Rabbi Joe: Hanukkah

In response to a Slate article, I spoke about this holiday in the past, which is coming up in a few days.  Looking at Wikipedia and elsewhere (including my handy Oxford Companion to the Bible) provides some background, including the usual realization that the holiday as celebrated today includes various things that were added on over the years and/or adapted from other things.  II Maccabees (there are four books here, related in subject, but not a true series)  itself references an earlier "dedication" (what the holiday means) that they were apparently patterning it on.

It is sometimes good fun for some to do things like note that the original Pilgrims were not great people in some ways, particularly somewhat after the events we usually celebrate (one person, e.g., referred to their involvement in the Pequot War, which happened fifteen years later than the landing of the Mayflower; things significantly had changed by this point).  We can play this game with the Maccabees, who might have been fighting for self-rule, but it was in large part just another of many power struggles before Rome stepped in to take over the field. 

Basically, after Alexander the Great, the area in question was fought over by Syrian and Egyptian forces (III Maccabees actually takes place earlier than the first two and involves an Egyptian leader). This led to various factions trying to get on the good side of such and such leader, which factors into the preview of the events here.  Also, money was involved -- targeting a priest (shades of Henry VIII) looks to be more as a ready source of funds than some disfavoring for religion specifically. 

Finally, "Hellenizing" (taking on Greek culture) was done by various factions.  It isn't clear that anyone was particularly trying to deprive the Jews of practicing their religion until events led a Syrian (Seleucid) king to do so more as a way to show who was boss (from Persian times, the end of the Hebrew Bible, a sort of local option approach was the norm). As I noted in my earlier discussion, "moderation in all things" might have been the best policy there.  This added fuel to the "Maccabean Revolt" (the name meaning "hammer"). The original Hanukkah was an eight day celebration to honor the rededication of the Temple; the miracle of a little bit of oil lasting eight days a myth added later. 

Whatever the origins, the holiday can still be seen as a remembrance of the importance of religious freedom. Some might use it to help the cause of Zionism or Jewish nationalism.  Many just use it -- like many cultures -- as a type of late year celebration event.  The menorah, like the creche, loses a lot of its spiritual and religious significance here and is just a symbol for the holiday.  I'm with the justices here that this doesn't mean it is so secular that official displays are no longer controversial. But, that's perhaps an argument for another day.*  Doing so using your own personal cultural and religious (or whatever) flavor is fine enough. 

I put it out there that Madeira wine could be a Christmas gift, noting it has historical significance given CJ John Marshall and others drank the stuff. One person didn't find this an overly sensible reason to pick a wine. Find that a bit lacking fun and such myself, but it's a way of looking at things. Some might not be overly concerned with deep looks at the holiday season either.  But, how I look at things, it can be of some interest and insight.

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* Christmas display cases are not in various ways deeply important, but as I said in the past, it matters to some degree:

Display cases remind us about such issues [e.g., things like "under God" provide mild but still sectarian benefits] as well as the value of not getting the government too involved with religious symbols and messages. Individual government agents might express their own views, including President Obama citing his views as to what good religious belief promotes. Religion is part of whom we are and influences political positions. But, when the government as a whole is involved, strict neutrality should be our guide. Christmas clearly has secular components, its very timing arising from pagan practices, but its religious aspects are basically none of the government's business (again, collectively speaking).

But, then complications arise, like perhaps Jewish groups want a representation of their holiday (e.g., a menorah), while others rather not. This leads me -- again without forgetting there are bigger problems out there -- to think big displays of creches, menorahs and so forth should be left to private parties.  Trying to remove every speck of religious significance from any governmental display is something of a fool's errand, but there are lines, and something like that seems to cross them.

Update:  Interesting recent article on this matter from a Jewish perspective. The debate apparently continues.