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February 3, 2012
Edmund Sanders : Israeli official says Iran is creating missile that could reach East Coast of US
Victoria Kim: Immigrant-smuggling ring used black drivers to avoid racial profiling
February 2, 2012
Jim Carney: Wrong number call may have saved her life
Reza Kahlili : Ex-CIA spy in Iran's Revolutionary Guard: What Obama doesn't grasp about striking deals with Tehran
Tina Susman: For woodchuck rescuer, every day is Groundhog Day
February 1, 2012
Brian Bennett: US officials see increasing threat of domestic attack from Iran
Emily Brandon: How to Take Advantage of New 401(k) Fee Disclosures
January 31, 2012
January 30, 2012
Paul Richter and Ramin Mostaghim: Misreading Teheran's limits -- deadly and economically devastating as they may be -- is a risk administration, Europe seem willing to take
Suzanne Bohan: Warning: Nap-deprived tots missing more than sleep, study finds
Meg Handley: Banks Revamping Rewards Programs to Woo Customers
January 27, 2012
Caroline B. Glick: Obama: Of course I intend to prevent a nuclear holocaust . . . in a few months
Yochonon Donn: In liberal New York City, fervently-Orthodox Jews may soon be getting a district to call their own
Jeannine Stein: An inflated ego and thinking you're 'all that' doesn't just make others sick of you, it can make you ill
Katy Hopkins: New budget rules may affect how much money you get for college
January 26, 2012
Ed Koch: To the New York Times, calling for the murder of Jews by those capable of having their incitement taken seriously isn't news
Jeannine Stein: Mental illness struck one in five U.S. adults in 2010: Report
January 25, 2012
Richard Simon: House passes two bills endorsing the use of religious symbols at military memorials
Fred Weir: Putin: Multiethnic Russia cannot survive as a US-style 'melting pot'; must find its own way
Susan Johnston: 5 Sneaky Coupon Strategies Consumers Should Watch Out For
January 24, 2012
Carol Clark: The price of your soul: How your brain decides whether to 'sell out'
Caroline B. Glick: America lost most in 'Arab Spring'. Sadly, many voters still don't grasp the extent
Warren Richey: Drug criminal scores win in GPS ruling from conservative-leaning high court
Erika Bolstad: Black conservatives gather to talk about gaining strength
January 23, 2012
Melissa Dribben: Jewish voters to play a key role in Florida's Republican primary
Jordan Rau: In quest to grow, Catholic hospital system will announce this morning its break from church
Ali Safi: U.S. envoy gives Taliban terms for peace talks
January 19, 2012
January 18, 2012
January 17, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney Jr.: No-kidding red lines: U.S. response to an Iranian nuke may be bluster, but Israel's won't be
David G. Savage: They sued their principals after slandering them online --- now the cases are headed to the Supreme Court
David Francis: Where to Invest in 2012: With stocks expected to rebound, opportunity abounds for investors
January 13, 2012
Ben Lynfield: Israeli lawmakers move to annex Jewish Judea, one museum at a time
Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz: Thriving through touch: Gentle massage helps older people with low mobility improve in mind and body
January 12, 2012
Warren Richey: Landmark Supreme Court ruling a 'resounding win' for religious groups
Warren Richey: Supreme Court says no to new rule on eyewitness testimony
John Fauber : Statins found to raise diabetes risk in postmenopausal women
Katy Hopkins : Consider This Before You Pay for an Online Degree
The Kosher Gourmet by Joseph Erdos: This mushroom and barley soup has an intense -- almost nutty -- flavor that mixes robust with Middle East. It has creaminess without cream
January 11, 2012
Shari Roan: Millions of atrial fibrillation sufferers at risk for devastating, but preventable, stroke
Tom Hussain: Pakistan -- recipient of more than $21 billion in civilian and military aid -- speeds pursuit of Iranian pipeline, defying US
David G. Savage: High court signals it won't be loosening TV's 'indecency' rules
Stephen Ceasar: Oklahoma's Islamic law amendment can't go into effect, court rules
January 10, 2012
Reza Kahlili: From an ex-CIA spy: US must exploit new split in Iran's Revolutionary Guard
Karen Kaplan: Study: Nicotine replacement products ineffective when used in real-life situations
January 9, 2012
Michael Doyle: Put through legal hell over dream home, couple fought back hard --- all the way to Supreme Court
January 6, 2012
January 5, 2012
Tom A. Peter: Taliban talks: In administration's push to negotiate with terrorists, was a key hurdle overlooked?
Pete Spotts: Time cloaking: How scientists opened a hidden gap in time
Karen Kaplan: Teens aren't too old to boost their IQ, study finds
January 4, 2012
Scott Baldauf: Islamist terror group giving Christians living in north Nigeria days to flee
Howard LaFranchi : An accelerating covert war with Iran: Could it spiral into military action?
January 3, 2012
Tom A. Peter: Release several Taliban leaders from Guantanamo Bay; give them headquarters as confidence-building measure?
