Jews celebrate the eight-day festival of Hanukkah, perhaps the best-known and certainly the most visible Jewish holiday.
While critics sometimes identify Christmas as promoting the prevalence in America today of what one might refer to as Hanukkah kitsch, this assessment misses the social and theological significance of Hanukkah within Judaism itself.
Let’s consider the origin and development of Hanukkah over the past more than 2,000 years.
Though it is 2,200 years old, Hanukkah is one of Judaism’s newest holidays, an annual Jewish celebration that does not even appear in the Hebrew Bible.
The historical event that is the basis for Hanukkah is told, rather, in the post-biblical Books of the Maccabees, which appear in the Catholic biblical canon but are not even considered part of the Bible by Jews and most Protestant denominations.
Based on the Greco-Roman model of celebrating a military triumph, Hanukkah was instituted in 164 B.C. to celebrate the victory of the Maccabees, a ragtag army of Jews, against the much more powerful army of King Antiochus IV of Syria.
In 168 B.C., Antiochus outlawed Jewish practice and forced Jews to adopt pagan rituals and assimilate into Greek culture.
The Maccabees revolted against this persecution. They captured Jerusalem from Antiochus’s control, removed from the Jerusalem Temple symbols of pagan worship that Antiochus had introduced and restarted the sacrificial worship, ordained by God in the Hebrew Bible, that Antiochus had violated.
Hanukkah, meaning “dedication,” marked this military victory with a celebration that lasted eight days and was modeled on the festival of Tabernacles (Sukkot) that had been banned by Antiochus.
The military triumph, however, was short-lived. The Maccabees’ descendants – the Hasmonean dynasty – routinely violated their own Jewish law and tradition.
Even more significantly, the following centuries witnessed the devastation that would be caused when Jews tried again to accomplish what the Maccabees had done. By now, Rome controlled the land of Israel. In A.D. 68-70 and again in A.D. 133-135, the Jews mounted passionate revolts to rid their land of this foreign and oppressing power.
The first of these revolts ended in the destruction of the Second Jerusalem Temple, the preeminent center of Jewish worship, which had stood for 600 years. As a result of the second revolt, the Jewish homeland was devastated and countless Jews were put to death.
War no longer seemed an effective solution to the Jews’ tribulations on the stage of history.
In response, a new ideology deemphasized the idea that Jews should or could change their destiny through military action. What was required, rabbis asserted, was not battle but perfect observance of God’s moral and ritual law. This would lead to God’s intervention in history to restore the Jewish people’s control over their own land and destiny.
In this context, rabbis rethought Hanukkah’s origins as the celebration of a military victory. Instead, they said, Hanukkah should be seen as commemorating a miracle that occurred during the Maccabees’ rededication of the temple: The story now told was how a jar of temple oil sufficient for only one day had sustained the temple’s eternal lamp for a full eight days, until additional ritually appropriate oil could be produced.
The earliest version of this story appears in the Talmud, in a document completed in the sixth century A.D. From that period on, rather than directly commemorating the Maccabees’ victory, Hanukkah celebrated God’s miracle.
This is symbolized by the kindling of an eight-branched candelabra (“Menorah” or “Hanukkiah”), with one candle lit on the holiday’s first night and an additional candle added each night until, on the final night of the festival, all eight branches are lit. The ninth candle in the Hanukkiah is used to light the others.
Throughout the medieval period, however, Hanukkah remained a minor Jewish festival.
How then to understand what happened to Hanukkah in the past hundred years, during which it has achieved prominence in Jewish life, both in America and around the world?
The point is that even as the holiday’s prior iterations reflected the distinctive needs of successive ages, so Jews today have reinterpreted Hanukkah in light of contemporary circumstances – a point that is detailed in religion scholar Dianne Ashton’s book, “Hanukkah in America.”
Ashton demonstrates while Hanukkah has evolved in tandem with the extravagance of the American Christmas season, there is much more to this story.
Hanukkah today responds to Jews’ desire to see their history as consequential, as reflecting the value of religious freedom that Jews share with all other Americans. Hanukkah, with its bright decorations, songs, and family- and community-focused celebrations, also fulfills American Jews’ need to reengage disaffected Jews and to keep Jewish children excited about Judaism.
Poignantly, telling a story of persecution and then redemption, Hanukkah today provides a historical paradigm that can help modern Jews think about the Holocaust and the emergence of Zionism.
In short, Hanukkah is as powerful a commemoration as it is today because it responds to a host of factors pertinent to contemporary Jewish history and life.
