The inherent theme of Hanukkah resonates even more strongly today

RABBI ANDREA GOUZE

One of my favorite Hanukkah songs is “Light One Candle,” written by Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary fame. He captured the true essence and meaning of the holiday through his lyrics. The chorus is: “Don’t let the light go out! It’s lasted for so many years! Don’t let the light go out! Let it shine through our hope and our tears.”

Hanukkah, which was originally a minor holiday that the rabbis of the Talmudic period initiated as a way of celebrating the historic victory of the Maccabees over the Greeks, has become more significant over the past few years because of the themes inherent within the holiday.

The Maccabees were fighting for their right to practice their religion against the Greek edict that required the Jews to adopt Hellenistic beliefs and incorporate the Hellenistic values and lifestyle. While there were Jews for whom that was not a problem, the Maccabees understood that if they all obeyed, Judaism would cease to exist as a civilization; we would have become absorbed into the larger Greek culture.

By celebrating Hanukkah, we are affirming our right and our pride in being Jewish and as such, each year as we light the candles, we are also re-dedicating ourselves to our commitment to be Jews and to live our lives as Jews. The rabbis, when they set the rituals for its observance, all stated that we are supposed to place the menorah in a window for everyone to see (except when times were too dangerous to do that). As such, they were connecting the ritual with this value of pride and affirmation of our Jewish identity.

Our contemporary environment has some similarities with the time during which the Maccabean revolt took place. In the same way that the Hellenistic lifestyle and values were more attractive to some Jews than living Jewishly, so too, today, there are Jews for whom their Jewish identity is not as important to who they are. There are external influences that encourage us to blend in and not identify as Jews, and just the Jewish community was fractured into different sects during that period, so too, today, there are various factions, some of whom hold diametrically opposite views. We are fragmented through disagreements over religious observance levels, over the right of Israel to exist, over what it means to be Jewish. We label each other, accusing some of just being Jew-ish, and others of being out of step with contemporary understandings. Similar disagreements allowed the Greeks to gain a foothold in the 2nd century B.C.E. and ultimately, they also were one of the contributing factors that led to the destruction of the Second Temple.

As antisemitism continues to rear its ugly head, it is even more incumbent upon us to live actively as Jews and to become more unified as a people. Many of us want to respond to the growing antisemitic environment by retreating and hiding our identity. It can make us feel too vulnerable and become easy targets if we advertise our Jewish identities.

However, we carry with us the responsibility to stand up to hatred and ensure that future generations have the right to live as Jews in the same way that the Maccabees fought the Greeks to make a stand and protect their ability to remain Jewish. We need to support each other and find ways to connect, even when we disagree about core principles because, in the end, we are all Jews.

The Jewish phrase, ‘Kol Yisrael Aravim Zeh B’Zeh”: ‘All Israel is Responsible for One Another’, does not make distinctions or create categories as to who is a better Jew or a legitimate Jew. We are all Jews, and we need to find ways to overcome our differences so we can strengthen our whole community and protect ourselves from the  ever-present external forces that wish to do us harm.

As one of the verses in the song states:

“Light one candle for the strength that we need,

To never become our own foe;

And light one candle for those who are suffering

Pain we learned so long ago.

Light one candle for all we believe in

That anger not tear us apart.

And light one candle to find us together

With peace as the song in our hearts.”

So, light the candles in a window, participate in communal programs, and show your pride in your Jewish identity, however you define it, through active involvement and participation! May you have a happy, meaningful and spiritual Hanukkah.

RABBI ANDREA M. GOUZE is currently the rabbi at Temple Beth David of the South Shore in Canton, Ma. She is also a Board-Certified Chaplain through NAJC: Neshama: Association of Jewish Chaplains.