Every year article after article (after article) appears telling the world that Chanukah is the Jewish holiday of “religious freedom” or “religious tolerance.” Neither is even close to true. In fact, both of those ideas, related, but not identical, are both as far away from what Chanukah is as is possible.
Another thing Chanukah is not, is a “minor holiday.”
And more than anything else, Chanukah is not some kind of Jewish Christmas. At all. Proximity on the calendar does not make one thing identical to another thing. It doesn’t even make it related to that other thing.
This year, possibly more than any other in our lifetimes, the message of Chanukah resonates in powerful ways.
The basics of Chanukah are easy to understand. The word itself means “dedication.” The reason for that is that, at its most basic level,
For that reason, a small band of religious Jews, starting with Judah Maccabee (son of Mattathias the High Priest), defeated one of the mightiest armies on earth, drove the Greeks out of Judea (Israel), and reclaimed the Temple. Because it had been defiled by the idol worshipers, Jewish law required that it be re-dedicated. Part of that purification process was the lighting of its famous, seven branched, menorah with untainted oil. The Jews only had enough pure oil for one day, to get more would take seven days and, miraculously, the one day of oil lasted for eight days.
Pretty cool.
But - what does all that mean beyond latkes, sufganiyot, and (possibly) gifts for the kids?
So much more than most people realize.
The first lesson is of this important holiday is: NEVER be afraid to be Jewish. Be a proud Jew, be unapologetically Jewish, and always do what’s right as a Jew. We light the menorah publicly, or place it in a window facing the outside, precisely for that reason. It is an expression of defiance, and pride in our Jewishness. Judah fought a massive army, and defeated it, because he, and the Jews of that time, did not compromise. At all. Their faith in Hashem and their unity as Jews made them undefeatable.
On a deeper level, we light the candles at night not for the drama of it, but because it demonstrates that even a little bit of light can penetrate the darkness. We add a candle each night to remind us that more mitzvot, increased Jewish observance, brings more light into the darkness.
Also very cool.
The confrontation between our Jewish ancestors and the pagan Greeks set up a confrontation between our fundamental belief in one G-d, and His mitzvot (commandments) on one side, and Greek paganism on the other. Which meant the choice between the world of Torah, of the elevated vision of mankind it represents, and the pagan view of humanity in which aesthetics and self-indulgence were the primary goals, absent any higher, refining, elements.
The Greeks had their own philosophy, but it was an empty vision, one in which there was no ultimate obligation to G-d. Pleasing the self was, in their view, the pinnacle of existence. That view was, and is, diametrically opposed to Judaism because it placed man, and not G-d, at the center of the universe.
And we all know what man is capable of without any limiting principles, or a framework for spirituality.
We saw that very clearly on October 7th.
So why isn’t Chanukah a holiday celebrating religious tolerance? After all, the Greeks were trying to force us to live as they did, and we fought back to worship as we please.
Isn’t that a quest for freedom?
Every Jewish holiday has its own associated mitzvah (commandment). Passover has matzah, Rosh Hashanah has the shofar, and Chanukah has the lighting of the menorah, etc. Each of these has a unique “extra” component in the Jewish prayer service for that holiday.
During Chanukah that component is called “Al Hanissim.”
In it we thank G-d for the “miracles, for the redemption, for the mighty deeds, for the saving acts, and for the wonders which You have wrought for our ancestors in those days, at this time.” It also describes how “In the days of Matityahu, the son of Yochanan the High Priest, the Hasmonean and his sons, when the wicked Hellenic government rose up against Your people Israel to make them forget Your Torah and violate the decrees of Your will…You waged their battles, defended their rights, and avenged the wrong done to them. You delivered the mighty into the hands of the weak, the many into the hands of the few, the impure into the hands of the pure, the wicked into the hands of the righteous, and the wanton sinners into the hands of those who occupy themselves with Your Torah.”
It seems to me that is not a declaration of religious tolerance, but a statement of total dedication to Jewish values, a complete repudiation of a foreign culture’s influence on our own, and a call to return to Torah. Far from “tolerance,” or “freedom,” the “many” were “delivered into the hands of the few.” Those few lived very Jewish lives, and their actions led to the entire nation’s return to Torah observance.
Today those who invoke “tolerance,” and the equally “woke” ideas of “diversity, equity, and inclusion,” do so very selectively. As we’ve seen every single day since October 7, those ideas never include Jews. While I absolutely abhor their hypocrisy, and find it repugnant, we should be totally okay not being included in their formulation of “inclusion,” or anything else they advocate.
Chanukah teaches us that are under no obligation to “fit in,” to “please the world,” or to be anything but proudly Jewish. While they are telling us to take off our kippahs, our Magen Dovids, our tzitzit, our mezuzahs, and anything else that makes us identifiably Jewish (G-d forbid), Chanukah comes along and teaches us to be proud. To look and behave as Jews.
In fact, they would love it if we stopped identifying as Jews, because they don’t want to be reminded of what being Jewish means. Our very presence is a threat to their, Hellenized, way of life. We remind them that pleasing the self is not the ultimate goal.
Outward, and inward, Jewishness represents a defiance in which we tell the world that we will not back down just because we make those who wish to destroy us uncomfortable.
Israel is at war right now for that exact reason. And like Judah and the Maccabees, today’s Jewish army will also defeat our enemies and in a massive victory. The Greeks also poked the Lion of Judah a few too many times and found out that we never back down, ever, when we’re threatened and have the means to fight back. Especially in our own land.
In the end, confidence in who we are, and what we represent, always brings ultimate Jewish unity. When we have that: we are undefeatable.
So is this holiday mainly about latkes, dreidels, sufganiyot, and gifts? No, it is about publicly and proudly living as Jews, no matter the odds, no matter what the rest of the world would have us do. It is about being Jewish with unwavering confidence, with the understanding that Hashem is always with us, and that our Jewishness is, literally, embedded in our souls. Chanukah reminds us to bring the light of Torah into the world, and when that world is at its darkest, that light shines its brightest.
This is NOT a “minor” holiday.
Happy Chanukah, a freilichen Chanukah, and Chanukah samayach.
Never back down. Never give up.
Am Yisrael chai.
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