Welcome to my Blog! Virtual Torah and the Real Miracle of Hannukah
Here you will find my musings on everything from talmudic discussions and torah commentaries to becoming a Rabbi in Portland and my new experience parenting. In rabbinical school I heard the talmud through my ipod, our sacred texts are now digital....read this blog and be a part of virutal torah!
What is the Real Miracle of Hanukkah?
Where is it ever recorded that Hanukkah has anything to do with miracles? We tell our children great tales of Judah Macabee. We portray to our friends at work the miraculous single cruse of oil burning for eight long nights. Staring together at the glittering flames of the Hanukkiyah we bless God she-asah neeseem la-avotaynu, who enacted miracles for our ancestors. The letters on our dreidels spin the espression "A great miracle happened there"- but where? The miracle seems to be missing. The Book of Maccabees, considered by scholars to be the most reliable historical resource on Hanukkah, tells nothing of a miracle. Upon investigating the works of the first century Jewish historian Josephus, one is unable to find any reference to a miracle. In fact the historical account of Hannukah is much less romantic than we would expect. The truth is we were not unified against one common enemy.
Since the conquest of Alexander the Great, Greek culture had become the sign of the times. Among the Jewish people there was great disagreement over how to embrace their modern world. Many sought to accept aspects of Greek culture while still remaining Jewish. Gymnasiums, statues, and Greek hats began to permeate throughout Jerusalem. There were those who would call anyone who did not speak Greek a "barbarian." Jews who opposed Greek culture voiced their discomfort and disgust with the new environment and a violent disunity festered in Jerusalem. King Antiochus, who controlled the land of Israel at that time, caught word of this strife. With a quick strategic political move he looked to stabliize his porperty and continue his Hellenistic ambitions. Since the crux of Israel's violence lied in their intolerance for one-another's form of Judaism, Antiochus banned Judaism all together. Shabbat and cirumcision were outlawed. Swine were sacrificed in the temple and an altar was built for the Greek God Zeus. The zealous Maccabees waged guerilla warfare protecting their faith and killing anyone, including fellow Jews, who embraced the modern culture.
Even though it may be difficult for us to acknowledge, the story of Hanukkha is a also a story of brutal Jewish civil war. Selfish political ambitions pointed our ancestor's moral compasss more towards fragmentation than towards the respectful expression of God's oneness within all people. Those living in ancient Judea spent more time worrying about how other Jews practiced their religion than nurturing their own relationship with a compassionate God. Instead of honing in on their own spiritual growth they lived only in comparison to one-another. Read through the lens of history, Hanukkah sheds light on the necessity for tolerance and pluralism. The real "story" of Hanukkah demonstrates the importance of defining oneself not in opposition to others but according to one's true essence.
It was the Rabbis of the Talmud, hundreds of years later who in their wisdom chose to commemorate hanukkah not in terms of war, but in terms of a miracle. Within our Talmud the rabbis related, some may say invented, the story of the lasting flames. Only enough to burn for a short while, the oil lasted for eight days burning from within. Perhaps our sages of old sensed what is needed to bring light into the darkness of intolerance. The miracle is not to find one's essence in opposition. The Nes Gadol, the great miracle, is to glow from within.
