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Of Miracles
And Maccabees
kathryn scott
Chanukah is less a religious festival
than a commemoration of a wartime victory.
LYNNE MEREDITH COHN
Staff Writer
n Israel this time of year, you
wouldn't even know it was
Christmas — except for one tin-
sel-decorated Irish bar in Tel
Aviv. But you also barely know it's
Chanukah time, save for the soft, sweet
sugfaniyot (jelly-filled donuts) lining the
windows of Jerusalem's bakeries.
Chanukah is a minor Jewish festival
compared with Passover, Sukkot and
Rosh Hashanah. Only in America
where Christmas pervades malls,
restaurants, homes and TV, has
L chanukah become the time for Jews
not to feel left out. Some families give
presents on each night of the festival,
while others have celebrations with
chocolate gelt, latkes and dreidels.
At this time of year, programs crop
up about Jewish pride and the secret of
Jewish survival, programs that will be
held Dec. 20 and 21 at Machon
L'Torah in Oak Park.
fi Congregation Shir Tikvah in Troy
donates hundreds of gifts to the needy,
and Congregation Shaarey Zedek's
men's club links up with the Salvation
Army to prepare meals for thousands of
hungry families.
And on Christmas Day, the Jewish
Federation of Metropolitan Detroit
coordinates a giant Volunteer Extrava-
ganza, bringing Jews to various agencies
crud homes that need the help.
It has become custom that on
Christmas day American Jews head for
a Chinese restaurant and movie — the
only places open on the Christian holi-
day. In Ann Arbor, however, Rabbi
Robert Levy of Temple Beth Emeth is
hosting an annual latke, lasagna and
bingo dinner for the congregation.
Chanukah is celebrated for eight
'clays, starting on 25 Kislev (sundown
Tuesday, Dec. 23 this year), to com-
memorate the victory of the tradition-
alist Maccabees over the Hellenistic
Syrians. After a three-year struggle, the
Maccabees, under Judah Maccabee,
conquered Jerusalem and rebuilt the
altar in the Temple that had been
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148 Pierce Street,.Birmingham •
defiled. They produced new vessels for
the Temple service, including a cande-
labrum, and according to talmudic tra-
dition, a small quantity of consecrated
oil lasted for eight days.
But, according to the Temple Beth
El monthly bulletin, the books of the
Maccabees do not mention the legend
of the oil; the eight-day holiday may
originally have been meant to parallel
the eight days of Sukkot which the
Maccabees could not observe while
they were hiding in the Judean hills.
Rabbi Dannel Schwartz of Temple
Shir Shalom says the name Maccabee
comes from the first letters of the
Hebrew prayer: "Mi Kamocha Ba-alem
Adonai" (Who is like unto Thee, 0
Lord), inscribed on the Maccabean bat-
tle banner.
Called the Festival of Lights, Jews
light a Chanukah menorah, or
Hanukkiah, adding one candle for each
night of the festival.
"Chanukah raises a lot of issues in
terms of how much do you assimilate,
how much you don't," says Rabbi
Aaron Bergman of Beth Abraham Hil-
lel Moses.
"We celebrate what the Maccabees
accomplished in terms of their victory,
fighting not only for religious freedom
but for Jews to take their religion seri-
ously," says the Conservative rabbi. "In
one way, it's a great holiday because it
breaks up the winter. In Michigan you
really need that."
There are three mitzvot that require
Jews to publicize miracles — the reading
of Megillat Esther on Purim, the Passover
seder and the Chanukah menorah, says
Rabbi Steven Weil of Young Israel-Oak
Park. On Chanukah, Jews are supposed
to place a lit menorah in a window fac-
ing the street so gentile passers-by will
know of the miracle.
"The Greeks did not physically want
to annihilate the Jewish people," but to
rid them of their spiritual beliefs, Weil
says. "The story of Chanukah is a state-
ment that Judaism, its intellectual and
moral value system, is something that's
worth dying for and something worth
publicizing." ❑
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