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Date:         Sat, 19 Dec 1992 21:59:00 EST
From:         Lon Mendelsohn <LMENDELS@CMS.CC.WAYNE.EDU>
Subject:      Chanukah

December is the month in which the Jewish holiday Chanukah is
celebrated.  This year, it starts at sunset on Saturday, 19
December and goes until sunset on Sunday, 27 December.  The
observance of Chanukah includes the kindling of lights, one for
each day of the festival.  Thus, on the first day, one would light
the servant candle or lamp and use it to light the first candle; on
the second day, one would use the servant candle to light the first
and second candles, and so on until the eighth day when all eight
candles are lit from the servant candle.  It is also traditional to
eat fried foods in memory of the oil used in the Temple lamps.

The events which led to the establishment of Chanukah as a feast
are described in one of the deuterocanonical books, 1 Maccabees
1-4, which details how the Jewish people fought and overcame
Antiochus Epiphanes, a Greek ruler who tried to destroy Judaism as
a religion by forcing the Jews to become Pagans.

The most evil thing that Antiochus did was to enter the Temple and
defile it, as described in 1 Macc. 1:54:

  Now on the fifteenth day of Chislev, in the one hundred and
  forty-fifth year, they erected a desolating sacrilege upon the
  altar of burnt offering.

While not explicitly stated, the tradition is that he set up an
image of himself in the Holy of Holies and sacrificed a pig on the
altar of burnt offering.  Additionally, he destroyed the scrolls of
the Law wherever he could find them, and anyone found in possession
of a scroll of the law was put to death.  Antiochus was assisted in
this program by the fact that many Jews at that time wanted to
forsake the Law and follow Gentile customs.

Chanukah celebrates the victory of the Jewish forces over the
pagans and the subsequent cleansing and re-dedication of the
Temple.  The word "Chanukah" means dedication.  This is described
in 1 Macc. 4:42-58.  Verse 56 describes how the Jews celebrated the
re-dedication for eight days.  Another tradition states that when
the Jews won the Temple back from the Gentiles, they found only a
very small quantity of the sacred oil for burning in the Temple
lamps, enough to last only one day, yet that small quantity of oil
lasted for eight days while fresh oil was being made.

In recent years, some Jewish families have started giving gifts on
Chanukah.  This is not part of the traditional celebration, and
was probably begun out of a desire to be more like the surrounding
Christian culture, in which gift-giving is the norm for that season
of the year.  Since Chanukah has to do with how the Jews resisted
the external pressures which were being placed upon them by the
surrounding Gentile culture, this the practice of giving Chanukah
gifts stands in opposition to what the holiday is really about.

The significance of this holiday for believers in Jesus is that
ultimately, God will stand behind His people and grant them victory
in their struggle against evil, regardless of the odds against
them.  Such victory may not be granted in this life, but God will
always prevail.  An additional significant point is the need for us
to resist the pressures which our external culture places upon us
to live according to its standards rather than God's (Rom.12:1-2).

I will also post a passage from 1 Macc. 2:15-28,42-48, which
describes how the resistance movement began:

  Then the king's officers who were enforcing the apostasy came to
  the city of Modein to make them offer sacrifice.  Many from
  Israel came to them, and Mattathias and his sons were assembled.
  Then the King's officers spoke to Mattathias as follows: "You are
  a leader, honored and great in this city, and supported by sons
  and brothers.  Now be the first to come and do what the king
  commands, as all the Gentiles and the men of Judah and those that
  are left in Jerusalem have done.  Then you and your sons will be
  numbered among the friends of the king, and you and your sons
  will be honored with silver and gold and many gifts."

  But Mattathias answered and said in a loud voice: "Even if all
  the nations that live under the rule of the king obey him, and
  have chosen to do his commandments, departing each from the
  religion of his fathers, yet I and my sons and my brothers will
  live by the covenant of our fathers.  Far be it from us to
  desert the law and the ordinances.  We will not obey the king's
  words by turning aside from our religion to the right hand or to
  the left."

  When he had finished speaking these words, a Jew came forth in
  the sight of all to offer sacrifice upon the altar in Modein,
  according to the king's command.  When Mattathias saw it, he
  burned with zeal and his heart was stirred.  He gave vent to
  righteous anger; he ran and killed him upon the altar.  At the
  same time he killed the king's officer who was forcing them to
  sacrifice, and he tore down the altar.  Thus he burned with zeal
  for the law, as Phineas did against Zimri the son of Salu.  Then
  Mattathias cried out in the city with a loud voice, saying: "Let
  every one who is zealous for the law and supports the covenant
  come out with me!"  And he and his sons fled to the hills and
  left all that they had in the city.

  Then there united with them a company of Hasideans <pious ones>,
  mighty warriors of Israel, every one who offered himself
  willingly for the law.  And all who became fugitives to escape
  their troubles joined them and reinforced them.  They organized
  an army, and struck down sinners in their anger and lawless men
  in their wrath; the survivors fled to the Gentiles for safety.
  And Mattathias and his friends went about and tore down the
  altars; they forcibly circumcised all the uncircumcised boys that
  they found within the borders of Israel.  They hunted down the
  arrogant men, and the work prospered in their hands.  They
  rescued the law out of the hands of the Gentiles and kings, and
  they never let the sinner gain the upper hand.

Additionally, here is a prayer which would be inserted into prayers
which an observant Jew would recite after every meal:

  We thank You for the miracles, for the redemption,for the mighty
  deeds, for the deliverances, and for the wars that You performed
  for our fathers in those days at this season:

  In the days of Mattathias, son of John the High Priest, the
  Hasmonean and his sons, when the evil Greek kingdom rose up
  against Your people Israel to make them forget Your Torah and to
  turn them away from the statutes of Your will-- You, in Your
  abundant mercy stood by them in their time of distress, You
  defended their cause, You judged their grievances, You avenged
  them.  You delivered the mighty into the hands of the weak, many
  into the hands of the few, defiled people into the hands of the
  undefiled, the wicked into the hands of the righteous, and
  insolent sinners into the hands of diligent students of Your
  Torah.  And You made yourself a great and sanctified name in Your
  world.  And for Your people, Israel, You performed a great
  deliverance and redemption unto this very day.  Afterwards, Your
  sons entered the Holy of Holies of Your Abode, cleaned Your
  Temple, purified Your Sanctuary, and kindled lights in the
  Courtyard of Your Sanctuary and designated these eight days of
  Chanukah to thank and praise Your great Name.

-- Lon Mendelsohn
   Wayne State University
   LMENDELS@CMS.CC.WAYNE.EDU (Internet)
   LMENDELS@WAYNEST1 (Bitnet)