The Significance of Hanukah
The full story of the events
which led up to Hanukah is
found in the First Book of Mac-
cabees in the Apocrypha. An-
other source which was popular
for many centuries was a spe-
cial scroll known as "Megilat
Hachashmonaim" or "Megilat
Antiochus." It is believed to
have been written originally in
Aramaic, and was later trans-
lated into Hebrew. During the
Middle Ages, this megillah was
read in many south European
synagogues on Hanukah, as the
Book of Esther is read on
Purim. Today, it is still popu-
lar as part of the Hanukah lit-
urgy among the Yemenite Jews.
r40
,
"Haneirot Halalu," the original
text of which is also alluded to
in the same chapter of Masechet
Soferim. An excellent transla-
tion of this short portion, which
is part of the candle lighting
ritual, is found in "Ha-Siddur
Hashalem" of Birnbaum (p.
710) : "We light these lights on
account of the miracles and
wonders, triumphs and battles,
thou didst perform for our
fathers through the holy priests
in those days, at this season.
The megillah was first printed
in an old machzor published in
Salonika. The Hebrew of the
scroll and details about its
origin is found in the commen-
tary to the "Seder Abodat Yis-
rael" compiled by Isaac ben
Aryeh Joseph Dov, (the popu-
larly known Baer Siddur). The
Scroll of the Hasmoneans is
also published in the Daily
Prayer Book of Philip (Paltiel)
Birnbaum, with an exception-
ally fine English translation.
The -original Aramaic text, with
the Hebrew printed side by These lights are sacred through-
side, is available in the "Sefer out the eight days of Hanukah;
Hamoadim (Volume V). There we are not permitted to make
are authorities who express the any use of them except watch-
view that the scroll may have ing them, in order to praise Thy
been written even before' the great name for Thy miracles,
Thy wonders and Thy triumphs."
Book of Maccabees.
After lighting the candles, a
The origin of the Hanukah
spirited hymn, "Maoz Tzur"
observance is given in a crisp,
(Rock of Ages), is sung by
short comment in the Talmud
the person who lights the can-
(Shabat 21b): "When the Has-
dles. He is joined by mem-
moneans prevailed against the
bers of the family and others
Greeks, they searched the
Witnessing the candle lighting. •
Temple and found only one
This poem was written about
cruse of oil which lay there
800 years ago by a certain
untouched and undefiled, in-
Mordecai who presumably
tact with the seal of the high
lived in Germany prior to 1250.
priest. This cruse contained
The name of the author is
sufficient oil for one day's
given in the initial letters of
lighting only; but a miracle
the several stanzas of the poem
was • wrought therein, and
which alludes to the deliver-
they lit the lamp with it for
ance of the Jewish people from
eight days. The following
the Egyptians, Babylonians,
year, these days were ap-
Persians and Hellenic Syrians.
pointed a festival with the re-
The music for the poem was
cital of Hallel and thanks
adapted, it is said, from an
giving."
old Teutonic folk song.
The tradition to recite Hallel,
The poem caused difficulties
the Psalms of thanksgiving, on for some Jewish communities be-
festivals, has prevailed to the cause of its strong words against
present. The special praises are
Israel's enemies. As a result
recited as part of the Shacharis
many prayer books omitted the
service each morning during the
last stanza. In the 15th century,
week of Hanukah. It was an
Rabbi Israel Isserlin suggested
ancient rite to recite the Hallel
omitting parts of the song. In
on the various festivals (Ara-
"Leket Yosner" we read "After
chin 10).
singing `Haneirot Halalu' one
Although Hanukah is not a sings `Maoz Tzur,' and at times
Torah festival since it occurred with omissions." This was done
after the canonization of the because many times in Jewish
Bible, the Jewish view of tradi- history, the words of the last
tion has given the holiday a stanza were given current sig-
status as one divinely ordained. nificance and the officials or
This is to be noted in the bless- royal personages the words may
ing which is recited before kind- allude to were offended.
ling the Hanukah tapers:
When the Hanukah candles are
"Blessed are Thou, 0 Lord our
kindled in the Synagogue, • Psalm
God, King of the universe, who
XXX is recited as part of the
has made us holy by Thy com-
ceremony. The Psalm itself has
mandments and has commanded
been explained variously by the
us to kindle the light of Hanu-
Rabbis. The Psalm starts off with
kah." The text for the benedic-
the title "A Song at the Dedica-
tion is found in the Talmud
tion o _ f the House," which is a
(Shabbat 23A). The benedic-
most appropriate expression in
tion is also mentioned in Mas-
honor of the rededication of the
echet Soferim (Chapter VI, Hal-
Temple which Hanukah symbol-
acha 6).
ized. However, the body of the
The candle lighting ceremony Psalm is fundamentally a hymn
is followed by the recital of of thanks for recovery from a
,
Detroiters at Jewish. Illuseum:
O
severe illness. Many commenta-
tors explain the text to be a
thanksgiving song by one whose
life was endangered by power-
ful foes. Other commentators say
it applies to Israel's national life.
