Why The Festival of Lights Is Remembered
There is an old joke to the effect that every Jewish holiday can be described as "They tried to kill us, we survived, let's eat." Hanukkah (or Hannukkah or Channukah or..well, you get the idea) is no exception. Tonight begins the Hanukkah festival.
After Alexander the Great died, his empire split into three parts. Egypt was ruled by the Ptolemaic kings, while Syria was ruled by the descendants of Seleucus. The kingdoms fought amongst themselves and in 198 BC Antiochus III defeated the Egyptians and incorporated Judea into his empire. At first pretty mild, after losing a battle to the Romans Antiochus required that the conquered areas become "Hellenized" or that the adopt the Greek customs and culture, including religion. The Jews refused to convert, a rebellion began led by the family of Mattathias and the Syrian Greeks were eventually driven out.
The Talmud recounts that when the Jews resumed control of the Temple in Jerusalem, it had been defiled, converted to the worship of Zeus and dirtied. Some stories have horses being stabled there. The Temple was cleaned and purified. But when the High Priest went to rekindle the Eternal Light, there was very little sanctified oil left, only enough for one night. It would take eight days for new oil to be pressed and sanctified. Surely the minuscule amount of oil remaining wouldn't last that long....but somehow it did!
So, two "miracles" are remembered: The military victory against the Syrian Greeks and the oil lasting for eight nights. The eight candles on the Hanukkah Menorah commemorate these miracles as does the spinning dreidel, which is inscribed with letters forming an acronym for "A Great Miracle Happened There" except in Israel where the acronym stands for "A Great Miracle Happened HERE."
The Talmud records the Miracle of the Oil, but Maccabees I and II make no mention of it. As a secularist, I teach the following facts which are unknown to most:
The rebellion began when an attempt was made to force Mattathias to sacrifice to Zeus. Mattathias murdered the man sent to force him to sacrifice. That messenger was not Syrian, but was a Hellenized Jew.
The rebellion pitted Jew against Jew, as many Jews had accepted Hellenism. Traditionally we only see the valiant Maccabees fighting the Syrian Greeks.
The fighting lasted for over 20 years. Again, the rebellion is typically presented as a sudden victory, miraculous in nature, with G-d on the side of the Maccabees.
Mattathias had 5 sons who joined him in rebellion, the oldest being Judah, known as Maccabee or "Judah the Hammer." The family took the nom de guerre and are known collectively as the "Maccabees." But after the victory, they founded a dynasty known as the Hasmoneans that would rule for a 120 years.
The Hasmoneans claimed not only the throne of Judah, but also the post of High Priest. This assertion of religious authority conflicted with the tradition of the priests coming from the descendants of Moses' brother Aaron and the tribe of Levi. Resistance and struggle began against this overthrow of the traditional separation of church and state.
The story of the Miracle of the Oil provides a "Divine Right" myth to support the Hasmoneans. How can you rebel against the priests who G-d has so ordained?
Originally, the eight day festival may have been a belated celebration of Sukkot (or Sukkoth or...there it is again) which was a major holiday in ancient days, but is a minor feast in the modern world. The Hasmoneans may well have co-opted this celebration for their own aggrandizement.
It is interesting to note how history repeats itself, more in the Middle East than anywhere else. 2000 years later and Jews are still at odds with Syrians.
None of this should stop anyone from celebrating Hanukkah or detract from the holiday. Go and read Kayla Steinberg's Eight Nights of Hanukah at Link and spin that dreidel!