And it was at Jerusalem the feast of Chanukah, and it was winter. - John 10:22
The Hebrew word chanukah means "dedication" and marks an eight day winter celebration (from Kislev 25 - Tevet 3) that commemorates the rededication of the Second Temple after a small group of Jewish believers defeated the forces of assimilation at work in their world. As such, Chanukah represents the victory of faith over the ways of speculative reason, and demonstrates the power of the miracle in the face of mere humanism.
According to mainstream Jewish tradition, the story of Chanukah goes something like this. In 333 BCE, Alexander the Great conquered Syria, Egypt and Palestine, and promoted a lenient form of Hellenistic culture, encouraging the study of the language, customs and dress of the Greeks. Alexander was not necessarily bad to the Jews, and a legend tells that when he marched through Jerusalem he asked the High Priest to erect a statue to his honor within the Temple. The High Priest told Alexander that such was forbidden, though the Jewish people would construct a “living memorial” by naming all their firstborn sons after the great king. Alexander agreed to this and things went fairly well for the Jews. Nevertheless, the encounter of the Jewish people and their Torah-based ethics with the worldview of ancient Greece proved to be a traumatic shock which ultimately threatened to undermine the very existence of Judaism.
Over a century later, in 167 BCE, the ripened fruit of Hellenization began to appear in the form of one of Alexander's successors, the Syrian king Antiochus IV ("Epiphanes"), who began to openly persecute the Jews. Among other atrocities, Antiochus appointed a Hellenistic “High Priest” to the Temple, prohibited the study of the Torah, and desecrated the altar by requiring pigs to be sacrificed on it (the Jews referred to Antiochus not as Epiphanes, “God (i.e., Zeus) made manifest,” but rather as Epimanes - “the madman.”)
These outrages finally incited rebellion, and by 165 BCE the Hasmonean family of Mattathias the High Priest and his youngest son, Judah “Maccabee” (the “Hammer”), organized a revolt that eventually succeeded in evicting the Syrian-Greeks from Israel. The temple in Jerusalem was liberated but needed to be rededicated for Jewish worship.
According to later tradition (as recorded in the Talmud (Shabbat 21b)), at the time of the rededication (on Kislev 25), there was very little oil left that had not been defiled by the Syrian-Greeks. Oil was needed for the menorah to burn continually in the Temple, but there was only enough to last for one day. Miraculously, the sanctified oil burned for eight days -- the time needed to prepare a fresh supply of oil for the menorah. An eight day festival was declared to commemorate this miracle.
A Wintertime Sukkot?
Interestingly, the story outlined above derives from extra-biblical literature, as well as from the Apocrypha (Books of the Maccabees), except that there is no mention of the oil nor of the miracle of the oil in these sources. Only until we reach the time of the Gemara (the later part of the Talmud that was commentary on the Mishnah, completed around 500 AD) do we hear anything about the miracle of the oil in connection with the rededication of the Temple.
This has led some Jewish scholars to suggest that perhaps Chanukah was originally intended to be a later celebration of Sukkot, generally considered to be the most important of all the Jewish holidays, which the Hasmoneans did not have a chance to celebrate during their warfare with the Syrians.
Customs of Chanukah (Minhagim)
Regardless of the relative obscurity of the origins of Chanukah, Rabbinic tradition has instituted various rules (mitzvot) and customs (minhagim) for the observance of this eight-day festival to commemorate the Jews victory over their enemies. Among these are:
Celebrating Chanukah for eight days, from Kislev 25 to Tevet 3 on the Jewish calendar (Talmud: Shabbat 21b)
Lighting the Chanukiah, a special form of menorah designed to recall the miracle of the eight days in which the sanctified oil burned in the temple. The nightly kindling of the Chanukiah with its increasingly brighter light is a symbol of godly resistance to both tyranny and the forces of assimilation (Talmud: Sukkah 46a).
Be joyous on Chanukah and avoid signs of sadness (i.e., no mourning or fasting, except in the case of shiva [Talmud: Shabbat 21b]).
Chanukah Candle Lighting Blessings
The procedures for lighting the chanukiah (Chanukah menorah) are as follows. On the first night, set the first candle in the rightmost holder (as you face the chanukiah). Next, light the shamash (servant candle), recite the Hebrew blessings, and then light the first candle using the shamash. After kindling the first candle, set the shamash in its holder. Recite the Haneirot Hallalu (see below) and begin to celebrate!
On the second night, set the candles from right to left in the chanukiah. That is, beginning at the rightmost holder, put one candle, then put another candle in the holder to its left. Next, light the shamash, recite the Hebrew blessings, and then light the candles from left to right in the chanukiah (in other words, you begin lighting the newest candle first). Recite the Haneirot Hallalu and then celebrate!
This procedure continues until the eighth night, when the entire chanukiah is lit up:
Note: The last night of Chanukah is called Zot Chanukah, “This is Chanukah,” and sometimes includes additional meditations. It marks the grand finale of the Chanukah celebration, where the supernatural light burns brightest!
