Chanukah: How Do We Get it So Wrong?

 Here's another surprise from our member Rabbi Steven Ettinger, who asks if we have missed the point of Chanukah completely. 

Since our early childhoods we all have a special fondness for Chanukah. What a joy! Presents – perhaps on all eight days, and maybe even more from grandparents and aunts and uncles and friends – an absolute bonanza. Then there are the latkes and sufganiot. Add on high stakes games of dreidel, parties, and festive meals and we have a holiday quite different from the typical “shul-fest.” Even the sole ritualistic element, lighting the menorah, in many homes where each child regardless of age participates with their own, is not a burden but an expression of love and appreciation.

If we dig deep enough, we can find many reasons, not a single uniform one, for each of these practices; the gift giving and dreidel game, the particular foods and even the many aspects of lighting the menorah itself.  However, unlike on Pesach when our various practices are intended to provoke questions that lead to opportunities to teach – or more importantly, to educate through an experiential process – on Chanukah all we seem to do is indulge ourselves and the children.  What is the source for all these practices?  What is the real story of Chanukah?  What happened?  Why is it so important?

Perhaps one of the issues for us, as adults, regarding Chanukah, is that we still approach it with the eyes of our childhoods. For us it is still the story of the brave Yehudit defying the Greek general and the seven sons of Hannah refusing to bow to Antiochus; of Matityahu calling out “mi la’Hashem e’lai” to rally the Jews to fight the Greeks who had defiled the Temple, and of the Maccabees who led Judah and waged a guerilla war to defeat them with a handful of men. Then, of course, there is the miracle of the one jug of oil lasting eight days. In our minds, this all led to the declaration of the annual holiday that we celebrate with our menorah lighting and all the other wonderful, meaningful and joyous customs.

However, history and reality do not quite match this narrative.

At that time Antiochus IV, the Seleucid king, was enthusiastically welcomed by many Judean Jews. He installed a man named Yeshua (Jason) as Kohen Gadol (in place of his older brother). He incorporated Greek culture into Jerusalem. A more assimilated Jew, named Menelaus, bribed his way into the position and introduced idolatrous practices into the Temple – including sacrificing unclean animals. The first day the mizbe’ach was used for such worship was…. 25 Kislev! It is doubtful that the date is a coincidence.

About two years later, Matityahu, with the family name Hashmonai, instigated a rebellion against NOT the Greeks (Yevanim) but against the assimilated Jews/Hellenizers (Mityavnim). After Matityahu died, his son Yehudah assumed leadership.  Since he was a great warrior, he was given the nickname Makabee, the Aramaic word for hammer. The rebels were never called Maccabees.  That name became attached to these heroes when the two books of the Maccabees were canonized as a part of the Christian Bible!

When the Hashmonaim regained control of Har Habayit and the Temple from the Hellenizers, they were not concerned with the menorah. The mizbe’ach had been defiled.  If you recall, the mizbe’ach is constructed from stones and the mityavnim rendered the current ones unfit. On 25 Kislev, the same day that two years earlier the actions of Menelaus disqualified it, they rebuilt it with new stones. This is the actual Chanukah the “chanukat hamizbe’ach” (rededication of the altar). Once they rebuilt the mizbe’ach, they made a strategic decision. Since the most recent chag for which they had not brought korbanot was Succot/Shmini Atzeret, they decided to celebrate for eight days and to compensate those offerings (this is actually expressly written in II Maccabees 10:5-8, although I hesitate to rely on it as the definitive source. However, I do note that Beit Shammai explained that the order of candle lighting corresponds to the korbanot brought on the eight days of Succot/Shmini Atzeret).

So, have we gotten Chanukah all wrong? In fact, the Rabbis did not institute the mitzvah of lighting the menorah on Chanukah for another two centuries, which was well after the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash.

