Mai Channukah? [Beis Lakish Cheshvan 5786 Newsletter]
Excerpts from the "Mai Hanukkah" resource, a collaborative effort by ren tzvi finkel, jonah aline daniel of Narrow Bridge Candles, and nomy lamm.
“?מאי חנוכה“
“What is Chanukah?”
I had the profound joy of collaborating with jonah aline daniel of Narrow Bridge Candles & nomy lamm to dream up a potential answer to this question.
“This resource is a collaboration between three queer disabled anti-zionist Jews, who have between us decades of experience: dipping and distributing thousands of Hanukkah candles, leading ritual, training B’nai Mitzvah students, creating liturgy and political analysis and participating in radical Jewish community. And yet, none of us knew what to think about Hanukkah. What is it anyway? These explorations have been illuminating, and we are excited to share them with you.”
For those of you who aren't familiar, Narrow Bridge Candles is a Jewish Anti-Zionist ritual candle making project formed in 2010 to uplift the full Palestinian call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions of Israel. The business currently runs on a membership model through Patreon, with candles and Ritual Boxes requiring membership for purchase. Become a member here! All non-candle items in the store are available to everyone here—and the 5786 Dreaming the World to Come Planner is currently 15% off!
Please order Hanukkah Candles and Ritual Boxes by November 27th to guarantee delivery in time for Hanukkah!
The following excerpts focus mostly on the textual & historical background of the holiday. It’s my hope that this information will help bolster your ability to refine your own understanding of Chanukah, create your own rituals, and stay steadfast in our commitment to preserving Jewish tradition outside of and in opposition to Zionism.
If you’re in Pittsburgh and want to take a look at a physical copy of the full piece, please reach out to me at ren@beislakish.com so I can lend a copy to you!
Tradition is A Mirror
One way of thinking about Jewish tradition is as an accumulation of thousands of years of storytelling. The most powerful stories are those that we continue to see ourselves in, across time and space. For example on Passover, we hold an elaborate symbolic feast where each food is a part of our story of liberation. We use this story as an opportunity to look at our current moment, adding oranges and olives and spoons as we bring more of ourselves to the table. Lasting tradition is, at its core, a mirror. We hold ourselves up to it and see what is reflected back. The contemporary narratives that we use to understand ourselves today are also mirrors. Hold the ancient mirror up to the current one, and you’re left with an infinite number of dizzying reflections about who we are, who we’ve been, and what we want to carry forward.
Chanukah In Jewish Text
The Jewish textual tradition offers very little about Hanukkah. There’s not so much as a word about it in Torah, and sparse few entries in Talmud. What little the ancient rabbis have to say about it is found in Tractate Shabbat 21b, where they go through a variety of rambling decisions about the nitty gritty of menorahs & fire insurance policies. About halfway through all this talk of tort law and beautifying tradition, the Gemara (rabbinic commentary on Jewish law) asks: What is Hanukkah?
The Sages offer very little in response: 1) It’s a festival starting on the 25th of Kislev. 2) It lasts eight days. 3) It’s not a time for fasting or mourning. 4) After the Hasmoneans overcame the Greeks, who had defiled the oils in the Temple, the Jews found a scarce few bottles of oil to light the Menorah within the Sanctuary. Somehow, that tiny amount of oil lasted for eight days. The next year, Jews created this holiday as a moment to give praise and gratitude for this miracle. (Showing then, as in now, Jewish practice is in constant evolution.)
The Word Itself
The word חֲנֻכָּה / Hanukkah means “dedication” or “rededication,” from the root word חנך / chet-nun-chaf which, at its core, means “to polish or finish.” … As we rededicate ourselves, lighting the menorah year after year, we hold up the mirror of tradition. This is a moment to witness all the possibilities and decide what we want to dedicate ourselves to. We feel the reverberations of our ancestors’ reflections, as we continuously refine, polish, and finish. It’s up to us to reveal for ourselves what is holy, and to honor it with our devotion.
Timeline
98 - 167 BCE: The Greek King Antiochus III, ruler of the Seleucid Dynasty, takes over Judea and Samaria (roughly the land we call Palestine) from Egyptian rule. His son, Antiochus IV, ascends to the throne, and under his rule the second Temple is looted, Jews are massacred, and Judaism itself is outlawed. (Note that this is NOT one of the two times that the Temple was destroyed.) When an altar to Zeus is ordered to be built in the Temple, Mattathias and his five sons lead a rebellion against the king, now known as the Maccabean Revolt. One of his sons is the famous Judah, who from then on is known as Judah Maccabee.
164 BCE: The Jewish revolt against the Seleucid monarchy succeeded, and the Temple was liberated. Hanukkah was created around this time to celebrate the restoration and rededication of the Temple.
142 - 130 BCE: The Maccabees’ rebel leadership sets the stage for the Hasmonean Dynasty, in which Simon Thassi (one of Mattathias’ sons) is the first king. The Second Jewish Commonwealth is established, with the Seleucids recognizing Jewish Hasmonean autonomy, and the Hasmoneans recognizing the Seleucids’ authority in the region. This is a time of growth and cultural development, as well as a time in which the Jewish leadership conquered Transjordan, Samaria, Galilee, and Idumea. Many Idumeans were forced to convert to Judaism. This is to say, the Hasmoneans were a zealous force who worked with/under Hellenistic rulers in order to enact their idea of proper religious practice.
We Begin in Darkness
Hanukkah occurs at the end of Kislev, the darkest month of the year. While Hanukkah is thought of as a celebration of light, we know there is no light without darkness. Darkness is a deeply essential part of the cycle of each day, and every Jewish day begins with night. The night sky, the fertile black earth. Darkness can be a sanctuary that allows us to access our quietest innermost spaces. Our dominant culture demonizes darkness, for strategic and oppressive reasons: the dark is where we access dreams and connections to ancestors…In short, this darkness, this well of mystery, allows us to access our innate and divinely given power. The racism inherent to our dominant culture tells us to fear darkness—in people, in silence, in the unknown, the unformed. This is done in order to control us, selling us a fix to cover up our fears. It is upon us to metabolize our fear of the unknown, and emerge from the depths with more resource and resilience.
Anti-Zionist Celebrations of Hanukkah
Our rituals are opportunities to be nourished by our lineage. For many of us (some more recently and some long ago), it has become intolerable to participate in spiritual spaces that are not explicitly Anti-Zionist. More than ever, we need collective practices that fuel our commitments. We do these rituals for ourselves, not as a gift to Palestinians. We kindle the Hanukkah lights as a rededication, calling upon our spirits and the souls of our ancestors, drawing fortitude from the darkness and the light, uncovering more and more creative ways to align with life and the planet, and keep each other alive and whole.
We invite you to express your solidarity by supporting nomy’s dear friend Mahmoud and his family in Gaza. This relationship has been foundational in both of their lives for the past year and a half. Please help feed his family and create pathways to a future where his children can play and learn without fear.