44—THE JEWISH NEWS
Friday, December 16, 1949

Goa6t

QyQ4

Two 'Miracle Holiday Celebrations

Are Based on Common Background

"Moaz Tsur—Rock of Ages," hymn of praise for the
miracle of the Maccabean victory, and other festival
music. It is interesting to note that "Moaz Tsur,"
which . originated in the 13th century, has been sung
to a variety of melodies, and the tune presently in
use is adapted from an old German folk-song. The
same melody was used by Luther.for a German chorale
and was printed, with harmonies by Bach, in a Lon-
don hymnal published in 1875.

Great Miracle
Happened There'

By RUTH L. , CASSEL

Midwinter ' might be called the season of
miracles.
The Christian community is busily—if some-
what commercially—preparing to commemorate
what it believes to be the miracle of the birth of
Jesus, with • the celebration of Christmas.
The Jewish community began, last night, to
celebrate Hanukah—the anniversary of one of
the acknowledged miracles of history, the vic-
tory of a handful of valiant Maccabean warriors

against the powerful Syrian armies, climaxed by the
legendary wonder of the cruse of sanctified oil. •
Belief -in either of these miracles requires more
than a materialistic or ritualistic interest, however; it
requires faith. The multitude of customs and cere-
monies which have grown up around these holidays
are a popular demonstration of that faith. -
* * *
WHILE CHRISTIANS and Jews separately enjoy
their distinctive festival celebrations, few of them are
aware that their holidays have a common foundation
in 'the pagan celebrations of the winter solstice.
Among early peoples who observed the mid-winter as
the season of the renewal of the sun, parent of fer-
tility, were the Druids, Scandinavians, Romans and
Egyptians.

Most of these early celebrations revolved around
the sun or some man-made form of light, a probable
explanation for the emphasis on light in both
Hanukah and Christmas customs. Early Egyptians
claimed that Horns, son of Isis, was born at the
close of December, and, therefore, celebrated a mid-
winter festival. The followers of Mithras called this
period the feast of "sol invictus," representing the
time of victory of light over darkness.

440.1110

-

In Rome, there was great emphasis on the Satur-
nalia, a holiday in honor of the Italian deity Saturnus,
who taught the arts of agriculture, and was dedicated
to welcoming the germinating impulse of nature. This
festival lasted from Dec. 17 to 24 and was marked by
'processions, singing, lighting candles and giving pres-,
ents.
*
*
CHRISTIANITY AND JUDAISM are, in a way, in-
debted to each other for their great winter festivals,
Jesus, of course, was born and grew up a devout Jew.
To the early Christian church Judaism owes its his-
torical record of the story of Hanukah. The facts of
the first war for religious freedom are found only
in the Books of the Maccabees, in the Apocrypha.
That volume, although similar in style to the Scrip-
tures, was compiled at a later date. Lost to the Jews
for many years, it was rediscovered by Early Christian
scholars.
Modern evidence of Christian recognition Of the
importance of the Hanukah story is found in such
artistic works as Handers renowned oratorio "Judas
Maccabeus," and Longfellow's great dramatic poem,
also named for the heroic leader of those forerunners
of the Haganah.
The forthcoming Christmas celebration has been
put before the community via every conceivable pub-
licity media for many weeks. Hanukah, while having
considerably less general ballyhoo has, we sincerely
hope, been awaited w tih as much excitement in Jewish
homes, as the songs and story of the festival are re-
peated in the religious schools, the Hanukah symbols
appear in the home, and a flurry of gift shopping re-
sults in closet shelves piled high with intriguing, blue-
and-white-wrapped packages.

*

*

PRIMARY SYMBOL of the Feast of Light is the
Menorah, with its slim orange candles recalling the
cruse of oil which, miraculously, lit the sanctuary in
ancient Jerusalem for eight days, after Judas Macca-
beus' armies had driven out the Syrian despoilers.

For many centuries it was the custom to light
candles both within and without the house on
Hanukah. Lamps were set up near the door lead-
ing to the street, to light the way of the traveler;
when a house had doors on several sides there were
lamps at each entrance. Only in case of danger of
persecution were the Menorahs placed indoors.

, !MP

The Menorah itself, like almost every Jewish cere-
monial object, has gone through many stages. At the
earliest Hanukah celebrations it was often made of
clay or rudely shaped metal, with shallow basins for
oil, in which a wick was lit. Later, still using oil, the
lamps were made of copper or brass, decorated with
designs of lions, vines. pomegranates, eagles, six-point-
ed stars and other favorite Jewish symbols. Today's
wax Hanukah tapers stand in a candelabra of silver or
brass (tin and chrome also are available, though less
"yontifdik") which may be either of the symbolic de-
sign or shaped to fit into modernistic surroundings.
*
*
FOLLOWING THE RECITATION of the blessing
over the candles, many families, join in singing "Ha-
neros Halolu," the hymn of the Hanukah lights,

Since it is customary not to do any work in the
light shed • by the Hanukah lamp, Jewish families
through the ages devised games and dramatics as
means of entertainment on festival evenings. One
of the most popular games is still played with the
trendel or dreidle, pictured at left, a four-winged top
of metal, wood or, in recent years, plastic. The
dreidle is embossed with four Hebrew letters—Nun,
Gimel, Hei and Shin, which stand for "Nes Godol
Hayah Sham—A great miracle happened there."