Fundamentally, as with many other aspects of our religion, the Sages faced a nearly insurmountable challenge: how to provide the foundation and structure for our faith and ritual, to provide hope for future generations and to assure survival and continuity after the destruction of the Temple and the devastation wrought by the Romans. They wove the fabric of today’s Judaism – daily prayer, the written teachings of the oral tradition, the superstructure of Rabbinic ordinances, and holiday rituals such as how to utilize the arbah minim the fifteen aspects of the Pesach seder, and the mitzvah and mystique of Chanukah.

Bringing light into the home and stressing the primacy of traditional Judaism over Hellenism and paganism, during the darkness of exile, was a most important and appropriate symbol. Moreover, by adding an eighth branch to the seven of the traditional Menorah, the Sages were commemorating past glory and foreshadowing future salvation.  The number seven represents the natural, teva. Eight is beyond nature, le’maala min hateva. Thus (i) they needed to highlight a miracle narrative (the one jar) and (ii) they needed to move the focus away from the mizbe’ach and the korbanot and direct it toward the Menorah. As we can see, they succeeded.

Bottom line, we do not get Chanukah wrong. The Rabbis simply wanted us to celebrate a different version: Chanukah 2.0.

“Chanukah, Oh Chanukah”

"Oh Chanukah" (also "Chanukah, Oh Chanukah") is an English version of the Yiddish song "Oy Chanukah”. The English words, while not a translation, are roughly based on the Yiddish. The lyrics are about dancing the hora, eating latkes, playing dreidel, lighting the candles and singing happy songs.

Here's another joyous rendition of this cheerful song by our member Max Stern, arranged for unaccompanied women's voices

The Two Stories of Chanukah: How a Military Victory Became a Spiritual Revolution

The following is a Devar Torah from our member Rabbi Paul Bloom, abstracted from videos by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks and Rabbi Yitzchak Breitowitz.

As Chanukah is here, it is worth revisiting a story many Jews think they know well—but which, in truth, exists in two very different versions. One is almost entirely absent from Jewish liturgy; the other is the one that shaped our festival for more than two millennia. To understand this transformation, we begin with a surprising historical fact: the story of Chanukah is not recorded in Tanakh. 

I. What Didn’t Make It Into the Bible 

The Tanakh—was canonized by a group of Sages during the Second Temple era. They decided which books were “in” and which were “out.” Some books that nearly didn’t make it in include Kohelet, whose existential gloom troubled the rabbis, and Esther, which some feared might provoke antisemitism. Conversely, some works that might have seemed obvious candidates did not enter the canon. 

Among these were I Maccabees and II Maccabees—the two principal sources of the historical Chanukah story. These books do appear in Catholic Bibles, but not in ours. Why not? We will return to that question. First, what do these books actually say? 

II. The Chanukah Story According to the Books of Maccabees 

If you read I Maccabees, you find

• ·       A detailed narrative of military triumph.  
• ·       The decrees of Antiochus IV Epiphanes, who banned Jewish religious practice and desecrated the Temple.
• ·       The revolt led by Mattathias and his sons—most famously Judah the Maccabee.
• ·       The defeat of the Seleucid Empire, one of the greatest military powers of the ancient world.
• ·       The purification and rededication of the Temple.
• ·       The establishment of an eight-day celebration.

It is a stirring account of courage against overwhelming odds. But one thing is missing.

 There is no mention—none at all—of the miracle of the oil.

II Maccabees, meanwhile, explains the eight days differently: that year, the Jews had been unable to celebrate Sukkot in Tishrei because of war and defilement. Therefore they celebrated a delayed Sukkot in Kislev—an eight-day festival marking the Temple’s rededication. 

In the entire Apocrypha, no oil miracle appears. 

III. The Earliest Rabbinic Source: Suddenly, the Oil Miracle 

The first text to mention the miracle is Megillat Ta’anit, an ancient scroll listing days on which fasting is forbidden because of national joy. There we read: 

When the Greeks entered the Temple, they defiled all the oil. When the Hasmoneans prevailed, they found only one cruse sealed by the Kohen Gadol enough for one day. A miracle occurred and it burned for eight days. The next year, they established an eight-day festival of praise and thanksgiving. 

