Standing Alone – The Miracles of Chanukah and Joseph

          There are two different explanations for the Chanukah lights. The historical explanation is based on the First and Second Books of Maccabees found in that collection of literature known as the Apocrypha. The Apocrypha is not included in the Hebrew Bible. We are fortunate that the Catholics included the Apocrapha in their canon of the Bible, and thus preserved the story of the Maccabees and Chanukah. More than 2100 years ago, the Jewish people in Judea were conquered by the Asyrian Greeks. King Antiochus was determined to unite the many different peoples in his far-flung empire. The means he chose to effect this unification was religious conversion. Henceforth, all peoples would worship the Greek Gods. Consequently, King Antiochus dispatched a large army to Judea to stamp out Judaism, the faith of the people there. The Temple in Jerusalem was desecrated; swine were offered as a sacrifice on the altar, thus defiling it so Jewish sacrifice could no longer take place there. Idols of Zeus were erected within the sacred precincts of the Temple, and Jews were prohibited from circumcising their newborn sons, observing Shabbat, and studying Jewish sacred texts.

          Confronted with this horrible situation, many Jews opted to go along with the King’s orders and worship the Greek idols. Only a minority, a zealous few, determined to keep to the Jewish faith no matter what price they had to pay. Mattathias, the High Priest, and his five sons became leaders of the few who defied the Asyrian command.

          Mattathias proclaimed, “Under no circumstances will I or my sons accept the order to worship idols. I and my children will remain faithful to the God of Israel until the last breath of our lives.”  Mattathias did not just speak bravely; he acted bravely too.

          There are always people who have the ability to express strong convictions, but far fewer are willing to live by those convictions. Mattathias and his sons were among that minority. They and a faithful band of followers fled to the Judean Hills and began a guerrilla war against the overwhelming Asyrian forces. It was indeed a miracle that they managed to survive for three years, slowly attracting more and more Jews to their side, and finally causing the Asyrian army to be withdrawn from Judea.

          When the Maccabees – as the sons of Mattathias and their followers had come to be called – drove the Asyrians out of Jerusalem, the first thing they did was to rededicate the Temple. Chanukah means rededication. This happened on the 25^th day of the Hebrew month of Kislev and, ever since then, Jewish people light a menorah from that date onward for eight successive nights. Just as the Temple in Jerusalem was rededicated by the lighting of the Temple Menorah, so we light a menorah in our homes to commemorate the rededication of the Temple. This year the 25^th of the month of Kislev begins on the evening of Friday, December 15, 2006.

          But there is a second story, one which we also love. The Talmud recounts that when the Maccabees were ready to rededicate the Jerusalem Temple, they searched for the olive oil needed to burn in the Menorah. They found only one sealed vial of oil – one which had not been polluted – and it held enough oil to last for only one day. It would take eight days to make a new supply of sacred oil. What should they do?  Should the rededication be postponed until a new supply of oil could be made, or should they go ahead as planned?

          They decided to go ahead and, through a miracle, the oil supply – normally enough for only one day, lasted for eight full days, which gave the Jews enough time to prepare new sanctified olive oil that was necessary for the lighting of the Great Menorah that stood in the Temple. According to the Talmud, that is the reason we light the Menorah for eight days.

          Now while these two stories seem quite different – they actually teach the same lesson. The miracle of the small cruse of oil which lasted for so long conveys a message. An amount of oil which seemed too small to make any difference, shed light for eight full days until new fuel could be produced. What was too little, seemingly insignificant at first, turned out to be sufficient, to be much more lasting than anyone could have anticipated.

          Is that not exactly the story of the Maccabees? Mattathias and his five sons were alone at first in their battle against the massive Asyrian army. When other Judeans began to join them, they were still tiny in number compared even with the number of Jews who had already accepted the Asyrian decrees. What could a handful of people do when so many people were against them, their own brothers and sisters, as well as that overwhelming Asyrian army?  Yet the Maccabees prevailed. The small cruse of oil and the small band of Maccabees remind us that size and numerical strength are not the most important qualities in life.