It is probable that it was used
at the dedicatory ceremonies of
the Second Temple (Ezra VI, 16).
Many authorities are certain that
it was used at the rededication
of the Temple presided over by
the Maccabees.
Another item in the liturgy of
Hanukah is the recital of "Al
Hanisim." The formula for this
insertion into the daily Sh'moneh
Esrai is found in Masechet Sof-
erim (Chapter XX, Halacha 8).
Here again the exceptionally fine
Birnbaum Siddur offers a fine
translation (page 91).
Rabbi Joseph H. Hertz, in his
magnificept commentary on the
Daily Prayer Book, points out
that this Hanukah prayer gives
special prominence to the mira-
cle of the spiritual revival of
Judaism. "The prayer," writes
Rabbi Hertz, "is a summary of the
story of the Maccabees, but it
stops with the reconquest of the
Temple. It passed over in silence
the military glories of the many
years of warfare that followed,
as of altogether transitory im-
portance." (Authorized Daily
Prayer Book, page 151.)
Each day of Hanukah the
Torah is read. The Pentateuchal
selection on each of the eight
days is taken from Numbers,
chapter 7. Three persons are
called to the Torah during the
weekdays of the holiday. The
law to read this section on Ha-
nukah is found in the Mishnah
(Megillah 111,6).
The eternal message of Ha-
nukah is found in the Haftorah
or Prophetic reading of the
Sabbath occurring during the
holiday. "Not by might, nor
by power, but by My Spirit,
saith the Lord of Hosts,"
(Zechariah IV, 4) is the key-
note of the Festival of Lights
which reminds the world of
man that success depends not
upon the strength of human
power but upon the spirit of
God.
Special poetical insertions are
added to the Hanukah Sabbath
morning service. The first is
"Odechaw Kee Awnafta," a poem
written by Joseph ben Solomon
of Carcassonne during the 10th
century. This religious poem is
based on the Books of Maccabees
and Judith.
Another poem is "K'vodo Or
Yazriach," in which a prayer is
offered for Divine light, alluding
to the lesson of Hanukah. Jos-
eph ben Solomon is also the au-
thor of "Sh'nei Zeitim," another
Sabbath Hanukah religious poem.
Drawing on Zechariah Chapter
IV, 3: 14, the poem is a vibrant
prayer for the re-establishment
of Zion, the Temple service and
the priestly cult. At one time,
this liturgical poem was sung to
a tune similar to that of "Maoz
Tzur."
Still another poem, "Ein Tzur
Chaylef," also by Joseph ben
Solomon written in an obscure
style, concludes the special in-
sertions.
When a second Sabbath oc-
curs during Hanukah, as it does
this year, several other liturgical
poems are inserted into the syna-
Shown here in the Lecture
Room of the Jewish Museum in New York are members of the Adas Shalorn Caravan who
recently spent a three-day week-end at the J ewish Theological Seminary of America. The
Detroiters attended several Seminary classes, participated in students' services and exam-
ined the care objects at the Museum where the lecture was delivered by Miss Rena Lee,
assistant curator of the Museum..
gogue service. "Odechaw Kee
Anee-sa-nee" was written by
Menachem ben Machir of Regens-
burg in the eleventh century. It
describes the difficulties of the
Jews during the Maccabean pe-
riod.
"Amtzo B'Tokafe," in which
an acrostic of the name Abraham
is found, offers a description of
God's powers, again an allusion
to the idea of Hanukah. This is
followed by "Asher Yatzar" writ-
ten by Ephriam ben Isaac in
By Harry Cushing
(Copyright, 1955, JTA, Inc.)
which a hope is expressed for the
restoration of the Temple. Me-
nachem ben Machir is also the
author of "Ein Moshee'a" which
describes the cruelties of the
Greeks against the Jews during
the Maccabean period.
Memories evoked by the ob-
servance of Hanukah—memories
of heroism, loyalty and devotion
—always spurred Jews to renew
their fidelity to their great tra-
ditions so as to be a light and art
exemplar to the world.
Princeton, N.J.—Many Jewish Gifts
Princeton, N. J., home of
Princeton University, has at-
tracted numerous Jewish donors
to valuable institutes and col-
lections.
Daniel and Florence Guggen-
heim established the famous
Guggenheim Jet Propulsion Cen-
ter, for aeronautical research.
