on a (to me) opposite tack

[winterbadger]

Last night, belatedly, I got out my channukiah and lit candles for the first two nights of the holiday. It was really nice to read the prayers and see the lights burning in the darkness.

How ever we do it, I like the idea of bringing light to the darkness of winter, proclaiming hope for peace on earth, "learning new ways from the old, making sense of history, and drawing warmth out of the cold".

Comments

[zoefruitcake.livejournal.com]

I have to admit to knowing very little about Channukah, but I like "learning new ways from the old, making sense of history, and drawing warmth out of the cold".

[winterbadger]

That's all drawn from a Dar Williams song I *love*, called 'The Christians and the Pagans'. I don't know why, but I tear up every time I hear it. It's how I wish things were.

Channukah was originally one of the many Jewish festivals that Jews tend to summarise as "They tried to kill us; we survived; let's eat!" :-) The story is this: The Seleucid emperor Antiochus IV (a Macedonian-descended Hellenistic ruler, but always described nowadays as "a Syrian" for modern political reasons) decided that his Jewish subjects were not being sufficiently Hellenistic (to be Greek (Hellenic) was regarded as the ultimate in civilisation and sophistication, and to be 'like the Greeks' (Hellenistic) was the next best thing). So he told them they had to stop worshiping just one god and worship *all* the gods (the Greek gods).

Some Jews went along with this; others protested. One family (nicknamed the Maccabees) started a revolt against the Selucids, killing all the Hellenised Jews they could find, attacking the Seleucid garrisons, and eventually capturing Jerusalem. They resantified the Temple, which had been used for the Greek rites, but found there was only enough holy oil for the great lamp in the Temple to keep it burning for one day. But, miraculously, they were able to stretch the oil for eight days, by which time more oil had been pressed (they used olive oil!) and blessed. This is often called 'the miracle of the oil', and the Channukah lights are to commemorate the eight days and nights the one day's worth of oil lasted, as well as the victory over the Selucids it symbolised.

A lot of Jews look on it as a commemoration of the preservation of their religious beliefs, the belief in the oneness of god. Some use the holiday to celebrate religious freedom in general, and freedom from foreign tyranny. Some are even taking the theme of the oil lasting for so long and using the holiday to teach about the importance of conservation!

Because they're made with oil, people eat latkes (potato pancakes) on Channukah. Another popular fried food are fruit-filled doughnuts!

Me, I like the idea of taking a holiday that is, at least partly, about nationalism (the Maccabees founded a new kingdom that was ruled by the Jews) and religious intolerance (the Maccabees killed any Hellenisers they could find--they wanted religious freedom for themselves, but only for their own beliefs, not to allow others to follow their own) and turn it into something broader, gentler, and better. So I see it as a celebration of light in darkness--the hope of winterbound people for the light of spring, or of people in the darkness of oppression for the light of freedom (not just for those who rule, but for everyone)--and for interfaith oecumenism (we all have winter holidays that involve lights and gifts and hope for peace, so why not celebrate them together?)

The Hasmonean kingdom the Maccabees founded, BTW, didn't end well. They started out by doing a deal with the Seleucids (those evil oppressors?) that resulted in the kingdom being a tributary of the Seleucid Empire. Eventually it became independent. Then, as time went on, they struggled over succession (as kingdoms always do) and ended up calling in the Romans to settle the dispute. Which was, of course, like the frogs calling on King Stork. The Romans (under Pompey Magnus--before he ended up losing a war to Ciaran Hinds) invaded, killed lots of Jews, sacked the Temple, and took over the kingdom for themselves.

They tried to kill us; we survived; let's eat!

[zoefruitcake.livejournal.com]

wow, thanks for that, it was really interesting. Sad that the kingdom didn't end well.
As I was reading it I realised some of it sounded familiar (the oil lasting 8 days especially) so I must have heard some of it in the past. I have one Dar Williams album (My better self) but not that song, which I think I will have to find now.
Mmmm, potato latkes :0)

[janewilliams20.livejournal.com]

We're coming up to the Shortest Day, too, and a friend of mine always posts one particular poem to mark it. It fits your ideas quite well, I think, though comes from different roots.
http://telynor.livejournal.com/688262.html