Bnai Moshe Joins Enrollment Plan
Hanukah Quiz
Congregation Bnai M o s h e,
Kenosha and Ten Mile Road,
By RABBI SAMUEL J. FOX
Oak Park, became the fourth
(Copyright, 1963, JTA, Inc.)
congregation in Detroit and the
z
Why is the festival Hann-
seventh in Michigan to adopt
=
kah one which lasts eight
Kr)
the National Enrollment Plan
days?
of the Jewish Theological Semi-
From the Book of Maccabees
nary of America. Adoption of
(II Maccabees 6:9, 11) it seems
the plan was approved by Bnai
that the duration of the festival
Moshe at a membership meet-
was based upon the duration of
ing, according to Norbert Rein
E-1 the feast of Tabernacle (Soc-
stein, president of the congre-
coth) which is an eight-day fes-
gation.
tival as recorded in the Bible.
Rabbi Moses Lehrman, spiri-
go It has been suggested that the
tual leader of Bnai Moshe, is
E-4 , Jews, who were under the op-
a 1942 graduate of the Seminary.
The National Enrollment Plan
e/ pressive yoke of the tyrant dur-
Why do some refer to Cha-
ing the Succoth festival and
was launched at a biennial con-
nukah
as
the
"Festival
of
I-
were thus not able to observe
vention of United Synagogue in
the festival in its proper time, Lights?"
1957. The plan envisions every
made up for this day by cele-
Josephus (Antiquities 12: 7:7) member of every Conservative
(1)
brating eight days of festivity calls it by this name. This name synagogue becoming a member
after they won the victory. A is, of course, appropriate be- of the Seminary through the
later version of the Megillat cause we kindle lights on Chanu-
Taanit infers that Chanukah is kah, because of the miracle of
observed for eight days because the lights. It is also stated that Hebrew Teachers
MI it took eight days to clean out the miracles and the salvation Body Discusses
;;,'" the temple which the tyrant had of the people of Israel comes
defiled, to get in order again to us like the light of the hori- Educator Shortage
for use as a temple. The reason I zon—without our own effort
NEW YORK, (JTA) — The
for the eight-day duration quot- I (purely by the Grace of the Al- National Federation of Hebrew
ed in the Talmud is perhaps the mighty) and suddenly without Teachers and Principals declar-
best known of all (Babli. Shabbat our anticipation—like the light ed that the only way to assure
21b). It is the one which claims ' which appears from the heavens. an adequate and continuing
that the eight days are feasted
supply of teachers for Jewish
because the tiny cruse of oil Beth Abraham Will
schools was to equalize the sala-
which was naturally sufficient I
ries and fringe benefits of He-
to last only one day lasted eight Hold Annual Meeting brew teachers to that of teach-
days by the Almighty's miracle.
Cong. Beth Abraham will ers in the public schools.
The Gaonic sources add to this hold its annual meeting and
The statement was approved
the contention that it was an Malaveh Malkah at 8 p.m. Sat- at a special convocation called
eight-day journey from the urday. The meeting is • spon- to formulate a program to alle-
source of the oil to the temple sored by the Chevrah Kadisha viate the shortage of Jewish
and thus it took eight days to (Cemetery Association) and the schoolteachers.
bring fresh oil to the temple Chevrah Mishnayos (Torah
where all the pure oil was ex- Study Society).
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hausted save for the one cruse
which lasted eight days by mir-
acle. According to Maimonides,
included in the span of eight
days was the time it took to
press the olives in order to have
fresh oil for the Temple. Joseph
Karo, the author of our Shul-
chan Aruch, in his commentary
on the Tur (Beth Joseph Orach
Chayyim 670) tells us that the
passage of eight days was neces-
sary in the original episode be-
cause the priests were impure
from contact with the dead dur-
ing the war and that it took
seven days to bring them back
to a state of purity according to
the Biblical requirement. The
extra day was the one in which
it was necessary to press the
olives and derive the fresh oil
for the Temple. The Midrash
(Pesikta Rabbati 2) indicates
The other direction of thought
points to the distribution of
coins to the children as but one
of the aspects of giving gifts on
Chanukah. Gift-giving was really
the practice at any festival. ori-
ginally. While major festivals
have other outward practices of
a major nature which distin-
guishes them as festivals, Chanu-
kah, a festival on which work is
allowed, capitalizes on this prac-
tice of gift-giving as a manifes-
tation of its nature as a festival.
* * *
payment of a minimum annual
fee of $10, and 200 congrega-
tions in the United States and
Canada have adopted the plan
since its inception.
Congregation Beth I s r a e 1,
Flint and Central Michigan Jew-
ish Community Association, Mt.
Pleasant, were the first Michi-
gan congregations to adopt the
plan. The others, in addition to
Bnai Moshe, are Bay City Jew-
ish Community Association, -Bay
City; and Adas Shalom, Beth
Aaron, and Beth Moses of
Detroit.
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that there may be yet another
reason, when it states that the
priests returning to the Temple
found eight spits of iron which
they fixed into the ground and
which they used to light the oil
lamps of the Temple.
* * *
What is the origin and pur-.
pose of the custom of "Chanu-
kah Gen?"
There seems to be two direc-
tions of thought on this ques-
tion. In accordance with one of
'them it seems that coins or the
currency was the essential phase
of this practice of giving the
children coins on Chanukah. In
olden times, and even in our
times, one of the major signs
of the independence of a country
or nation is the right and prac-
tice of making its own currency.
One of the early acts of the na-
tion of Judah after it threw off
the yoke of the oppressor, was
that of striking its own coinage
again (a few •of these coins are
preserved in museums today—
sometimes they are known as the
coins of the Maccabees). The
children are given these coins
as a reminder of this event.
There are some who claim a
practical purpose for the distri-
bution of coins or currency on
Chanukah. They claim that this
was done so that the children
would have money with which
to play the dreidel game. Others
point to the original practical
purpose of having the children
collect monies for the further-
ance of their studies, or for the
payment of the teachers (some-
times the teachers or synagogue
functionaries would go out to
nollect this).
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