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Thli WIN
The First Hanukah
The Holiday's Best Wishes
By DR. THEODORE GASTER
PILGRIM HOUSE
(EDI'TOR'S NOTE: Even in regard to
the most widely-observed Jewish holi-
days., popular •, misconceptions develop
about' the origin and meaning of a
particularJewish festival. This is par-
ticularly true of- Hanukah, as Dr.
Theodore Gaster, noted authority,
points out in his book. "Purim and
Hanukah: In.. Custom and Tradition,"
Abelard-Schunian, Inc., 1950, from
which the following essay is adapted.)
C
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Many of the religions festivals
of. the world which' come to. us
as commemorations of historical
events are really expreSsive of
basic human emotions which
these events • Happen to have
evoked and focussed.'
Hanukah, the Jewish Feast df
Dedication, is of this •order.
Ostensibly, it commemorates a
historical event—the rededication
of t _ he, Temple in Jerusalem in
the year 165 B.C. The particular
story which is associated with
the festiVal is therefore the story
of how that triumph was ac-
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complished — the tales of the
heroic, resistance offered by Judah
the Maccabee and his followers
to the oppressive legislation of
the Syrian King Antiochus IV.
Back of that narrative, how-
ever, and back of the annual
festival lies the recognition of
something deeper -,-- something
which was indeed expressed in
that particular event but which
itself transcends it.
What Hanukah celebrates is
the inalienable right of human
- beings to their own character
and identity; and, in commemo-
rating the way in which that
right was once defended, the
feStival reasserts it from year
to year. For that reason, Hanu-
kah is no mere antiquarian,
relic, but an occasion of ever-
livin g, contemporary signi-
ficance.
It is important, however, that
the message of Hanukah be un-
derstood correctly. Hanukah is
not—as is so often supposed—a\
fesifYal of independence; - it is a-
festival of dedication. And the
difference is crucial.
What the festival asserts is not
the right of every man to "be
himself" and do as he pleases, but
to be a servant of God and in
that service to defy princes. The
condition of )independence is con-
secration and its hallmark is de-
votion. .
Another thing that the feStival
of Hanukah teaches is the value
of _the feW againSt the. many, of
the' weak against' the strong, of
passions against indifference, of
the single - unpopillar voice against
the thunder of public opinion.
, The . struggle which: Hanukah
ccirriti-i'emOates was ;the: struggle
Of a small band,' not of a whole
pebple. It . was a•struggle not only
against oppression from without
but equally against corruption
and complacence within. It was
a struggle fought in the wilder-
ness and in the. hills; and its
Symbol is appropriately a small
light kindled when' the shadows
fall --
The festival which Judah
the 11licabee and his followers
observed on those Memorable •
days was not; as &gain: is so
often supposed, a festival' of
victory and liberation, for they
were not so naive as to hnag-
ine that a few successes in
guerilla warfare, however sen-
sational and spectacular they
may haire been, had automat-
ically restored. the independ-
ence of the Jews or finally re,
solved' ihe political issues at
stake;
The per-pose of their celebration
was simply and solely to re-
. dedicate the House of God, and
in order to draniatize the .occa-
sion and to invest it with be-
coming dignity, they made a
point of repeating exactly the
Same ceremonies as had marked
its original dedication at the time
of Nehemiah. That event had
taken place at the . Festi'Pal of
Booths - (Nehemiah 8:13-18).
_Accordingly, although the lat-
ter festival actually fell ,nearlY
three months earlier, ifs -tradi-
tional ritual was adopted as a
precedent.' the..Ceremonies were
Kappy Wantthalt to II
New challenges now face Israel. May the ideals
which inspired the Maccabean era in the strug-
gle for freedom and for the advancement of the
highest Jewish principles be realized and may
they bring honor through a lasting peace to the
entire world.
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Leon Kay
Nathan Epstein
,
The prophetic message of Hanukah
"Not by might, nor .by power, but
by My spirit , saith the Lord of
Hosts" remains the watchword for
our time. May the Festival of the
,
"Gr e eti n gs f or Hanukah
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peace for the entire world.
st /wishes to t Le
mmunity for a Jo -ous
made to last ..eight
responding to the seven Days of
BOoths and the succeeding .Day .
of ,_Solemn Assembly; and,
appropriate thongh it was to the
season Of., the • year, throughout
that period a steady Stream of
"pilgrims" wound its way to the'
shrine, bearing the ' wreathed
wands and 4alrii bpnches (lu-
lava) characteristic of Bobths and
intoning pSalms- customarily re:
cited on that
To the-Jews' who .took part'in
them, the colorful and pic-
turesque ceremonies were at Once
a reminder and a revival of past
glories. It was as If a new
leader and redeemer had arisen,
•like Zeilibabliel- of old, to render
the :latter glory of God's House
greater than in the former, as
if all the outcast and all the lost
had been gathered one more be-
neath the shelter of its wings.
But it was. also a lesson for
the gentiles and for those of the
Chosen People who had so will,
ingly walked in the ways of the
Greeks. Thus the first Hanukah
stands out in.a clear light:. It was
at once a proud reassertion of the
Jewish faith an& 'a ringing prd ,
nukah
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test against the ways' of the
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42—DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
,
• ,
- Friday, DeceMber: 9, 1955'
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