Chanukah thoughts

I often get asked, "What do Jewish people do for Christmas?" The answer to this question is simple: "Jews generally don't celebrate Christmas", which is only half-true because for most of us living in Western countries, celebrating Christmas in some way is nearly unavoidable. From the school drawings of Santa Claus to candy-cane laden Christmas trees prominent in shop fronts and public squares, to alcohol-laden office parties, Christmas is all around us.

But there's a Jewish holiday which is celebrated mid-winter, too. Like a significant number of Jewish holidays, Chanukah follows the pattern "They tried to kill us, but we survived, let's eat!"

Chanukah celebrates the rededication of the Temple after the victory of the Jews over the invading Seleucid Greek King Antiochus's forcesin 165 BCE. As the story goes from the Jewish perspective, Antiochus tried to establish himself as a deity in the Holy Land, forced his subjects to worship and sacrifice to him, took over and desecrated the Temple in Jerusalem. A small band of Jewish rebels led by Judas Maccabee defeated the powerful Seleucid army through guerilla tactics, and ultimately drove them out of the Holy Land. As the Maccabees were restoring the Temple, they had only enough holy oil to supply the Eternal Light in the sanctuary for one day, but it miraculously lasted for eight days, as a sign of God's presence.

We celebrate Chanukah by lighting the eight-branched candelabrum called a menorah, adding one candle for each of the eight nights of the holiday, exchanging small gifts, eating oily foods such as doughnuts (sufganiot) and potato pancakes (latkes), playing with the spinning top called a dredl, singing, telling stories, and enjoying each others' company as families and as a Jewish Community.

Kids love Chanukah, and like other special festivals, it provides ample opportunity to spend time with special family members, and making special memories with our children as we transmit our culture to the next generation.

In my family, as in many others, we always sang heaps and as kids we loved staying up late into the night learning new songs. Lighting candles is always very special for the littlies, and it is particularly beautiful to watch the reflection of the lights in their eyes as they are transfixed by the menorah.

Maintaining our independent cultural identity was difficult in the time of Antiochus, and it's still hard today. In our time, the evil Antiochus has been replaced by the nearly irresistible force of mass media inflicted popular culture around us. And yet, we survive through perseverance, and diligently teaching our children about their heritage. It was never easy, in fact it was probably never meant to be easy, and we value our heritage all the more because of this.

Chag sameach – happy holidays.
- Dave