RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL: JEWISH SPIRITUAL RENEWAL: HANUKAH TRUTHS: RABBI-GRINCH?

RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL: JEWISH SPIRITUAL RENEWAL: HANUKAH TRUTHS: RABBI-GRINCH?

 

Shalom:

 

I hope I am not Rabbi-Grinch here. We were all told the story of how the Hashmonian-Maccabees won back the Temple, found only enough oil for one day, and how they had faith, lit the menorah, and the oil lasted for 8 days. This gave them the required week to get ritually pure from being around death in battle, and then could make ritually pure oil.

 

We celebrate Chanukah by placing the Chanukeah in our doorway or window to announce this miracle which was seen by only a few soldiers. Its the only time our Rabbi's decreed we have to be public with a holiday as all other miracles had many witnesses.

 

But we also know the menorah was stolen by the Syrian-Greeks 3 years before. What were the Maccabees lighting??

The Midrash Pesikta Rabbati 2:1 teaches: ''Why are lamps kindled during Hanukkah?  At the time that the sons of the Hashmonean, the High Priest, triumphed over the kingdom of Greece, the time referred to in the verse, ''When  I raised up your sons, oh Zion, against your sons, oh Greece (Zech. 9:13), upon entering the Temple they found there rods of iron  which they grooved out and then kindled wicks in the oil why they poured into the grooves. ''

 

And what were these 'wicks'? The Hebrew soldiers had spears, long iron rods covered with tin. The tips were inserted into the hollow end of the spear. As mentioned in the Dead Sea scrolls so-called "War Scroll", soldiers would remove the tips at night, pour oil in them, and use them as lights. This book describes an end-times battle between the Children of Light versus the Children of Darkness.

 

It was these spears that were used the light the regained Temple, not the missing Menorah.

 

So what about this miracle of Oil? As discussed in ''A Spiritual and Ethical Compendium to the Torah and Talmud''  https://www.createspace.com/1000243199 ,
Hanukkah, like most other Hebrew or Jewish holidays had very ancient pagan roots. The

holiday stems from the mid winter 'light' festivals that occur during the equinox when our days get shorter and eventually reverse and get longer. 

 

The oil story, again like many of Judaism's traditions, are derived from cultures into which we assimilated. We however put an ethical-monotheistic  spin on them and made them "Jewish.''

 

We took the oil tale from the Greeks. The irony is that the Hanukah story also is about, but not often mentioned, a  bloody civil war between the Traditional Maccabees Hebrews versus Hellenist Reform Hebrews.  That a Greek story morphs into the Hanukah story, is very ironic. 

 

In Greek mythology, a few drops of oil were placed into the Goddess Athena's lamp on the

Acropolis in Athens. These drops burned for a full year.

 

If we read I Kings 17:16,and II Kings 4:1-6 we might say the story is from the miracles of oil of Elijah and Elisha.[The bin of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil run dry, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke by Elijah." I Kings 17:16 ....¹ The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha, "Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the LORD. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves." ² Elisha replied to her, "How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?" "Your servant has nothing there at all," she said, "except a small jar of olive oil." ³ Elisha said, "Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don't ask for just a few. ⁴ Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side."  ⁵ She left him and shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring. ⁶ When all the jars were full, she said to her son, "Bring me another one."  But he replied, "There is not a jar left." Then the oil stopped flowing.II Kings 4:1-6 ]

 

The eight days comes from the holiday of Sukkoth. It was a massive celebration, with a Water Drawing Ceremony. The Talmud Tractate Sukkoth chapter 5, says if you have never been to this celebration, you've never experienced joy. It was wild. Folks were soaking wet. Use your imagination. The word diaphanous comes to mind. http://rabbiarthursegal.blogspot.com/2008/08/rabbi-arthur-segaltalmudsukkothluluv.html  
 

 

We know that the Maccabees had a big 8 day Sukkah-type festival, not just from the Talmud Tractate Ta'anit, but even from archeology .

 

A menorah mosiac was discovered with places for 8 wicks. It is decorated with a lulav and a dissected etrog, all symbols of Sukkoth.

 

But to me, when I thank God each night of eight, for the miracles He did then, and for those He does now, I am a whole-hearted believer.

 

Regardless, all of our Hebrew Holidays (i.e Pesach, Shavuot), and the Jewish Rabbinic holidays like Chanukah, Purim, Lag B'Omer, etc, have spiritual and ethical meanings, taught by our sages. For Chanukah, the main one is we should increase in spirituality and never decrease. This is why Hillel's method of lighting of the Chanukeah is used (one candle the first night, two the second), and Shammai's method is not (8 the first nite, 7 the second nite).{Talmud Bavli Tractate Shabbat 21b}.

 

Shalom Uvracha and Chag Sameach Chanukah!

 

Rabbi Arthur Segal www.jewishspiritualrenewal.org
Jewish Renewal www.jewishrenewal.info
Jewish Spiritual Renewal http://rabbiarthursegal.blogspot.com
Jewish Spirituality
Eco Judaism
Hilton Head Island, SC, Bluffton, SC, Savannah, GA

 

 

Ivanka Trump Kushner with husband Jared Kusher with lulav and etrog.