Miketz
Genesis 41:1–44:17
Numbers 7:30–35
Zechariah 2:14–4:7
Comedian Adam Sandler’s vision of Chanukah’s appeal may very well articulate what many think but few would admit in public: “Instead of one day of presents, we get eight crazy nights!” Chanukah’s popularity is certainly helped by timing. In a country that celebrates other holidays during the late December period, Chanukah’s distribution of gifts fits right in.
Movies and songs written about Chanukah have played in the media, and it is common to hear “Happy Chanukah” wishes from friends and co-workers who know little else about Jewish tradition. Indeed, the similarity in this respect to Christmas may make Chanukah the best-known Jewish holiday in popular culture.
It is thus very surprising that so many are unaware of the primary underlying theme of these special eight days. In fact, Chanukah gifts do not go back very far in Jewish tradition.
In trying to find an indigenous Jewish source for this practice, the closest I got was the old custom of distributing gelt (money) to children during these eight days. This was most likely done for use in competitive games of dreidel (a sort of spinning top with letters on it that refer to the miraculous nature of the holiday), as well as to help educate children in the practice of giving charity.
Another reason Chanukah is better known than other holidays is that it is a bit easier to explain than many of our other holidays. Try explaining Shemini Atzeret to a colleague, or the details of precisely why we spend the first two days of our new year in synagogue and how those days differ from Yom Kippur!
In contrast, the visible part of Chanukah works easily: When we re-entered the Temple in Jerusalem after driving out the Greeks, there was enough oil for only one day, but when it was lit it lasted the full eight days needed to make new oil. And that’s why we celebrate and light candles for eight days and eat oily foods like latkes. Nice and easy.
Yet there are several difficulties with this explanation, and I’ll focus upon two of them. First, nowhere in all the special Chanukah additions to our daily prayers do we find reference to the miracle of the oil. It is certainly a key part of the story and the reason behind the candles that we light, but why is it left out of the services?
Second, why commemorate this miracle at all? There have been many examples of miracles in Jewish history that were recorded for posterity in the Torah and in texts such as the ancient “Megillat Ta’anit,” as well as others that were never written down, but we don’t make holidays out of every single one of them. Oil lasting for eight days was great for us, and the candles certainly are pretty, but why single out this event for public celebration?
In looking at the liturgy found in a siddur (prayerbook), one finds the theme of Chanukah mentioned is that of “the few overcoming the many.” This traditionally is seen as the primary, if lesser known, miracle of the holiday. The Greeks were a large, well-organized and trained army. With HaShem’s help, a small band of Maccabees was able to defeat them, drive them out and ensure our religious freedom.
This focus helps to explain our celebration of the oil. It would have been easy to falsely attribute the military victory to Yehudah Maccabee’s military genius, guerrilla warfare tactics or some other natural cause. The Maharal of Prague explains that the significance of the miracle of the oil lies in its demonstration that HaShem’s hand was present and saved the Jewish people.
We could not have done it on our own, but as the oil showed us, HaShem was there for us in the biggest miracle: our battle against a powerful enemy determined to limit our devotion to Jewish tradition.
This also relates to one of the most beautiful explanations of the dreidel. On Chanukah, we reach down from above and turn the dreidel in celebration, just as HaShem “reached down” and turned the world and its events to favor our endangered and fragile nation.
Our true strength has never been found in our numbers or military prowess, but rather the assistance that we have received from above when we boldly faced powerful enemies to stand up for what we believed was right.
Rabbi Judah Dardik is the spiritual leader at Orthodox Beth Jacob in Oakland. He can be reached at [email protected].