H
N Thoughts
Igniting That Little Glow
I
am willing to bet $1,000 that you
either have or have not thought about
the following question:
Chanukah celebrates the miracle of the
lights. As the Talmud tells us when the
Maccabees reclaimed the Holy Temple
from the Greeks, they searched diligently
for olive oil that had
the unbroken seal
of the high priest,
indicating that it
hadn't been deified
by the Greeks. They
found only one
small sealed flask
that contained just
enough oil for one
night.
The Kohanim,
the Temple priests,
lit the oil from the
flask and miraculously, it lasted eight
days, until they were able to bring fresh
oil. To commemorate that miracle, each
year we light the menorah for eight days.
The obvious question is that originally
there was enough oil for one night, so the
miracle was that it lasted an additional
seven days, and therefore Chanukah
should only be celebrated for seven days.
Why, then, do we celebrate Chanukah for
eight nights?
There are literally hundreds of answers
to this question, but we will focus on one
that has a strong message for us third mil-
leniumers.
We can't even imagine the sight that
greeted the Maccabees as they entered
the Temple after the long, bloody battle
fought to reclaim the Temple Mount from
the Greeks. There, in middle of the Temple,
were altars used to bring offerings to
pagan gods.
All around them were the remains of
pagan animal offerings, including pigs,
dogs and a variety of other non-kosher
animals. The storehouses belonging to the
Temple had been looted and their contents
desecrated.
To add further insult to injury, the
Greeks had purposely broken the seals
of all the olive oil flasks to show their
contempt of the Jewish concept of ritual
purity. Shattered pottery and hundreds of
flasks with broken seals were shattered on
the holy ground.
Understandably, this sight would have
been depressing for anyone, and all the
more so for people who risked life and
limb to reclaim the place they ultimately
found so violated.
Many people would not even have
thought of attempting to look for pure
olive oil! What were the chances that they
would find it after the Greeks methodical-
ly set out to destroy it? Why exert efforts
only to be disappointed?
Yet the Maccabees, with their indomita-
ble spirit, searched every nook and cranny
in what seemed to be an exercise in futili-
ty. A miracle occurred, and they found one
tiny flask, one that would miraculously
last for as long as they needed.
This is why we have eight days of
Chanukah. On seven of the days we cel-
ebrate God's miracle of causing the oil to
burn for seven extra days. On the eighth
day we celebrate the character of those
who, against all odds, searched for the
unfindable oil!
We celebrate the people who taught us
that our job is not to calculate the odds of
success and act only when the odds are in
our favor, but to act according to what we
know to be the right thing. We celebrate
the people who showed us that we can not
get discouraged when we are faced with
enormous difficulty and small success
probabilities, who taught us to do what
we can, while we can, not focusing one the
"what ifs" or the fear failure. We must do
our job and hope that God assists us in all
that we do to help us bring our efforts to
fruition.
If we look a bit deeper, we find that the
entire story of Chanukah teaches this les-
son once again. Who were the Maccabees?
They were a small band of untrained,
unfit, scholarly priests. Who did they fight?
The might of the Greek military machine,
whose phalanxes had just overrun the
majority of the civilized world!
What were they thinking? What were
the probabilities of their success? Nil! Yet
they fought, because for them, a life with-
out Judaism was not a life worth living.
Against all odds, against a dark and pow-
erful nation they fought, and God repeat-
edly stood by them.
The message of Chanukah is more
timely now than ever. Frequently, we feel
like we are trapped in a rut, be it a spiri-
tual rut, a relationship rut, a lifestyle rut
or an emotional well-being rut. We can't
imagine our lives being any different,
we see the odds of meaningful change
stacked against us, and we just throw in
the towel.
Chanukah teaches us to light that little
candle, to begin the soul searching, to
embark on that journey and, with God's
help, our light will burn for much more
than eight days! P1
Rabbi Leiby Burnham is associate director
of the Jean and Theodore Weiss Partners in
Torah program of the Yeshiva Beth Yedudah in
Southfield.
Smoke-Free Law Languishes
S
moking killed my mom, JoAnn
Alfred, when she was just 52. I
was 27. Had she known that ciga-
rettes caused cancer and that she could
die before she met her nine grandchildren,
she would not have started smoking.
Cigarette smoke also killed Pam Klein
when she was just 49. However, unlike my
mom, Pam never smoked. Pam was a news
reporter. In her job, she was constantly
exposed to secondhand smoke. When Pam
began her career, little was known about
the dangers of secondhand smoke.
Since then, we have learned a lot. We
now know that secondhand smoke is
more than a mere nuisance. It is a killer,
accounting for approximately 38,000
deaths every year.
We now know that secondhand smoke
knows no barriers — it cannot read a no-
smoking sign. While some believe they are
"safe" when they choose the "no smoking"
section, the harsh reality is that they might
as well be sitting directly across from a
smoker.
We now know the only way to protect
consumers and employees from deadly
A38
November 29 2007
exposure to secondhand smoke is by pass-
ing laws making all workplaces smoke-
free. Last year, the U.S.
surgeon general confirmed
all of these facts.
We have all of these
compelling facts, and
yet Michigan is still not
a smoke-free state. All
around us, states and
entire nations are becom-
ing smoke-free. To date,
31 other states, including
our neighbors Ohio and
Illinois, have protected
their citizens. Seems pretty
simple. Why not Michigan?
What are our state lawmakers think-
ing? Health advocates have been pushing
this agenda for years, with no success.
Bill 4163 is still sitting on the House floor
awaiting a vote.
Gov. Jennifer Granholm is on our side
and has pledged to sign the bill if it ever
gets to her desk. All we need is the House
and Senate to pass this bill.
Those who oppose the bill have argued
the economic effect on bars and restau-
rants. However, multiple studies have
found that going smoke-free has no
negative impact on sales. In fact,
many smoke-free states have seen
an increase in revenues.
Faced with the growing amount of
positive economic evidence, oppo-
nents of House Bill 4163 are now
arguing that the government should
not interfere with business. They
contend a business should have the
choice to go smoke-free.
The problem with this argument
is that there is a point where the risk
of harm to individuals outweighs
a business owner's right to choose.
This has always been the case. That is why
builders no longer use asbestos and why
paints no longer contain lead. It is why
all of us wear seatbelts and drive without
drinking.
Clearly, we do not question that restau-
rant employees clean their hands before
preparing food. We do not complain that
bars wash a glass after it's been used. Nor
do we debate whether a restaurant should
have the "choice" to refrigerate perishable
foods. Why do we question the need to
regulate secondhand smoke — a poison
that is known to kill?
Unlike my mother, when she began
smoking, or Pam Klein, when she covered
her first story, we now know the facts
regarding secondhand smoke. For our
lawmakers to fail to pass House Bill 4163
with these facts is nothing less than irre-
sponsible.
One day, our children will be amazed
that we were ever allowed to light up in a
restaurant or bar. Let's demand that day
begin tomorrow. Please urge your state
legislator to make Michigan smoke-free by
passing House Bill 4163. I
For information, visit the Web site
www.makeMiairsmokefree.org or e-mail
the writer at sschecter@alam.org .
Susie Schechter is director of advocacy at the
Oak Park-based American Lung Association of
Michigan, where she works to keep kids tobac-
co-free. She lives in Bloomfield Hills with her
husband, Marc, and their three children.