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A Toast
To Jewish Living

Realizing The Quiet Strength Of Chanukah

Rabbi Efry Spectre is rabbi of
Adat Shalom and the author of this
month's To Our Readers. For each
issue of L'Chayim, a rabbi, a Jewish
educator or other notable will
present an overview of the month's
theme.

In the manner of the famous
joke set-up — There's good news
and bad news — The good news is
that Chanukah comes "early" this
year; the bad news is that
Chanukah comes "early" this year.
Because in our reckoning,
Chanukah will arrive at a time
corresponding to early December,
we shall have an opportunity to
educate our children and ourselves
before the force of department
stores, toy emporia, shopping
centers, hyped media will have
reached its full power. The meaning
of the holiday can be more carefully
considered in its own light — the
pale, insistent flames of the
chanukiah.
Because the holiday is "early,"
our children will be confronted only
with happy memory rather than
Jewish ritual and holiday activity
when television, street parades,
decorated homes will be
proclaiming the Christian festival.
The two holidays usually meet
in the calendar but that's where the
similarity ends. Chanukah is a minor
holiday in the Jewish tradition;
Christmas is a major observance.
Tapers we light on this "Feast of
Lights" may have inspired an early
Christianity developing its ritual, but
our lights remained small, not the
awesome display that Christmas
epitomizes. The words of the
Prophet Zechariah are real on
Shabbat Chanukah: "Not by might,
not by strength, but by the
spirit . .." and the small candles
capture that message.
In Israel, the newspapers carry
no special advertising section, the
magazines are not swollen with

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