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Why was there a menorah in the
Temple in Jerusalem?
Answer: The Temple in Jerusalem was
central to the spiritual life of the Jew-
ish people. Three times a year, on the
holidays of Passover, Shavuot and
Sukkot, all Jews went to Jerusalem to
celebrate the holidays. It was a place of
concentrated spiritual power and elec-
trifying inspiration.
The Temple contained various
items that were essential to the activi-
ties that took place there. One of these
items was the menorah, which was
made of one solid piece of gold. Each
of its seven branches was topped by a
receptacle that held the oil that fueled
its flames.
In the Temple, there is a special
mitzvah for all seven branches on the
menorah to be kindled on a daily
basis. This daily lighting ceremony
was carried out by a kohain and was
one of the primary daily activities in
Jerusalem. It was also a source of great
inspiration to all who contemplated its
many layers of meaning.
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Where does the name of this holiday,
Chanukah, come from?
Answer: The Hebrew word chanukah
has various meanings that are closely
related. The word Chanukah means
"education," "dedication" and "begin-
ning."
When the Maccabees liberated the
Temple from the Greeks they found
that the holiest place in Judaism had
been terribly abused and desecrated.
The Temple needed far more than
cleaning and repairs; it needed to be
rededicated. This dedication marked a
new beginning for the Temple and the
Jewish people and is the source of the
name of the holiday.
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Why do we give presents on
Chanukah?
Answer:I just want to preface this by
stating in my defense that, yes, I got
Chanukah presents when I was a kid;
no, I don't tell my parents or in-laws
not to give gifts to their grandchil-
dren; and yes, my wife and I do give
gifts on Chanukah. Having said that,
let me now answer.
The reason we give presents on
Chanukah is because Chanukah always
overlaps the Christmas season and we
have become culturally overwhelmed
by our society's obsession with Christ-
mas presents. Don't get me wrong,
there is nothing bad about presents per
se, it's just that they don't have any par-
ticular significance on Chanukah.
So who was Judah Maccabee anyway?
Answer:Two thousand years ago, one
family led by one man stood between
the mighty Greek army and the con-
quest of the Jewish people. The family
was the Hasmoneans, and the man
was Judah Maccabee.
The Greeks were different from
other empires. They didn't want just
your land, your resources and your
riches — they wanted your national
essence, your culture. The problem was
most Jews weren't buying, and the
Greeks didn't appreciate that. So the
Greeks brought pressure to bear on the
Jews. Women who insisted that their
sons be circumcised were killed along
with their babies. Brides were forced to
sleep with Greek officers before they
could be with their husbands. Jews
were required to eat pork and sacrifice
pigs to the Greek gods. The teaching of
the Torah became a capital crime.
The sages and their students went
into hiding in order to study and pre-
serve the Torah. Most Jews did any-
thing and everything to remain Jew-
ish. A period of darkness and suffering
descended upon the Jews of Israel.
And then came the Hasmoneans.
The Hasmonean family was led by
Mattisyahu and his five sons: Shimon,
Yochanan, Yehudah (Judah), Elazar
and Yonasan.
Though Mattisyahu's valor provid-
ed the initial spark for the revolt
against the Greeks, he died shortly
after the rebellion. The mantle of lead-
ership passed from Mattisyahu to his
son Judah and with that the course of
history was forever changed.
Judah Maccabee was a fearless
leader, a brilliant battlefield tactician
and a man capable of inspiring thou-
sands to take up arms in the battle for
the preservation of Judaism. It was
Judah Maccabee who conceived of
ways for the Jewish forces to outma-
neuver the larger, better equipped and
seasoned Greek army.
When at last the Jews captured
Jerusalem, rededicated the Temple and
witnessed the miracle of the oil, it was
with Judah Maccabee as the leader of
the Hasmonean family and at the head
of the Jewish army of liberationli
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