Chanukah

Why is there no recognition in the Hanukkah holiday of the unfinished work of the Hasmoneans? It is because during the two millennia of exile, the Jewish people were out of history – or, at least, lacking in sovereignty and political power. The Rabbis turned Chanukah into a story – a beautiful, instructive timeless miracle story – lacking the concreteness and the incompleteness that marks real world events. As a result, the classic Chanukah holiday has offered poor training and guidance for dealing with the modern Maccabbee miracle – the re-creation of the State of Israel…We live in the age when humans are god’s full agents. To overcome a nuclear threat from Iran, to mobilize a weakened and war weary United States to uphold and strengthen a depressed Israeli public is no small undertaking…It is no coincidence that parshat Miketz, which tells of Joseph’s rise to power, always coincides with Chanukah. Joseph’s work to lead Egypt through famine and danger which threatened the country’s very life, while successfully looking out for his family in Israel and saving them too, must be the benchmark for American Jewry’s task.

Irving Greenberg (Contemporary)

It becomes clear why the stories of Joseph are read during Hanukka. Joseph was hated by his brothers because of his dreams, and the source of the hatred was far deeper than mere jealousy. Joseph dreamt two dreams, the first of “sheaves of grain” and the second about the “orbs of heaven.” His father Jacob also dreamt of a ladder rooted in the earth and extending to the heavens. But despite the similarity of elements, there were key differences: in Jacobs dream, God stood above the ladder, at the very center, in Joseph’s dreams, Joseph himself was at the center. Jacob’s dream was a Jewish dream whereas Joseph’s was a Greek dream. That may well be the deeper reason for the brothers’ hatred…

Shlomo Riskin (Contemporary)

The rabbinic portrayal of the Hanukah story emphasizes the miracle of the oil rather than the miracle of the military and political victory. This interpretation reflects the pacifist image of the Jews which prevailed for 1,800 years. From the defeat of Bar Kochba at Betar in 135 CE until the rise of the Jewish militancy in the nineteenth century, Jewish history can provide long lists of scholars and poets, martyrs and saints, but very few generals and soldiers. With the fall of Betar, the last revolt against the Roman Empire, Jews lost the ability to organize and fight large-scale battles and protracted wars. It was this image of the “defenseless Jew” which the Zionists and other Jewish militants of the nineteenth century set out to correct.

Shaye Cohen (Contemporary)

The Hanukka lights encourage one to trust human beginnings and to focus one’s passions and efforts on whatever opportunities are available at the present moment. One ought to pour infinite yearnings even into small vessels. The strength to continue and to persevere grows by virtue of the courage to initiate a process by lighting the first flame. Only lamps that are lit may continue to burn beyond their anticipated life span. Only he who devotes even 15 minutes a day to learning will discover his latent powers to study and concentrate. Only he who breaks the chains of moral complacency by giving a minimal amount of Tzedakah will discover greater capacities to respond to those in need.

David Hartman (Contemporary)