Originally posted on SA. Reformatted automatically for HTML.
A bit late, but about a week ago the Thunderdome’s weekly prompt was about non-Christmas winter holidays. Since I had thoughts about Hannukah I sat down to write a short story about it, but found that I wasn’t able to compile my thoughts into a story.
Since I can’t bear to waste my oh-so-precious thoughts, I figured I’ll post them here. I’m no scholar so I might make mistakes, and I’d appreciate any corrections.
I think that Hannukah is the most interesting of the current Jewish holidays. Unlike most of the others, Hannukah is not derived from any decree or festival mentioned in the Jewish canon but rather in the non-canon (at least the standard Jewish one) books of Maccabees. This means that it is quite malleable, and one of the few that isn’t (even in religious circles) usually centered around the synagogue, nor is work (which in the current modern Orthodox tradition means electricity, driving, etc.) prohibited.
In modern times, Hannukah has taken a unique route in the United States and in Israel. In the United States it was raised from its meager standings to one of equal or even higher than the “high holidays” — probably because of its proximity to Christmas. Other adoptions include gift-giving or holiday decorations. I had assumed this was done in order to make American Jews (particularly children) feel less excluded while preserving their original culture. That is, that it borrowed those things from Christmas. However on further reading[1] I found that while some things were borrowed from Christmas, others developed in parallel with Christmas in the process of the former becoming less religious and more secular.
In Israel, it took a different but perhaps parallel route. The origin of the holiday being a rebellion and an establishment of a sovereign Jewish entity, led by non-religious figure was evidently very alluring to the secular Zionists of the 20s and 30s.
What was Hannukah 40 years ago? “Al Hanisim” and “Halel” [religious poems], a short reading in the synagogue, lighting small candles, having latkes at home, card games for the old ones and dreidels for the young ones.
What is Hannukah now? The holiday of the Hashmonaim [the dynasty which rebelled against the Romans and created a new Jewish kingdom]. A holiday full of praise. A great national holiday, celebrated in all the Jewish diaspora with balls and speeches, with singing and dancing, with travelling and parades. As if a new soul has been breathed into the ancient holiday and its spirit reborn.
This was written by Prof. Yosef Klausner, a historian and part of the Zionist movement in 1930s Palestine[2].
This is also exemplified in songs written around that period (translations are by me from Hebrew so they lose any poetic value they may have had):
Who shall retell the heroics of Israel
Who can count them?
In every generation, a hero arises
The saviour of the peopleHark!
In those days, in those times
Maccabees saved and redeemed
In our days, all the people of Israel
Will arise, unite and be redeemed
Of particular interest are the lyrics “who shall retell the heroics of Israel”, a secularized version of the Psalm “who shall retell the heroics of God” and similarly “Maccabees saved and redeemed”. Dropping the influence of God and instead glorifying the people and their unity. A nationalistic anthem. This song is still quite popular despite the change in the Zionist movement (which I will go into later) — most likely because it is very fun to sing.
We are carrying torches
In dark nights
The trails are glowing before our legs
Any he with a heart
Who craves the light —
Will turn his eyes and his heart to us
To the light, and will come!A miracle did not happen to us —
We did not find a can of oil
To the valley we walked, to the mountain we climbed
Hidden springs we discovered[A miracle …]
In the rock we struck till blood
And there was light!
This song is even more explicitly anti-religious. Its music brings to mind Soviet marches and its themes are ones of labour and national unity. In particular “a miracle did not happen to us” (playing directly on Hannukah’s “a miracle happened” written on every dreidel), and the striking of the rock till there was light (bringing to mind Moses striking of the rock which in Judaism was an affront to God). In short, a complete repudiation of religion as the unifying force of Jews and instead replacing it with national can-do socialist spirit. This song has all but disappeared in modern day Israel. I imagine the anti-religious themes killed it at some point in today’s much more religious society.
More modern Hannukah songs, popularised in the 80s or before, are mostly more personal. They might tell of the miracle of Hannukah without explicitly calling on God, but also without rejecting it. Mostly, in adult gatherings only the more traditional Hanerot Halalu (an overtly religious song) and Maoz Tsur are sung. This also makes sense if you look at the progression of the Israeli Zionist movement to be more inclusive of Judaism and in particular the role of Orthodox Judaism in the modern Israeli state.
Maoz Tsur is a medieval poem using a German Christian hymn as its music — each verse tells of a different attempted vanquisher of the Jewish peoples (Egypt, Babylonians, Romans, etc.), though these days only the first verse is sung (which simply praises God). Either way, since it is written in medieval Hebrew it is not well understood even by those who sing it.
Overall, Hanukkah is probably more important in the US than it is in Israel. In Israel it is mostly a kids holiday, kids having time off from school but adults working. The holiday will usually only be marked by a quick lighting of the candles, followed by a couple songs and eating a sufganiya (deep-fried jelly donut). I myself have never celebrated it as an adult in Israel, other than maybe occasionally happening upon a candle lighting at work (which in itself is telling — since it is exclusionary of any non-Jews even if they can participate).
On a personal note, I only began celebrating Hanukkah after moving away from Israel. I usually have one day a year where I light the candles with a few friends, we sing a song or three, and eat something awful.
As an atheist I’ve been struggling with the why, how and whether I should at all celebrate the holiday. Its religious significance, such as it is, is unimportant to me, as are the nationalistic themes or some sense of Jewish unity. Neither is a replacement for Christmas needed — I have no family and don’t want one, and I have no issue celebrating Christmas. What, then, remains? A tradition, something that reminds me of my mother and my youth? Another excuse to hang out with friends?
Then there’s the how. If I choose to celebrate it, do I simply recite prayers about God that have no meaning to me? In Israel any acceptance of the holiday rituals was explicitly religious and orthodox. “Personal” or “alternative” interpretations are not socially accepted — there is simply a single axis with “secular” on one end and “ultra orthodox” on the other, based on how many of the orthodox rules you choose to apply. As such, a personal rejection of the holiday was inevitable. But now when I am free of those concerns, should I care? No one is looking or judging, I have no children that will be influenced by it — so can I praise God in the name of tradition? What’s the point?
What of the songs born of the Zionist movement that I am not a part of? They are a holiday tradition; if they do not explicitly call for anything bad, should they be rejected?
I am aware of Humanist Judaism and so forth, which have new prayers and rituals. But if we drop the tradition, I could be doing anything — I would rather just celebrate Christmas or whatever else is celebrated where I am at, at the moment.
For me, Hannukah is dancing with my mother in the kitchen while she sings songs that no one in my class knew. Should and how can I preserve this, I do not know.