Here, remarkably, the great military victory is reduced to a single subordinate clause.

The spotlight has shifted. The emphasis is no longer on military triumph but on the miracle of the light. What happened? 

IV. Why the Books of Maccabees Were Excluded 

History offers an answer. After the Maccabees won their independence, they founded a ruling dynasty—the Hasmonean kings. At first heroic, over time they became: 

•       Politically overreaching: They made themselves both kings and high priests—violating the ancient Jewish principle of separating religious and political authority.
•        Culturally Hellenized: Ironically, the very people who fought Greek domination gradually adopted many Greek practices.

 The rabbis were deeply troubled. A dynasty that began with purity and faithfulness ended with corruption, internecine conflict, and assimilation. Within a century of independence, Roman general Pompei marched into Jerusalem (63 BCE), and Jewish sovereignty ended. For the Sages, the military victory—once glorious—had become tainted. They refused to canonize the self-written chronicle of rulers who ultimately strayed from Torah values. Thus I and II Maccabees remained outside Tanakh. 

V. The Destruction of the Temple and the Attempt to Abolish Chanukah 

Fast forward to the year 70 CE, when Rome destroyed the Temple. Some rabbis argued that Chanukah should be abolished.  Chanukah commemorates rededicating the Temple, but now the Temple lay in ruins.  Would celebrating its rededication not be painfully ironic? In the town of Lod, a public fast was even declared on Chanukah, effectively canceling the holiday. Two great Sages—Rabban Gamliel and Rabbi Yehoshua—rushed to protest. They publicly violated the fast (by bathing and taking haircuts) to demonstrate that the decree was invalid. And Chanukah was saved. But why? Because by then, the Jewish people no longer saw Chanukah as primarily a military celebration tied to the Temple’s physical fate. Its meaning had shifted. 

VI. From Military Victory to Cultural and Spiritual Triumph 

The rabbis realized that Chanukah contained two victories: 

• The Military Victory. This was a brave but short-lived period of political independence, lasting less than 100 years. 
• The Cultural-Spiritual Victory. This was a victory of Jewish identity, Torah values, and stubborn spiritual light over the seductive brilliance of Hellenistic culture. 

The Greeks were extraordinary: masters of art, philosophy, mathematics, athletics, architecture. Their culture shaped Western civilization. But Judaism was something different: verbal rather than visual, spiritual rather than physical, ethical rather than aesthetic. Chanukah became a celebration of Jewish distinctiveness—the refusal to disappear into the surrounding culture. Once the military victory faded from relevance, the miracle of the oil emerged as the perfect symbol: a single flame of Jewish identity that refused to be extinguished. 

VII. What Makes Chanukah Unique 

Chanukah is the only Jewish festival: 

•       That is recorded in extensive non-Jewish historical sources, because it marked the beginning of the Greek Empire’s decline and Rome’s rise.
•       That survived because its essence transformed from political to spiritual meaning.
•       Whose central miracle is not in the earliest sources—but became the core of the holiday for millennia.

 VIII. The Enduring Message 

The Hasmonean military victory lasted less than a century. But the spiritual victory has lasted over two thousand years. Empires rise and fall; cultures flourish and decline. But the tiny light of Jewish faith—often fragile, often challenged—endures beyond all historical turbulence. Chanukah teaches us that the real battle is not on the battlefield but in the realm of the soul: 

•  To remain who we are.
•  To resist cultural erasure.
•  To embrace our mission even when the world pulls us elsewhere.
•  To keep the flame burning. 

And that flame—against all odds—still shines today.

Jewish ‘rock’ music: Maoz Tzur

"Maoz Tzur" (מָעוֹז צוּר) is probably the best-known and most frequently sung of our festive piyyutim. It is an integral and memorable part of our nightly ceremony for lighting the chanukiyah. The words are believed to have been written in the 13th century in the Ashkenazi Jewish communities of the Rhineland valley, in the aftermath of violence from the Crusades and blood libels. 