The Hebrew Blessings
When lighting the candles for Chanukah, the following blessing is said:
Blessed art thou, Lord our G-d, King of the universe, who sanctifies us with Thy commandments and commanded us to kindle the light of Chanukah.
Haneirot Hallalu - the closing paragraph After one candle has been kindled, the Haneirot Hallalu may be recited while lighting the other candles:
We kindle these lights (to commemorate) the miracles and wonders and the saving acts that You have performed for our forefathers, in those days at this time, by Your holy priests. And all throughout the eight days of Chanukah, these lights are holy, and we are not permitted to make use of them, but only to behold them, in order to offer thanks and praise to Your great Name for Your miracles, for Your wonders and for Your salvation.
Note: On Friday night the Chanukah lights are lit before the Shabbat candles (and on Saturday night they are light during Havdalah). No practical use may be made of the Chanukah lights, such as the illumination of a room: they are sacred for the occasion.
Displaying the Chanukiah
It is an old custom to display the chanukiah where its lights will be visible from the outside. Note that if you place the chanukiah near a window, the candles should appear lit right to left from the point of view of the one seeing them from outside. Many families have multiple chanukiahs, one for each child of the household, and perhaps a larger one for the entire family.
Spinning the Dreidel
The playing of games has long been associated with Chanukah. The most popular is the game of Dreidel (or Sevivon). The dreidel is a four-sided top. On each side is written one of the Hebrew letters Nun, Gimmel, Hey, or Shin. The letters stand for the phrase, Nes gadol hayah sham, “a great miracle happened there.”
The rules are simple. Each player puts something into the pot - perhaps a penny or a couple nuts. Then the players take turns spinning the dreidel. If Nun comes up, nothing happens. For Gimmel, the player gets the whole pot. For Hey, the player takes half the pot. For Shin, the player has to share, or add to the pot.
Note: In Israel, the dreidel uses a Pey for poh (“here”) instead of a Shin for sham (“there”).
Other Chanukah Customs
It is customary to eat dairy dishes during Chanukah, as well as food cooked in oil, such as potato Latkes or jelly doughnuts. Many people also exchange gifts during Chanukah or give “gelt” (coins or small amounts of money) to children. Special songs (such as Ma’oz Tzur) are also sung during this time.
In the synagogue, on each of the eight days of Chanukah, the full Hallel is recited. In addition, the Al Hanissim is included as part of the Hoda’ah blessing (of the Amidah) and Birkat Hamazon. Al HaNissim praises God for delivering the Jewish people at the time of the Maccabees. A portion is reproduced here:
"...You gave the mighty into the hands of the weak, and the many into the hands of the few, and the defiled into the hands of the pure, and the wicked into the hands of the righteous, and the malicious into the hands of those who engage in Your Torah. And You made a great and holy name for Yourself in Your universe; and to Your nation, Israel, did You grant a great salvation and liberation, as on this day. And subsequently Your children came to Your holy abode, and they cleared out Your Palace, and they purified Your Temple, and they kindled lights in the courtyards of Your holy place. And they established these eight days of Chanukah in order to give thanks and praise to Your great name."
Jesus and Chanukah
In the Gospel of John we read that the LORD Jesus was at the Temple during the “Feast of Dedication,” or Chanukah:
At that time the Feast of Dedication (Chanukah) took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly. (John 10:22-24, ESV)
During a season of remembering miracles (nissim), Jesus pointed out that the works that He did attested to His claim to be the long-awaited Mashiach of the Jewish people (John 10:37-38). His works and character clearly displayed the true Light of who He was, and these works still shine to us today. Jesus was and forever shall be the greatest Jew who ever lived upon the earth.
And of course, as Mashiach ben Yosef, our Suffering Servant, Yeshua is the Ultimate Shamash - He is our Light who enables us to shine a sacred fire of sacrificial love to the darkened outside world. Yeshua commanded “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven” (Matt 5:16). He told us that He is the Light of the world, and that whoever follows Him will not have darkness, but the Light of Life:
I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. (John 8:12)
The LORD Jesus gives us light, the very “light of life.” What does this mean to you who claim to know Him and His message? How does this impact you as His follower in this darkened age?
We are called to be part of His Temple, His Body, and at this time we should reflect on rededicating ourselves to the eradication of all that compromises us and tempts us to assimilate with the hell bound world around us.
It is only by the Light of Jesus that we gain victory over the powers of darkness, since the darkness cannot comprehend the light. When we walk in the Light, we have fellowship, unity, echdut, with one another, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against such divinely sanctioned communion. May the LORD God of Israel, the Father of the Blessed One Yeshua, help us all to behold the glory of His Light by abiding in His love! And may we turn to Him now and rededicate our own lives as temples cleansed and readied by His Spirit to honor His abiding Presence. Amen.
