Minor Holiday, Shminor Holiday

(Photo -- The House Channukia of Chez Andrews-Strasko working really hard to give some light in that darkness, 8th Day of Hanukkah, 5766. Taken from my mobile phone, I think the effects are kinda trippy.)

First of all, let's all clear up a misconception. You may have heard that Hanukkah is a "minor" holiday. Aha! The power of language! I am not sure what "minor" is translated from in other languages, but I do know that when most of us hear the word "minor" we tend to translate that as "insignificant" or "only really important in the US because we have to give gifts to our kids so that we don't hear complaints like 'Johnny and Suzi are Episcopalian and they get gifts -- why can't we be Episcopalian?'"

Not meaning to be pedantic (ok, maybe I am but I'll try to keep it 'minor') but the reason this connotively incorrect lable is applied is not because Hanukkah lacks significance, but simply because it does not carry the no-work-like-Shabbat prohibitions as do other holidays (non-minor) like Rosh Hashanah and Shavuot.

So what of it? Why does it matter?

Because I know that many of my readers are non-Jewish, and that not everyone is aware of what Hanukkah is to begin with, let me just give a brief (really, I do plan on being brief -- what, you don't believe me?) history.

Hanukkah celebrates two related events in Jewish history, one, well, historical, and one more on the miraculous side. On the historical side, in what should not be looked over as an incredible military victory, a group of guerrilla rebels in the Judean wilderness took on Antiochus IV and Seleucid Greeks, eventually liberating the temple in Jerusalem. As recorded in 1 Maccabees, "For eight days they celebrated the rededication of the altar. Then Judah and his brothers and the entire congregation of Israel decreed that the days of the rededication...should be observed...every year...for eight days. (1 Mac.4:56-59)" The rebels founded the Hasmonean Dynasty and, as seems to be the way of dynasties, became corrupt, encouraging a rethinking of the meaning of Hanukkah. Which leads to . . .

On the miraculous side, the Talmud records (in Shabbat 21b), "What is 'Hanukkah? The rabbis taught: "On the twenty-fifth day of Kislev 'Hanukkah commences and lasts eight days, on which lamenting (in commemoration of the dead) and fasting are prohibited. When the Hellenists entered the sanctuary, they defiled all the oil that was found there. When the government of the House of Asmoneans prevailed and conquered them, oil was sought (to feed the holy lamp in the sanctuary) and only one vial was found with the seal of the high priest intact. The vial contained sufficient oil for one day only, but a miracle occurred, and it fed the holy lamp eight days in succession. These eight days were the following year established as days of good cheer, on which psalms of praise and acknowledgment (of God's wonders) were to be recited." Hence the lighting of the Chanukkia (the 8-pronged candelabra most folks refer to as a "menorah" -- the channukia is specific to Hanukkah and is the preferred term -- sorry -- I know I promised to limit the pedantry,) and the eating of (yum) oily foods like latkes and donuts.

Still, why bother? I am outside the states now, and the "December Dilemma" of how to deal with the ubiquitous Christmas-ness of American culture (regardless of what Bill O'Reilly would have you believe) will have much less impact on me in the future. So again-- why bother?

Like all things Jewish, the answer can and perhaps should change every time we face the question. Up until this year, the answer for me has always been that Hanukkah is about overcoming-- that Hanukkah is a key symbol to understanding how it was that Jews faced ridiculous odds and yet survived all throughout history-- that Hanukkah represents the Maccabees and the Rabbis that resurrected Judaism after the destruction of the 2nd temple and the preservation of Judaism in the light of pogroms and the inquisition-- that Hanukkah is the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and the Righteous Persons Among Nations and the Foundation of the State of Israel and the return of Jews to Germany . . .

It is still that but so much more. Thanks to the advice of Rabbi Ted Falcon, Sandra and I not only light the Channukia but as well assign an intention-- a kavanah-- to each candle and in addition to the blessing name the intention out loud as we light each candle. We have kept each of our lists of intentions and each year this list represents its own reflection of journey and change and hope and overcoming. Tonight, the 7th night of lighting candles in Israel, Sandra and I lit a candle for tikkun olam, the healing of the world through the very real actions of our collective human hands. Hanukkah is then at this time about the very real act of seeing the world as a place that can be redeemed rather than giving it up for lost.

Chag Hanukkah Semeyach.