In most households, the Hanukah celebration would
be incomplete without the exchange of Hanukah gifts,
often the traditional "Hanukah gelt." Gifts of money
at this time became popular more than a century ago,
when it was the custom for the father to distribute
Hanukah gelt to the children, they, in turn, to pre-
sent gifts to their teachers. In many European com-
munities, groups of students knocked on doors on
Hanukah, pleading "Buy us a little bread." They
were collecting food and sweets for a banquet to cele-
brate review time in the schools—which may, perhaps,
have been the inspiration for non-Jewish children's
"Help the Poor" cries at Hallowe'en. The community
treasury always provided Hanukah gelt for poor chil-
dren.

GIFT-GIVING TODAY. is such a prominent part of

the Hanukah celebration that Jewish publishers and
manufacturers have finally come forth with appro-
_priate wrappings and decbrations. Hanukah seals,
paper, ribbon, greeting cards and other gift acoutre-
ments are all available, bearing the symbols of• the
festival—the six-pointed star, the Menorah, the lion
of Judah and the elephant, with which Antiochus'
Syrian armies. had hoped to vanquish Judas and his
followers.

Like all Jewish
festivals, Hanukah
has its character-
istic dishes. What
J e w i sh household
can g o through
eight days of Ha-
nukah without at
least one platterful
of crisp p o t a t o
latkes? These pan-
cakes have come to
be indisputably
identified with the
holiday, although
the origin of the
This 1 8th century silver Ha- connection is some-
nukah lamp is from the col- what
obscure.
ection of the Jewish Museum, Latkes are appar-
New York.
antly considered a
dairy dish, and dairy dishes, particularly cheese,
also are served on Hanukah. This practice is drawn
from the story of Judith which is generally asso-
ciated with the Feast of Light.

—

Judith was a young girl of the besieged city of
Bethulia, who decided to risk her life in a bold at-
tempt to rescue her people. Stealing out of the city,
she managed to obtain an interview, with the enemy
general, Holofernes. She entertained him, gave him
cheese cakes to eat, and plenty of wine. When he be- -
came drunk, she decapitated him and brought the
head back in a sack. Their commander dead, the
enemy lost courage and fled before the Jews. Thus
Judith became a heroine and one detail of her brave

story seems to have been the basis for a widely-ac-
cepted food custom.

*

*

IN ADDITION TO THESE home celebrations, it

has become customary for the entire Jewish commu-
nity, and individual Jewish organizations, to sponsor
parties and programs at this season. Although Ha-
nukah is more a historical than a religious holiday,
the candle-lighting ceremony is introduced in the
synagogue and special services usually are arranged.
The dramatic story of Hanukah is excellent mate-
rial for countless plays and pageants which serve as,'
entertainment at community celebrations. Parties ‘-\
featuring games of chance also are popular, as ex-
pansions of the dreidle game.

IN ISRAEL, observance of Hanukah becomes par-
ticularly meaningful. The first citizens of the young
state have often been referred to as "the modern
Maccabees," whose untiring struggle for freedom close-
ly parallels the centuries-old story on which the holi-
day is based.
The community aspect of the Hanukah celebration
has unlimited scope in Israel. Throughout the week
of the festival the countryside is dotted with tall
Menorahs, each denoting the site of a village or set-
tlement. In the cities, it has become customary for
the students to organize processions through the
streets, which are culminated by public, open-air
demonstrations.

One of the most recent reports on Israelis'
Hanukah celebrations tells of a change in the tra-
ditional lettering on the dreidel. Instead of a
"shin," the fourth letter is now a "peh," for the
Hebrew word "Po." For the modern Maccabees, the
dreidle stands for "A great miracle happened here!"
Despite all the merriment and pleasure possible in

the full observance of Hanukah, a realistic discussion
of its celebration today must acknowledge that the
practices described here are not universal and that,
most unfortunately, there are numerous Jewish' homes
where other customs—altogether admirable in their
proper locale, but scarcely acceptable in a Jewish en-
vironment—are common.
*
*
*
IT IS NATURAL for Jewish children, stirred by the
bustle of preparations for Christmas which they see
all about them, to be curious about the customs of
their schoolmates. Some parents, however, seem to
be under the delusion that their children must ape
their neighbors in all ways—even to the celebration
of Christmas.

This writer was one of the fortUnate children to
whom Hanukah was made so vivid that Santa Claus
was no more than a fixture in a department store.
Some of the facts written here were drawn from
books, especially for this purpose, but most of them
are permanent fixtures in my memory, established
there during a childhood in which Hanukah parties
were more important than birthday parties, and to
light and bless the Hanukah candles was a prized
privilege. -
I was particularly lucky to have, as well, a close,

pleasant contact with the Christian celebration, since
my best friend for many years was a Catholic girl.
She often came to play by the light of my Hanukah
menorah, just as I went to inspect her Christmas
tree. While we admired each other's gifts and symbols
and beliefs, I was always secretly a little sorry for
her—she had to concentrate her merriment in one
day, while I had eight whole days of Hanukah cele-
brations, with gifts on every night.
*
*
*
IF THIS HEALTHY exchange of interest in beliefs
and customs, combined with a sincere- emphasis on
our own practices, were to be multiplied by thousands
of families, what wonderful understanding might be
found between peoples, as they learn a new respect
for the varying customs that have grown out of their
common heritage.
Goodwill Towards Men might then become a fact,
rather than a phrase on a greeting card, and this
would, indeed, be a season of miracles.

This drawing. shows a
"Temple dedication
scene" at the Hanukah
celebration s t a g e d, in
1880 by the Young Men's
Hebrew Association of

NeW York, now known as
the 92nd St. YM-YWHA.

Held annually at the
Academy of Music, the

fete attracted consider-
able public attention.
This woodcut, depicting
the dedication of the tab-
leau, central feature of

the Hanukah celebration,
appeared in Leslie's
weekly magazine, taking
up a full 9" by 14" page

in that widely-read New
York publication of the

last century.

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