The author of the lyrics is anonymous, but the original Hebrew text includes an acrostic of the name Mordechai in the first five stanzas (there are six in total, of which the last is a later addition). As for the tune, it is widely believed to be based on a German folk tune or battle song from the 15th or 16th century.

To hear a version of “Maoz Tzur” for women’s voices, arranged by none other than our member Max Stern, click here.

Chanukah in Jerusalem 2024

A special city, a special festival -- and here's a 20 minute video to record how Jerusalem, our eternal capital, has marked Chanukah this year. This is another production by our member Heshy Engelsberg (thanks, Heshy!) and it very much reflects his trademark style. You can enjoy it by clicking here. Warning: this is a highly calorific YouTube clip, with close-ups of some delicious-looking latkes and a number of spectacular full-frontal doughnut shots.

There is also a seasonal flavour to Heshy's Old City Chanukah Tour, which you can access here. This video is shorter (11 minutes 45 seconds) and considerably lower in calorific content. Enjoy!

The wonder of it all! Though the eyes of a child: Chanukah 5785

Now there is not much new or brilliant left to be said about the holiday of Chanukah, right? I think that maybe many old and grizzled rabbis like yours truly would probably agree with that statement. Over sixty years of writing and speaking about Chanukah should pretty much exhaust the topic, shouldn’t it? But then again that would be selling Chanukah short. 

There is always a fresh insight that illuminates all the holidays of the Jewish year and Chanukah is certainly no exception. Reminiscing with myself (something that we senior citizens do often) about my own life and past, I was amazed that somehow a lawyer from Chicago ended up being a rabbi in Jerusalem. How did this happen? And how did the Jewish state itself happen—not in terms of history, facts, personages, dates, places and wars but in the amazing fact that such a state flourishes and progresses in spite of all odds, past and present, against its existence? 

The rabbis of the Talmud taught that people to whom wondrous things occur do not really recognize those events as being wondrous. It is part of the weakness of human nature to have such limited understanding. There has to be a flash of insight, a commemorative act, a tradition of being able to look past the trees to the forest, a spirit of almost childlike wonder in order for the amazing to truly be believable in the eye and mind of the beholder. I think that this is essentially how we have to look at Chanukah – as the historical event, as the commemoration of that event and of the traditions and customs that so endear this eight day festival to all of Israel. 

Jewish tradition and the rabbis of the Mishnah took an astonishing event that many people would view as being ordinary or natural, restoring it to its truly wondrous state. The story of Chanukah is that of a small and apparently weak nation overcoming a mighty army. It records a triumph of monotheism and Jewish tradition over pagan culture and practices, of the small, pure lights in the Temple that overcame the flaming torches that were far from pure, and of the vitality and resilience of Israel over those who would wish to snuff it out. It is all wondrous—but only if one views it all as being so. 

The rabbis in their holy perspective of Jewish life and events elevated the mundane and seemingly ordinary to the realm of the miraculous and eternal. That is basically the main lesson that Chanukah teaches us: we are a special people who live a miraculous existence with constant wonder surrounding us, yet it is all encrusted in seemingly natural and ordinary occurrences. 

To delegitimize the story of Chanukah and to treat as just another ancient war of the Grecian period is the same tactic that the world uses today to delegitimize the State of Israel and our rights to our ancient homeland. If the wonder of it all is lost and forfeited, then so is our struggle for existence and independence.

Perhaps more than other holidays of the Jewish year, Chanukah is a children’s holiday. Tradition allows even the youngest to light the Chanukah candles, to play dreidel, to taste latkes and sufganyot, to have time off from school and to observe the holiday through the eyes and senses of a child. Children still retain their sense of wonder and imagination. Their world is not usually bound by the practicalities, realism and occasional pessimism of their elders. Everything in life is still new and unexpected, worthy of curiosity and examination. Theirs is yet a magical world, even a spiritual world, viewed from a different plane of perception and thought. 

