Happy Hanukkah!

Happy Hanukkah to all who celebrate! May you have plenty of light, joy, and company to get you through the winter. Or summer. And may you all be as Covid-safe as possible.

Why Hanukkah matters by Rabbi Emily Cohen ThatRabbiCohen, via eftychia.

Hanukkah starts Sunday night. It matters this year. Maybe more than it has in decades. Antisemitism is up- not just the subversive stuff but blatant, dangerous words and deeds from elected officials, popular figures, regular folk. It hurts. And that's why this holiday matters

"But rabbi, I always heard that Hanukkah wasn't a major holiday!"

Yeah. That's right. Hanukkah isn't Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur. It's not Passover or even Shavuot. It's a rabbinic innovation without Biblical precedent celebrating a dubious miracle. And it still matters.

"But rabbi, if we make a big deal of Hanukkah isn't that just trying to make it into Jewish Christmas? We don't wanna do that!"

So don't. Don't make Hanukkah Jewish Christmas. (Not that we could if we tried.) Don't make Hanukkah about gifts or consumerism.

Make Hanukkah about light. 'Cause it is. 'Cause we made it so.

The story of Hanukkah is a story of guerrilla warfare waged by a more extremist sect of Jews on both a domineering Empire and, to an extent, less extreme Jews. It's pretty gory stuff in a pretty rough time.

Jews weren't allowed to do Jewish then. The Empire had outlawed Shabbat and other practices. Assimilation was the only way. When the Maccabees won, they retook the Temple and rededicated it- hence "Hanukkah" which means dedication. But here's where things get interesting.

The whole "miracle" story? The oil lasting for 8 nights? Yeah we added that in later. That wasn't a part of the original framing of this holiday.

"But rabbi!" you gasp, "If we added it in doesn't that make it all...fake?!"

No. It makes it all the more meaningful.

Hanukkah could have just been a military victory. It could have just been triumph over enemy forces with blood in the streets. Instead (or at least in addition), it's a story of goodness, of literal light shining in the midst of a dark passage in our people's story.

I'd like to think that on some level our ancestors (literal, mythic etc) understood that we'd need that in times like this. We'd need the hope of light when things seem grim. Not the flood lights of military might but that tiniest spark of flame that warms a whole room.

So this year, our hannukiahs (our menorahs) matter. When we light the shamash, and we transfer that flame to 1 candle, and then 2 and 3 and eventually all 8, we remind ourselves that we have the light and the strength within our tradition to outlast whatever's out there.

Light the candles each night this year and enjoy them.
Put your hanukkiah in a window so your neighbors can enjoy the light too.
Eat something fried in oil and go back for seconds.
Sing silly songs and tell the story.
Celebrate with gusto, now more than ever.

Parties, singing

Last night I went to a Christmas party at a professional Balkan singer's house, and the singing turned out to be Christmas carols. I suppose it's obvious in retrospect. I've done some caroling around a piano in the past, but these were professional singers completely out of my league. Fun to listen to!

This evening I went to a Hanukkah party, and there was an unexpected confluence of folk dancers and Balkan singers, so I got to do a little Balkan singing there. So fun! We also sang Maos Tzur, because that's part of my childhood tradition.

I wore a mask at both parties. My personal compromise between, "there's a surge, I should stay home" and, "this is life now." I was the only one at tonight's party, and one of a handful at the other. I will say, no one gave me a hard time or even asked me about it.