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CANADIAN   JEWISH  REVIEW
December. 17, 1965
WHAT IS CHANUKKAH? A TYPICAL JEWISH HOLIDAY
By Rabbi D. A. Baylinson, of London, England, in the Liberal Jewish Monthly
What is Chanukkah? A question asked in a 'Brains Trust' by an interested non-Jew? By a small child in the Religion School? No! The question is asked, of all places, in the Talmud! And if the Rabbis were confused in their day ... to' use their own terminology: Kal v'homer, how much the more so, may we be in our own day:
What is Chanukkah? Ask the Book of Maccabees. Why, it is .nothing more than a second Suk-kot . . . complete with the Lulav and the Hallel . . . eight days of rejoicing over the victory . . . and comparing the wandering of the children of Israel in the desert With the wandering of the displaced Jews in the mountains during the Maccabean struggle. It is a festival of thanksgiving for God's, providence.
What is Chanukkah? The answer of the Gemma, where the question is asked, concerns itself
with the story of the 'miracle'. Here wc find that which is more familiar to us . . . and which seems to have taken precedence over all others. And we are commanded to recreate that miracle in our homes, each year, by the kindling of the Menorah. Hie discussion that is most intriguing is: do you publicize the miracle by beginning with one light and graduating to eight, according to the number of days, or begin with eight and diminish to.one according to the amount of oil left in the lamp?
-What is Chanukkah? Ask a child and he will delight in telling you about the game of the dreidle, passed through many cultures. Chanukkah is the four letters on the Chanukkah top symbolizing Nes Gadol Haya Sham, *a great miracle happened there, ft is the games that are played. And since there must be some delicacy associated with the festival, Chanuk-
kah is also the latke . . . cheese or potato according to taste and tradition.
What is Chanukkah? If you ask the American child, it is a major festival that in the larger cities receives almost as'much publicity as the Christmas holiday. In the schools there is a Chanukkah play or concert side by side with the Christmas /celebration. In the stores there is a window or counter display devoted to Chanukkah. There is the greeting card, special Chanukkah wrapping paper- and decoration to be purchased. And 'Rock of Ages' may be incongruously heard amidst the familiar carols of the season. In the home there are bright decorations, often a Menorah for each member of the family, and gifts exchanged each night.
What is Chanukkah? . In Israel it is celebrated without thought of competition with another festival,
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What is Chanukkah? It is all of this. It is a typical Jewish festival. One that has grown through the ages, taking with it customs and ceremony, ritual and tradition from many cultures . . . and converting it all into a festival of specific Jewish warmth and meaning. Jews of all lands have added their own 'local colour'. But what remains is universal and eternal . .. and flows through all types of celebration , . . the words of God tlnough His prophet: "Not by might, nor by power, but by My spirit."
The fact that the Jewish festival of Chanukkah and the Christian festival of Christmas usually occur within close proximity of one another often gives rise to a great deal of confusion. Chanukkah is not the Jewish Christmas, nor is Christmas the Christian Chanukkah, although both may have had their origin in the pagan Saturnalia at the winter solstice.
Chanukkah is significant to the Jew because it commemorates the successful effort of a minority to observe its religion without having to conform to the thought and practice of a numerically superior majority. Such 'non-conformity' applies equally to Christianity as it did to Hellenism. To observe Chanukkah on one day, therefore, and Christmas on the next would appear to contradict the basic message of Chanukkah.
Equally erroneous is the claim often made by Orthodox Jewish apologists ithat Chanukkah illustrates how the Maccabees were prepared to lay down their lives for the observances of the laws of Kashtut, the Sabbath, etc. In fact, we know how they were ready to violate the Sabbath in order to defend the principle of self-determination and the right of individuals to follow their own conscience in matters of religion without interference from some despotic author-ity.
No society can call, itself truly civilised unless the rights of minorities are recognised. In such a society there is no need for any group to be coerced into following the pattern of the majority, nor is it desirable that the minority group should voluntarily ape the majority. In a civilised country a Christian'tries to be a good Christian, following the tenets and practices of his religion, just as a Jew tries to he a good Jew, following the tenets and practices of his religion.
The Rev. Paul Oestreicher reminds us that a Christian who indulges in Jcw-hatrcd is not being a true Christian, and we might well
(C�ntinu<d on P�je Sixty-Eijht)