Chanukah is thus the perfect holiday for children for it requires this perspective: to be made wondrous, miraculous and thereby meaningful and beneficial. Chanukah is not for the jaded and empty spirited. Its candles flicker only for those that see the fire of Torah, tradition and morality that lies beneath their small surfaces. One who is privileged and able to see the wonder of the events that occurred to us “in those days” will also be able to discern the wonders that we encounter daily here in Israel “in our time.” 

Shabbat shalom and Chanukah same’ach, Rabbi Berel Wein

Miracles then, miracles now: Chanukah 5785

Tonight we begin to light our chanukiyot to mark the miracles of Chanukah. So this week we feature two divrei Torah from Rabbi Wein on Chanukah, as well as a devar Torah on parashat Miketz.

Chanukah commemorates miracles that happened to our ancestors in previous times but at this time of year. Miracles are ever-present in our lives and in world events. A miracle, in human terms, can be defined as an unexpected and unforeseen occurrence that benefits an individual or society at large. This definition removes miracles from the realm of superstition and occult powers, making them part of our natural everyday world. It is just simply that events occur of which we were unaware or which we never really believed would occur. This is certainly the case for the miracles of Chanukah. Even though the main miracle that we commemorate is truly a wondrous event (the fact that oil in the lamp should have sufficed only for one day but lasted for eight days), this is not the only miracle that the holiday marks. In the special prayer to commemorate the holiday, we record other wondrous events that occurred to our ancestors at this time of year: in substance, the weak overcame the strong, good triumphed over evil and the few were victorious against the many. All these things qualify as being miraculous even though they were brought about through human effort and were seemingly part of the natural course of events. This point really helps us understand the true nature of what we humans call miracles. 

Our holiday prayer acknowledges the miracles that the Lord performed for us long ago in our struggles and wars against the Greeks. We understand that, in all wars, unforeseen events occur and that, both on the level of the individual soldier and of the general outcome of the war, there is adequate scope for people to feel that miracles occurred. However, on a deeper level I think that the fact that the small band of Jews who were still devoted to Jewish tradition and Torah values actually went to war for their spiritual survival is itself to be judged as being miraculous. Good people are often peace-loving, being averse to violence and certainly war. The good therefore tend to let themselves be persecuted and intimidated by evil forces rather than stand up and fight for their values and their survival. Chanukah teaches that there are times when our survival spiritually as a people – as the chosen people – depends on our willingness to fight for our cause and our future. When that happens, it is natural to feel that this is all part of the rational world which we supposedly inhabit. However, again on a deeper level I think that such a response borders on the miraculous and that the prayers of this holiday reflect this in a most positive and clear fashion. 

We too live in miraculous times. There is no other way that we can characterize the events of the past century of Jewish life except by recognizing the miraculous and even supernatural guidance that has steered us through this turbulent period. We are living examples of the Talmud’s statement that one who experiences miracles does not recognize the course of events as being especially miraculous. But, based on rational expectations and patterns of history, no event that has befallen the Jewish people over the past century can be considered normal or rational. One such event is that, through the presence of the state of Israel, the Jewish people rose up to defend their faith and national destiny and, for the first time in millennia, actually took up arms to defeat enemies who sought our destruction. This is part of the story of age-old miracles that are relevant and alive in our time too. The message of this holiday is subtle and enduring. We should be cognizant of our miraculous status and be grateful to the Almighty for having allowed us to see this as we participate in our own modern ongoing miracle. 

Shabbat shalom and Chanukah same’ach, Rabbi Berel Wein

Gevalt! It's Gevura

 Last Wednesday, in partnership with OU Israel, we hosted our Yom Iyun in preparation for Chanuka. This event, appropriately branded 'Gevura', was an intensive morning program on Jewish heroism from the time of the Chashmonaim until today. A full house was treated to five presentations, including contributions from our own two rabbis, Rabbi Wein (see photo on the right) and Rabbi Kenigsberg. 

