Festivals...

Chanukah...

Chanukah provides just the warm glow we need in the dead of winter. Its illumination message is that miracles do happen, often when least expected.  The story of Chanukah occurred  in the year 165 CE during the time of the Second Holy Temple of Jerusalem.  When King Antiochus, the Syrian-Greek ruler of Judea, was assured by Hellenistic Jews that most of the Jewish population would welcome Greek culture (or could be coerced to accept it), he imposed outrageous anti-religious laws. Shabbat, circumcision, and the proclamation of the Jewish months were forbidden.  Next, idol worship was mandated throughout Judea, and particularly in the Holy Temple itself.  Infuriated, a small group of Jews - inspired by Matityahu, patriarch of the Hasmonean family known as the Maccabees- banded together to battle the Greek empire.  At the time. it was considered a suicide mission.  They knew they couldn't' overpower the Greek army  and its Hellenist allies.  But they felt there was no choice:  better to go down fighting for  the Torah than abandon it.  And yet they were victorious: inexplicably, unbelievably,  totally victorious.  Tales of valor abound, from the bravery of Judah Maccabee to Judith, a courageous Jewish widow who enticed a Greek general to consume rich, creamy cuisine until he fell asleep, and then promptly beheaded him (she must have  been cook!).  Her story has given us the custom of serving dairy foods on Chanukah.  It was clear to the victors that they had won only through a series of miracles, yet the most striking miracle still awaited them.  Finding just enough sanctified oil to last for one day in the Temple Menorah,  they were resigned to the fact that it would soon burn out.  But the oil burned for eight full days, long enough for new oil to be processed.  This overt miracle prompted the sages to declare the eight-day holiday of Chanukah to thank the Almighty for both the military triumph and miracle of the oil.  The custom of frying Chanukah foods in oil is a tasty reminder of this event.  Today, the eternal light of the Menorah burns in our hearts.  The warm Chanukah  lights in our windows joyfully transmit the message that the spiritual light of Torah can be dimmed temporarily, but never extinguished.

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