HOLIDAYS
OZZIE NOGG
Special to The Jewish News
I
t's Chanukah time! We all
know the characters and
the plot. Wicked An-
tiochus vs. the brave Mac-
cabees in a struggle for
religious freedom. The victory
of the few over the many. The
Temple rededicated! The
miraculous cruse of oil! What
more can be said?
Let's retell the eight day
festival that began Dec. 11.
Maybe we'll find something
new.
After Alexander the Great
conquered Palestine, Greek
culture and customs swept
the land. By 176 BCE, when
Antiochus IV became king,
Hellenism was the vogue,
helped in large measure by
the Jewish High Priests
themselves.
The priests built gymnasia,
ignored their sacred duties
and encouraged the Jews to
adopt Greek ways. Many
aristocrats and intellectuals
were so seduced by Greek
culture they seemed ready to
give up their Torah and even
their God.
Of course, many Jews
resisted, from students and
teachers to farmers and a par-
ticularly pious group of Hasi-
deans (not to be confused
with the Chasidim of later
days).
Antiochus had his own pro-
blems. The unification of his
polyglot kingdom was prov-
ing difficult, so he turned his
frustration on the Jews,
determined to shove
Hellenism down their throats.
He sacrificed pigs in the 'Thin-
ple, banned kashruth, and
outlawed circumcision and
ew Insights
A retelling of the familiar Chanukah
story reveals some new insights.
the observance of Shabbat.
Hundreds of devout Jews
were martyred rather than
betray God's command-
ments. A revolt was in the
making.
The revolt started in
earnest when Mattathias the
Hasmonean killed a fellow
Jew who was about to bow at
a heathen altar. Mattathias
and his five sons fled to the
hills, where they were joined
by Hasideans and other
"zealots:' For three years, this
rag-tag army, led by Mat-
tathias' son, Judah the Mac-
cabee, battled the Syrian
legions. In 165 BCE, the
Maccabees recaptured
Jerusalem, reclaimed the
Dmple, built a new altar and
on 25 Kislev three years to
the day after Antiochus pro-
faned it, the Temple was re-
dedicated. For eight days the
people celebrated in the man-
ner of the Feast of Booths.
They carried branches and
palms and recalled how they
had been fugitives in the
mountains. Then they
decreed that all Jews should
keep these eight days every
year.
What's wrong with this pic-
ture? There is no mention of
the oil! The miracle is mis-
sing!
According to the above his-
torical account from Mac-
cabees I and II, Chanukah is
celebrated for eight days
NOT because a cruse of oil
miraculously burned longer
than expected but because
the Jews (who couldn't pro-
perly observe Sukkot while
fighting the Syrians in the
hills) were NOW able to
observe a feast of rededica-
tion patterned on Sukkot —
the festival, by the way, on
which both the 1st and 2nd
Temples were originally
dedicated.
So why the "oil story," and
how did Chanukah become
the Feast of Lights?
, Among the theories:
(1) Originally the festival
marked the winter solstice.
The Egyptians tried to rekin-
dle the sun by burning oil
lamps outside their homes all
night, and the Jews, also
yearning for light at this
darkest time of the year,
simply copied their neighbors
and this pagan ritual wound
up, centuries later, as candles
in the winter-time festival of
Chanukah.
(2) The candles are minia-
ture versions of the huge,
flaming menorot and bon-
fires used in early Sukkot
celebrations.
It was up to the rabbis to
bring God into all these
theories, and about 300 years
after the Maccabean victory,
the legend of the oil was born.
Here's the scenario, as found
in the Gemarah.
"What is Chanukah?" ask
the Rabbis. They answer that
the Chanukah feast starts on
25 Kislev and lasts for eight
days. They mention the Mac-
cabees (briefly) and go on to
describe the discovery of the
one pure cruse of oil and the
divine miracle that followed.
In a few sentences, the rab-
bis reduced the Maccabees to
bit players and made the
miracle of the oil, symbolic of
God's endless wonders, the
star of the show. They
reminded the people that
Judah and his men didn't win
on their own and that nothing
comes without God's help.
Scholars feel that this down-
playing of the Maccabees
reflects the rabbis' distaste
for the celebration of military
victories and their disap-
proval of the later Hasmo-
neans. Although Mattathias
and his sons fought for Jew-
ish survival, their descend-
ants adopted Greek ways,
abused their power, and op-
pressed their own people.
So this year, when you light
the first candle, rethink the
Chanukah characters and
plot. Antiochus and the Mac-
cabees certainly head the bill.
But remember the assimi-
lated, Hellenized Jews who
played a part in the things
that befell us.
Remember, also, the Has-
moneans, who ended up fight-
ing among themselves and
with other Jews over who was
more priestly, more royal and
more right.
During the week, remember
that as we add each addi-
tional light we grow in
holiness. When the lights of
Chanukah increase, said
Hillel, the light of Judaism in-
creases to dispel the darkness
of the world.
Finally, when all the
candles are blazing,
remember the cruse of oil. It
has burned far longer than
eight days. Despite enemies
from without and enemies
from within, the flame of
Jewish survival has never
gone out.
And that is the true
miracle. 0
Ozzie Nogg is a writer in
Omaha, Ne.
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
47