Elaine Woo: Thomas T. Johnson, L.A. judge who ruled that Holocaust was a fact, dies at 88
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Jewish World Review
Dec. 26, 2003
/ 1 Teves, 5764
The triumph of Chanukah
By
Jeff Jacoby
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http://www.jewishworldreview.com |
Because Chanukah usually occurs in December, it is sometimes thought of as the "Jewish Christmas." It isn't, of course. And
yet it is fair to say that the reason for Chanukah's popularity — especially in America, where it is the most widely observed
Jewish holiday after Passover and Yom Kippur — is precisely its proximity to Christmas.
Chanukah used to be regarded as a minor half-holiday, cheerful but low-key. It has become something bigger and brighter
in response to Christmas, which transforms each December into a brilliant winter festival of parties, decorations, and music.
Attracted by the joy of the season, not wanting their children to feel left out of all the merriment and gift-giving, American
Jews in the 20th century began to make much more of Chanukah than their grandparents ever had. Today Chanukah is well
established as part of the annual "holiday season," complete with parties, decorations, and music of its own. Its enhanced
status is a tribute both to the assimilating tug of America's majority culture and to the remarkable openness of that culture to
Jewish customs and belief.
Ironically, Chanukah was established to commemorate the very opposite of cultural assimilation. It dates back nearly 22
centuries, to the successful Jewish revolt against Antiochus IV, one of the line of Syrian-Greek monarchs who ruled the
northern branch of Alexander the Great's collapsed empire. Alexander had been respectful of the Jews' monotheistic religion,
but Antiochus was determined to impose Hellenism, with its pagan gods and its cult of the body, throughout his domains.
When he met resistance in Judea, he made Judaism illegal.
Sabbath observance, circumcision, and the study of Torah were banned on pain of death. A statue of Zeus was installed in
the Temple in Jerusalem, and swine were sacrificed before it. Some Jews embraced the new order and willingly abandoned
the G-d and faith of their ancestors. Those who wouldn't were cruelly punished. Ancient writings tell the story of Hannah and
her seven sons, who were captured by Antiochus's troops and commanded to bow to an idol. One by one, each boy refused
— and was tortured to death before his mother's eyes.
The fight to reclaim Jewish religious autonomy began in 167 BCE. In the town of Modi'in, an elderly priest named
Mattathias — in Hebrew, Mattityahu — refused a Syrian order to sacrifice to an idol. When an apostate Jew stepped forward
to comply, Mattathias killed the man and tore down the altar. Then he and his five sons took to the hills and launched a
guerrilla war against the armies of the empire.
When Mattathias died, his third son, Judah Maccabee, took command. He and his band of fighters were impossibly
outnumbered, yet they won one miraculous victory after another. In 164 BCE, they recaptured the desecrated Temple, which
they cleansed and purified and rededicated to G-d. On the 25th day of the Jewish month of Kislev, the menorah — the
candelabra symbolizing the divine presence — was rekindled. For eight days, throngs of Jews celebrated the Temple's
restoration. "All the people prostrated themselves," records the book of Maccabees, "worshipping and praising Heaven that
their cause had prospered."
In truth, though, their cause hadn't prospered — not yet. The fighting went on for years. It was not until 142 BCE — more
than two decades later — that the Jews finally regained control of their land. Geopolitically, that was the moment of real
triumph.
But Chanukah isn't about political power. It isn't about military victory. It isn't even about freedom of worship,
notwithstanding the fact that the revolt of the Maccabees marks the first time in history that a people rose up to fight religious
persecution.
What Chanukah commemorates at heart is the Jewish yearning for G-d, for the concentrated holiness of the Temple and its
service. The defeat of the Syrian-Greeks was a wonder, but the spiritual climax of the Maccabees' rebellion occurred
when the menorah was rekindled and G-d's presence among His people could be felt once again.
Chanukah is the only Jewish holiday not found in the Bible and the only one rooted in a military campaign. And yet its focus
is almost entirely spiritual, not physical. For example, there is no feast associated with Chanukah, the way there is with
Passover and Purim, the two other Jewish festivals of deliverance. Its religious observance is concentrated on flame, nothing
more. And the menorah's lights may only be gazed at; it is forbidden to use them for any physical purpose — not even to read
by.
The lack of a physical side to Chanukah is unusual but appropriate. For the Maccabees' war against the Hellenists was
ultimately a war against a worldview that elevated the physical above all, that venerated beauty, not holiness; the body, not
the soul. The Jews fought to preserve a different view of the world — one with G-d, not man, at its center. Had they failed,
Judaism would have died. Because they triumphed, the Jewish religion survived. And from it, two centuries later, Christianity
was born.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in Washington
and in the media consider "must reading." Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
JWR contributor Jeff Jacoby is a Boston Globe columnist Comment by clicking here.
Jeff Jacoby Archives
© 2003, Boston Globe
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