If you could not attend the Yom Iyun—or did attend it but want to relive the experience—we are now delighted to be able to share with you the links to the five presentations. They are as follows:

“The flames of history and the light of destiny”, Rabbi Yaakov Glaser here

“Chanuka—a celebration of the power of Torah”, Rabbi Anthony Manning here

“Service and sacrifice—the heroism in life and death of Maoz Morell”, Eitan and Varda Morell here

“Total victory? The miracle and meaning of Chanuka”, Rabbi Joel Kenigsberg here

Rabbi Berel Wein’s closing remarks here

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Since posting the above, we have received a personal account by our member Pessy Krausz, who attended Gevura. She shares with us the following impressions:

Rabbi Joel Konigsberg, opening this event before an eager audience of participants in our increasingly packed hall, commented that, in contrast to other festivals, we celebrate Chanukah during the darkest, coldest nights of the year. We celebrate our progression out of the darkness of living under pressure to assimilate, into the light of our victory of resistance. Finally to find pure oil after an arduous hunt for it was like receiving a kiss from Hashem. And we too felt our hearts touched by inexplicable miracles in our Swords of Iron wartime situation.

Rabbi Yaacov Glaser followed with a lively presentation backed by a superb handout, The Menorah of Chanukah: The Flames of history & the Light of Destiny. He commented on Aaron’s special role in lighting the Menorah and focused on it as a transcendental, universal symbol. On Pesach we are defensive, running away from enemies; on Shavuot we accept the Torah. Then on Chanukah we show how we initiate. Refusing to accept our Temple’s defilement, we courageously search for pure oil. Small wonder then, that Israel bravely does not accept what others impose on us.

Rabbi Anthony Manning, backed by a well-researched handout, Halachic and Hashkafot Issues in Contemporary Society; Chanukah: a Celebration of the Power of the Torah, opened a fascinating window into the Book of the Maccabees. This work describes how the Jewish people, despite being so few in number, were roused to face their many enemies, this being reminiscent of our combat situation in the current Swords of Iron campaign. Chanukah is also a time of transition from reliance on prophecy to the era of the Chachamim, our Elers, achieving continuity while transmitting the ‘Light of the Torah’ throughout the generations.

Rabbi Berel Wein focused on the brave Nachum Gam Zu, whose name reflected his famous saying, “Gam Zu LeTovah” (“Even this is for the Good”). Maintaining this attitude though he experienced enormous physical suffering and the dangerously imminent arrival of brutal Roman soldiers. When faced with the likely collapse of his flimsy house, Nachum Gam Zu refused to leave saying, “While ever I am here there, my place will remain intact”. Rabbi Wein compared this to the security of Medinat Yisrael. While ever we are here, our country will remain intact. Most of the audience, being olim themselves, clearly share the view that we are partners in securing the safety of our beloved country.

Varda and Eitan Morell then movingly described the gevura of their son Staff Sargent Maoz Morell, who tragically succumbed to wounds sustained fighting in Gaza. Despite being a person of few words, he nevertheless left a heritage through his practical deeds. One of the sayings he had shared with soldiers under him one has been converted to a sticker that recalled the few calls his parents were able to make to him. His response (roughly translated from the Hebrew) was “All’s well with me – That’s it – My update!” Said his mother: “Maoz was killed as a hero fighting our enemies … because of people like him, going and doing what they need to be doing, they’re making sure that something like what happened with the Nazis will never be able to happen again”.

Indeed, “Never again”, the participants murmured.

In sum, this Yom Iyun has given us the courage to face traumatic events while being more aware than ever of the miracles of Chanukah. We’ll endure and win together with insight, Gevura and, dare we say, Latkes!  L’Chaim! Am Yisrael Chai!