Over two millennia, Hanukkah has evolved to narrate the story of the Maccabees in ways that meet the distinctive needs of successive generations of Jews. Each generation tells the story as it needs to hear it, in response to the eternal values of Judaism but also as is appropriate to each period’s distinctive cultural forces, ideologies and experiences.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: http://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines -->
Alan Avery-Peck, Kraft-Hiatt Professor in Judaic Studies, College of the Holy Cross
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Make the016.com a preferred choice with Google by clicking here
In The News
>WEATHER: Mark Rosenthal's 7-day forecast (:23). High of 75 today in Worcester
>TOP OF THE NEWS
-Worcester police ask for help finding missing girl
-Worcester police ask for help finding missing 14-year-old
-Shrewsbury shooting victim ID'd as Kevin Doherty, 56; suspect arraigned
-Related: New details revealed in deadly shooting of Shrewsbury dad (3:03)
-Related: Suspect’s criminal history includes machete attack, fights
-Related: Machete attack victim says suspect should have been in jail (2:46). Article
-Related: Suspect who allegedly killed Shrewsbury father is held without bail (2:32)
-Earlier: Shrewsbury father shot to death after walking 6-year-old child to school (2:58). Article
-Firefighters battle blaze at scrap metal site in Worcester
-Webster woman in court after allegedly causing bomb scare at convenience store (:32). Article
-Worcester motorcyclist killed in crash with tractor-trailer remembered
-Goodbye trash, and pounds: City D.P.W. crews make clean sweep of streets
-Spotted lanternfly detected in 13 Worcester County cities and towns: How to stop the spread
>POLITICS: Meet the candidates: Jermoh Kamara on health, schools, community
-The016.com announces political ad packages
-WCCA-TV's WCCA-TV Primary Candidate Forum (41:14)
>DINING OUT: New Worcester Mediterranean restaurant announces official opening date
-ICYMI: Worcester man charged with killing his toddler son in Ohio ordered held without bail
-Worcester police ask for help finding missing 14-year-old
-Traffic delays after tractor-trailer gets stuck under bridge in Worcester
-State Police recruit from Worcester died from blunt force injuries, family attorney says (2:21). Article
-See the rest of the day's Worcester news
>HOLDEN (brought to you by Lamoureux Ford): Holden recreation fields formally opened
-America's newest game show, filmed at Lamoureux Ford (1:40)
-September Among Friends senior newsletter
>THE BURBS (brought to you by North End Motor Sales): It’s the Spencer Fair!
-It's the first year at the new David Prouty High. Here's what it looks like
-Dudley man arrested after shoving officer during intoxicated dispute at home
-Man charged after crashing into pole and tearing through yards in West Boylston
-Sample ballot for September 8th Paxton vote
-Leominster residents urge council to reverse Orchard Hill zoning to block apartment project
-D.J. or band needed for Rutland Sock Hop
>BARS & BANDS: The Mayor's Live Music List for Saturday
-Jazzed Up Trio at Pinecroft Dairy 5 p.m. Sunday
>SHOWTIME: Things to Do: Chainsmokers at Breakaway Festival, KC and the Sunshine Band and more ...
-"Whirlwind": Worcester fans raise money for movie about cycling legend Major Taylor
-King Richard's Faire opens new location in Carver for 44th season
-Design a bookmark for this Worcester Public Library contest
>OPINION: Stacey Kenneally: Finding our way — Wins with my sensory child
-First Person: In matters of faith, Joe Fusco Jr. looks for "returns"
-WCCA-TV's What It’s Worth No. 478 (28:59): Movie Reviewers
>OBITUARIES: Tribute to nurse who worked at UMass Memorial for 33 years
>SPORTS: Patriots release veteran safety Jabrill Peppers in surprise move
-Patriots unveil new alternate uniform for Week 13 game vs. Jets
-Red Sox lose to Pirates, 4-2
-Red Sox release Walker Buehler to end $21 million debacle
-WooSox lose to Durham, 5-3
-Worcester Academy basketball legend joins athlete advisory board for Boston Legacy FC
>NATIONAL: Middle schoolers shielded younger students using buddy system during school shooting
-Radio Worcester (13:19): McGovern warns of capital militarization, vows to reintroduce Epstein files amendment
>TRAGIC: Bullfighter gored to death in shocking arena attack in Portugal (2:01)
>NEW ENGLAND: State Police enforcing Move Over law over Labor Day weekend
-I.C.E. has arrested more noncriminals than criminals in Mass. this year: See stats
>COLLEGES: Assumption welcomes its newest Hounds
-WPI biomedical engineering professor receives $630,000 grant for fibrosis study
>TRAVEL (brought to you by Fuller RV & Rental): 8 of the world's biggest natural arches
>BUSINESS: New inflation data factors into the Fed's interest rates decision
-LPL Financial Research: Grand ideas at the Grand Tetons
-Can a resolution be reached at Market Basket next week? (17:15)
>SHOPPING: Wayfair Labor Day sale | Save up to 80%
>HEALTH: CVS restricts COVID shots in 3 states, including Mass.
-Caffeinated coffees are mostly free of toxins, with a few exceptions
>FOOD: Kellogg's becomes first company to sign binding agreement removing toxic dyes from cereals
>TV/STREAMING: New shows & movies to watch this weekend
>MOVIES:New movies on streaming: "Together," and more
>CELEBRITY: Bruce Willis' wife reveals his "scary" symptoms pre-dementia diagnosis
-Idris Elba admits he's never watched "The Wire"
>ANIMALS: Dumped neglected dog learns to be a puppy again (1:49)
>HISTORY: What is gerrymandering? You can trace its history back to Mass.
>GOOD NEWS: Needham girl's book about cancer journey features police pup who escorted her home
-Meanwhile, Bermuda Triangle mystery solved? This scientist’s theory is making big waves (4:53)
Latest obituaries | | Friday's Highlights | | Today's horoscope | | Local Sports
Quick Links: Personalize your news | | Browse members | | Advertise | | Blogs | | Invite friends | | Videos
Animals | | Boston Sports | | Business | | Cars | | Celebrity | | Colleges | | Commute & Travel | | Crime | | Faith | | Food | | Good News | | Health | | Help Wanted | History | | Homes | | Local Sports | | Lottery | | Movies | | National | | New England | | Politics | | Shopping & Deals | | SHOWTIME! | | TV & Streaming | | Weather