Louis Bamberger of Newark
and his sister, Mrs. Felix Fuld,
endowed the Institute for Ad-
vanced Study. The Institute's
School of Mathematics is in
Fuld Hall, where Dr. Albert
Einstein worked. Dr. Abraham
Flexner was the Institute's first
director, and the present one is
Dr. Robert Oppenheimer.
David Sarnoff Research Cen-
ter was named in honor of the
45th anniversary of the e n -
trance in the radio field of the
NBC president.
There are 300 Jews in Prince-
ton. They have a Jewish Cen-
ter. There is a Jewish book
collection in Princeton's Theo-
logical Seminary.
Bayonne, N.J.Its Population Is Reducing
About 15 years ago, Bayonne, tions were reduced for three
N.J., had a Jewish population ap- years to provide the funds that
proximating 15,000. Today there were used for the Center.
There also is a Workmen's Cir-
are 9,000 Jews there. The city's
entire population has declined cle Lyceum — the Arbeiter Ring
always having held a command-
from 120,000 to 90,000.
ing position here.
Bayonne has a number of syna-
Over the Kill-Van-Kull River,
gogues, all Orthodox, except for which separates Bayonne from
one Conservative—Temple Eman- Staten Island, is the famous steel
uel—and the newest addition to arch span, the longest in the
congregational movements — the world-1,675 feet—built by the
Reform Beth Am.
world famous Jewish bridge
Bayonne's Hebrew Schools are builder, Leon S. Moisseiff, who
a consolidation of all the pre- also was a Yiddish. editor, a
viously-sponsored competing founder of the New York Ke-
schools.
hillah_ and a member of the edi-
This city has a new Jewish torial board of the Jewish Pub-
Community Center. UJA alloca- lication Society.
The Eight Jews of Palestine
There are only eight Jews in
Palestine, Texas, that is.
The town with the intriguing
name is on the road to Mexico,
and bears no resemblance at all
to its Biblical counterpart.
The town actually bears a much
closer link to a settlement with a
similar name in Illinois, rather
than the Palestine almost 8,000
miles distant.
The town umbers 12,455 people,
many of whom are related to the
original 200 settlers who came
there in 1883 from Palestine, Ill.,
attaching the same name to the
new settlement for sentimental
reasons.
The Jewish residents include
a 71-year-old lawyer and his
mother, 94, three widows and a
couple who own a shoe store and
their child. At one tim the town
had a larger Jewish population
and maintained a synagogue.
When many of the Jewish
townspeople moved to the larger
cities in pursuit of economic .,op-
portunities, the synagogue was
sold and transformed into a
church. A Jewish cemetery still
exists for residents and neighbors
of nearby communities.
N.Y. State Commission Bans 'Churches
Nearby' Advertising by Hotels
NEW YORK, (JTA)—The New
York State Commission Against
Discrimination has ruled that a
a New York State resort hotel
advertising "churches nearby"
has violated the State Law
Against. Discrimination and must
discontinue the use of that
phrase, the American Jewish
Congress reported.
The ruling was set forth by
Commissioner J. Edward Con-
way after an investigation con-
ducted by him on a complaint
field by the American Jewish
Congress. The complaint was
lodged against Alfred M. Eisen-
bach doing business as Black-
head Mountain Lodge, a resort
hotel located near Cairo. N.Y.
The resort included in its news-
paper advertisement a reference
to the fact that there were
"churches nearby." The hotel
also in response to an inquiry
about its guest policy had re-
plied that it was "a Christian
place."
Commisioner Conway ruled
that the resort hotel must aban-
don in all advertising, whether
by brochure, newspapers, peri-
odicals, letters, or orally, the use
of the phraseology "churches
nearby" and similar language
which suggests any restrictions
because of race, color or creed.
The Conway ruling also requires
the hotel to maintain for a year
a record of all correspondence
in relation to accommodations,
including all cases of accommo-
dations denied, as well as a full
register of guests, and all adver-
tising copy. According to Com-
missioner Conway, Eisenbach has
agree to comply with the ruling.
WCJ Parley Discusses
French Anti-Semitism
PARIS, (JTA) — The growing
anti-Semitic movement in France
was the major point of discus-
sion at the two-day meeting of
the national council of the French
Section of the World Jewish
Congress. The anti-Semites are
rallying around the Poujade
movement, originally launched
as a protest against taxation of
small businessmen.
Other subjects discussed were
the situation of Jews in North
Africa and Israel's crisis. The
conference concluded with a re-
ception for French Grand Rabbi
64 — DETROIT JEWISH NEWS Jacob Kaplan and Israel Ambas-
sador Yaacov Tsur.
Friday, December 9, 1955