JewsByChoice.Org

Hanukkah begins tomorrow night, the 25th of Kislev, which this year corresponds to December 4. As most of you reading this are undoubtedly aware, the holiday lasts for eight days, and each evening we light an additional candle in the Hanukkiah, the special 8-branched menora (+1 for the shamash). We eat foods fried in oil (latkes, sufganiot… jelly donuts), sing songs, give gifts to our children, play the dreidel game, and visit friends. It is a beautiful holiday which recalls the redemption of the Jewish People from the oppression of the Seleucid Greeks under Antiochus Epiphanes, and the miracles surrounding the recapture of Jerusalem, the reconsecration of the Beit HaMikdash - the Holy Temple - and the vial of olive oil which should have burned for a day but burned for the full eight required to prepare more of the oil. While we retell this story, break out the gelt for the Dreidel Wars, and spend time with those close to us, it is easy to focus on the joy, the story of our deliverance, even the miracles. But Hanukkah also contains a lesson about the nature of Jewish observance.

I must give credit to Rabbi Nina Beth Cardin, whose book, The Tapestry of Jewish Time, has been part of my Judaica library for years:

Rabbi Cardin points out something quite interesting in her chapter on the holiday, namely, that the heroes of the holiday set an example of walking the middle road. The Hasmoneans are often thought of as reactionary zealots who rejected in total any attempt to change, add to, or restrict the Jewish religion and culture. Yet Rabbi Cardin argues that this is not the case. I will directly quote her below, and then add some comments.

Many of the beliefs and practices that were developing in the Hellenistic culture around the time of the Maccabbees form the foundation of modern society: democracy, philosophy, science, and theater. Today Jews enjoy, study or take part in all these pursuits. So it is and has been with other places where Jews live and have lived….The challenge for Jews throughout the ages has been how to live in two civilizations: the civilization of Judaism and the civilization of our host or majority culture.

The Hasmoneans understood that it is not all or nothing. Their grandchildren’s names reveal it: Hyrcanus, for example, is a Greek name. Perhaps, then, one more miracle of Hanukkah is that Jews throughout the ages have intuitively managed to weave into the culture of Judaism certain ways of the world without losing our identity or our purpose or our Covenant with God. And at the same time, we have given the world gifts of beliefs, values and hope.

She points out further that:

Hellenism was not completely abhorred. Even the Maccabees signs of Hellenistic influence. Unlike the zealots, for example, they chose to fight on Shabbat if attacked, knowing that this one desecration was necessary to allow them to celebrate future Shabatot…. It was a bold - some would say blasphemous - decision of accommodation, one that would eventually be codified by the rabbis of the Talmudic period. In a similarly brazen move, the Maccabees declared a holiday to mark their victory, an act that was more Hellenistic than Jewish.

As citizens of the world… we are influenced by the ways of our neighbors…. The question is not whether we should be so influenced but how self-conscious are we about it and how shall we respond.

There is a lot to think about and talk about here, but in her “middle road” description of the Hasmonean response to Hellenism, Rabbi Cardin points out the reality that students of Jewish history see clearly. We have always adapted to our surroundings without losing sight of our identity as Jews. While the mechanisms for this adaptation may have varied quite a bit, Judaism has survived because it has had a built-in plasticity that has allowed it to bend and flex without breaking. Especially prior to the production of written legal codes like the Shulchan Aruch, the rabbis had ingenious capacity for adapting our life ways, our living Torah, to our environment. A Judaism too ossified to make these changes will go the way of the Sadducees, the Essenes, Triceratops and the dodo.

However, even the greenest of branches which can be turned back upon itself can still crack and snap. If the balance moves too far the other way, if the boundaries are pushed too far, the tradition is also in danger. When assimilation becomes the unquestioned norm, the default position, we lose that which makes us different, an Am Segulah with a G-d given purpose. Where is this line? As previous discussions on this blog have demonstrated, that is an unsettled question. Some feel the written codes should be adhered to strictly, others believe there is room for modern considerations to influence the rabbinically-led process of legal interpretation, while still others believe each individual Jew makes the choice in any given circumstance. Whatever the case, the continued existence of the Jewish People and Judaism depends upon our collective ability to balance adaptation to circumstance with fidelity to tradition.

As I celebrate this Hanukkah with my family and my Jewish community, I will be thinking about what this negotiation means for my life. I will also be thankful for the ability of our People to respond to the challenges we’ve faced and keep the light of our Tradition bright for our children and theirs.

Hanukkah Sameach!

Yair

Culture, Diaspora, History, Observance