Dateline Jerusalem — Sunday night will begin the eight-day observance of the most popular holiday in Israel, albeit a minor one. Chanukah, Hanukah, Chanukkah, Hanukkah, Channukah, Hannukah, has about 10 more spellings! All are attempts at spelling a Hebrew word in English, which means anything goes. I could stand on a street corner in Israel and all four street signs will have a different spelling of the street’s Hebrew name translated into English.
The word Chanukah only requires five Hebrew letters. The first three spell “Chan,” which is Hebrew for “they rested.” The next two stand for the numbers 20 and 5.
Together the letters mean “on the 25th day of Kislev they rested from their enemies.” The Hebrew word Chanukah also means “dedication.” It commemorates the re-dedication and re-capture of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem from its Greek-Syrian oppressors. The holiday is the Festival of Lights or Festival of Miracles because the famous Chanukah miracle was that although there was only enough pure olive oil to burn for one night, and it took eight days to prepare non-polluted olive oil and to make new holy vessels, the olive oil in the menorah (candelabra) actually burned for eight days and nights!
Jews have an age-old saying, “We were persecuted, we won, let’s eat!” Chanukah is the perfect example. Chanukah is celebrated by eating fried foods and cheese, symbolic for the miracle of the oil that burned eight days and nights, and for the Chanukah heroine Yehudit (Judith) who saved Israel from its Greek-Syrian oppressors. What a woman. She courageously went into the enemy camp and fed Gen. Holofernes cheese, which made him thirsty. Plying him with wine, she knew he would get drunk. Seizing his sword, she beheaded him and displayed it in a nearby town. When his soldiers saw the head of their leader, they got scared and fled. Therefore, Israel was saved. Cheese dishes became a symbolic food for Chanukah. So are latkes (fried potato pancakes), Israeli sufganyot (deep fried jelly doughnuts), and svinge (Moroccan crullers) cooked in oil. Twenty-four million jelly doughnuts are eaten in Israel every Chanukah. No matter how good they are, I still miss U.S. doughnuts.
What is food without a musical accompaniment. Therefore while dancing in a circle, we sing, “Chanukah, oh Chanukah, come light the menorah, let’s have a party, we’ll all dance the hora (an Israeli dance). Gather ’round the table, we’ll all have a treat, sivivon (Hebrew word for dreidels in Yiddish or spinning tops in English) to play with, and latkes to eat. While dancing, the candles are burning low, one for each night, they shed a sweet light to remind us of days long ago. In the States, Chanukah is celebrated by lighting colorful candles on the Chanukah menorah (chanukiah) for eight nights. Though more traditional Jews do it the Israeli way by lighting wicks that float in olive oil filled glass holders on the chanukiah instead of candles.
Spinning tops and playing the game of Dreidel is another Chanukah activity. The dreidel has four sides, each with a Hebrew letter. In the States, one side of the dreidel has the Hebrew letter “shin,” which stands for “a great miracle happened there.” In Israel the dreidel has the Hebrew letter “peh,” which stands for “a great miracle happened here.” The Syrian-Greeks, defilers of the Holy Temple, would not allow Jews to learn Torah so they would have to study in secret. Therefore, children would pretend to be gambling with their dreidels when enemy soldiers came by.
As with every Jewish holiday, giving tzedakah (charity) is an important aspect. In Israel and religious Jewish homes around the world, parents give their children Chanukah gelt (money) as their Chanukah gift. Children are taught to give the money they receive to needy people. They might give away real coins, but they do get to keep coin-shaped chocolate candies wrapped in gold or silver foil for themselves to eat. Yet in the States, rarely did I see children give away their Chanukah presents to charity. In the States, Jewish children would receive presents for each night of the eight nights of Chanukah. As a child, I remember going to a public school in a Jewish neighborhood and the PTA would decorate a white Xmas tree with blue bulbs and call it a “Chanukah bush.” I imagine this was a way in which U.S. Jews would assimilate into the American culture and compete with the observance of Xmas, a holiday often occurring around the same time as Chanukah.
Yet, the holiday of Chanukah is about fighting for the right of religious observance of Torah laws, and about anti-assimilation. Not only did the Greek-Syrians forbid Jews from circumcising newborn sons, observing Shabbat, and from obeying kosher dietary laws, they forced Jews to eat pork, accept idol worship, and assimilate into a secular and anti-religious Hellenistic lifestyle. Therefore, I never could understand why so many secular, non-religious, and Reform Jews today make this minor holiday into such a major one. These often are the very same Jews who want to assimilate into other cultures and religions, adopt non-Jewish traditions and rituals, and who often believe Torah laws are obsolete today, everything that is opposite of the meaning of Chanukah.
Wishing my Jewish family, friends and readers a happy, healthy, and safe Chanukah.
L’hitraot. Shachar