Friday December 27, 2024/26 Kislev 5785
Parashat Miketz/Shabbat Hanukkah
Hevre/Friends,
On the first night of Hanukkah about 75 residents of our lake community, Ivry Sur Le Lac, gathered outside City Hall for the first public Hanukkah lighting ever. Two generations ago this area boasted signs that said, "No Dogs and No Jews". Now, under the inspired leadership of our Jewish mayor, Andre Ibghy, and in the presence of our wonderful neighbours - both Jewish and of other backgrounds - a community hanukkiyah stands proudly illuminated each night, right next to the beautiful Christmas tree. Last Wednesday night, standing out in the snow, we sang Hanukkah songs and ate (cold!) latkes, celebrating the light of fellowship and hope. What follows are the words I was proud to share at this inaugural lighting.
Hanukkah is such a well-known and beloved holiday and yet many are surprised to learn it's only a minor festival in the lineup of Jewish sacred days. Even the Rabbis in the Talmud began their discussions of it with the question: Mai Hanukkah? What is this holiday of hanukkah?
They explain how in the second century BCE the Syrian Greek king Antiochus who ruled ancient Jerusalem viciously oppressed the Jewish community, imposed severe restrictions on practicing Judaism, and defiled the Temple sanctuary. The Jews fought back against the Seleucids in a revolution led by Matityahu the Hasmonean and his son Judah Maccabee. Hanukkah is the holiday that celebrates the dedication of the Temple after they recaptured it.
Most famously, the Talmud records that there was very little untainted oil left in the Temple with which to light the menorah; only one cruse was found which should have lasted for one day of light but instead it lasted for eight. We celebrate that miracle by lighting Hanukkah candles for eight nights.
But something is a little off with that story, regardless of whether it’s truth or legend. If the miracle of Hanukkah is that a single cruse of oil lasted a full eight days instead of one, then the “miracle” was seven days long -- the first day wasn’t miraculous because the oil for one day burned for that one day and only after that miraculously lasted for seven more. If the lighting of Hanukkah candles is meant to commemorate the miracle of the holiday, why do we light for eight nights? Shouldn’t we only be lighting for seven, the number of nights the miracle lasted?
Of the many different answers that have been offered, there are two that I think are most compelling that I want to share with you. The first speaks to us as a community and suggests that the very commitment to light the candles at all, launching us into the eight-day festival, is what we celebrate on the first night. The Jewish people at that time were highly assimilated - as we are today - and could have continued to lose their distinctive identities and values, yet we rose to reclaim and celebrate our Judaism, just as we today navigate our highly complex world by balancing our desire to integrate ourselves into our surrounding cultures and communities even as we seek to proudly embrace our Jewish identities. Especially during this threatening time when it can once again be dangerous to publicly display our Judaism, the first night honours the courage and commitment that brings us to light our candles and place them in our windows, making sure that our Jewish lights help illuminate the possibilities of a peaceful, pluralistic and respectful public square.
The second explanation for why we celebrate eight days when there was enough oil for the first day (making the miracle really only seven days) speaks to us as individuals by reminding us that even the ordinary is extraordinary! Too often we look for signs of Divine presence and holiness in our lives only in supernatural or unusual circumstances: an unexpected recovery from illness, an accident narrowly averted, a winning lottery ticket. But the truth is, each and every time we are blessed with the chance to move through our days and nights “normally”, each time things happen without disruption, is no less an indicator of the awesomeness of life. The natural birth of a healthy baby, having access to nourishing food and cooking a delicious meal for our family and friends, putting our kids/grandkids to bed after a full day, an uneventful commute home from the ski hill, a beautiful snowshoe through the forest, the simple kindness of a stranger – all of these daily, mundane moments are worthy of sanctification, as worthy as the more headline-grabbing miracles like a single cruse of oil lasting eight days. The reason we honor the miracle of Hanukkah for eight days instead of seven is precisely because of the fact that the oil that was meant to burn for one day did in fact burn. Just as it was supposed to. On the first night we honor the awesome workings of our world in their most ordinary, natural fashion, and remind ourselves of the daily miracles all around us.
As the holiday unfolds and well beyond these eight days, let's keep celebrating our Jewish pride, deepening our Jewish commitment, and shining a light on the miracles of the mundane.
With ongoing prayers for the hostages and their families, the bereaved and the injured, and for a lasting peace in Israel and around the world, I wish you Shabbat Shalom.
Dini