          The festival of Chanukah always falls during the week when we read the Torah portion Miketz, Genesis 41:1 – 44:17. This Torah portion contains the story of Joseph who appeared before Pharaoh and eventually become second in command of all of Egypt. When we consider that Joseph was originally brought to Egypt to be sold as a slave, we must admit that the story of Joseph is a miraculous one.

It’s hard to stand alone when you’re the only Jewish student in your classroom, whether it is in Mt. Vernon, Anamosa, Linn Marr or Cedar Rapids’ public schools. It’s difficult to be out of step.

          Parents also need to be strong enough to stand up to the pressures of crass commercialism which today unfortunately surround Chanukah just as they do Christmas. Our children don’t have to receive a gift each and every night of Chanukah. We’re not competing in the art of gift-giving. Chanukah is about courage, conviction, the rededication of the Temple to the service of God. It’s not about presents and keeping up with Santa Claus. In fact, today, religion – whether it’s Christianity or Judaism – requires standing up to secularism, to the idolatry of self-centeredness and to the heresy that what feels good is right. Friends, our beliefs, our values are in many ways under as great a siege as were those of our ancestors in Judea more than 200 years ago. Will we have the courage to stand alone when necessary, to be out of step with the masses, to hold true to our convictions?

          Members of the Christian right are currently campaigning that saying “Happy Holidays” is not appropriate or fair to Christians. Often when I hear these arguments, I hear people claiming this is a Christian nation, that practically everyone celebrates Christmas. No, not all of us are Christian. No, people should not assume that everyone in America or even in Cedar Rapids is Christian. We are fortunate to have a large Muslim community and small communities of Bahai’as, Hindus, Native Americans, etc. Sure, if you know the person you are greeting is Christian, by all means wish them a Merry Christmas; I certainly do, but if you are not sure if the person you are addressing is Christian, what is the harm in wishing them a happy holiday?

          There is another area in which we must stand up for ourselves and the Jewish people. Unfortunately today Israel is under attack by various people who bash Israel, without ever mentioning the Palestinian terrorist attacks directed against Israel and her citizens. Let us say no, it is not okay to criticize Israel alone. Let us remind people that Israel has every right to exist and to live in peace and security. Let us remind people that Palestinians are not the only victims; that Israeli citizens bear the brunt of Palestinian violence; that peace will come when Palestinians curb the violence, and Israel in turn works to help the Palestinians improve the conditions in which they are currently living.  Israel must defend its citizens and Palestinians must reduce their violence and violent rhetoric. The current ceasefire may be a start.

          If we demonstrate our courage and convictions, I believe that eventually even those who make fun of us and resent us, will learn to respect our strength of character. In the end, we may convince others to follow our example, just as Mattathias did. Thus, we will help to kindle lights that will shed warmth and encouragement for a long time to come for all the members of our community. For you see, my friends, if the Maccabees had not had the courage of their convictions, then there probably would be no Christianity or Islam, and we might all still be worshiping Greek gods. It was not the goal of the Maccabees to win everyone over to their particular form of worship; they were perfectly willing for Asyrians to worship the Greek gods. The Maccabees were fighting for the right to live according to their conscience, their principles, their religious convictions – that’s the light of religious freedom they were trying to keep alive.

          The miracle is that a few – the Martin Luther King Jrs, the Lech Walesas, the Andrei Sakharovs, the Mattathias’ and the Josephs can inspire many. Therefore, as Chanukah approaches, let us rededicate ourselves to the principle of religious pluralism, and let us have the courage to stand all by ourselves if necessary, like Joseph. The miracle is that a few can do so much. If we are willing to live by our convictions, others will see our light, join our cause, and this will be a better, brighter world for all God’s children. Ken Y’hi ratzon. May it be so. Amen.

Rabbi Aaron Sherman, Temple Judah