LONGMEADOW – In the spirit of the season, the Reminder Publishing staff decided that we wanted to learn more about other holidays celebrated during this festive time of year. With each member of the reporting staff celebrating Christmas in their own homes, we wanted to hear about the history behind other holidays as well as traditions celebrated. This week, Reminder Publishing spoke with Rabbi Shlomo Yaffe of Congregation B’nai Torah located in Longmeadow about Hanukkah. Yaffe explained a series of oppressive acts that led to today’s traditional celebration of Hanukkah.

History

Hanukkah (also spelt Chanukah or Hanukah) dates back to the second century, prior to the Common Era. According to Chabad.org, over 2,000 years ago the Land of Israel was apart of the Syrian–Greek Empire which was ruled by the dynasty of the Seleucids. In approximately 174 BCE, Antiochus IV ruled the region. In an effort to unify the kingdom through common religion and culture, Antiochus tried to suppress the practice of all Jewish law.

“At some point, the emperor decided that he wanted to get everyone to follow one culture and one belief system so he insisted on the show of loyalty that everyone had to worship the Hellenistic culture,” Yaffe related. “Hellenism was a culture that spread all over southern Europe and the Middle East. They demanded everyone conform to that culture which meant the negation of the most important parts of Jewish culture.”

During this time, Antiochus was also in a war against Egypt. While in Egypt, a rumor spread in Jerusalem that Antiochus had passed. The people of Jerusalem then rebelled against a High Priest, however when Antiochus heard of this, he ordered an army to “fall upon the Jews,” chabad.org said. With this, thousands of people of the Jewish faith were murdered, Antiochus decreed that Jewish worship was forbidden, and the scrolls of the Law were confiscated and burned.

“Some Jews thought they would benefit from kowtowing to the oppressor,” Yaffe shared. “At a certain point, there was a rebellion.”

A henchman of Antiochus traveled to the village of Modi’in where a respected elderly priest named Mattityahu lived. The henchman built an altar in the village and demanded that Mattityahu offer sacrifices to the Greek Gods. Mattityahu refused, which resulted in a war between the loyal Jews and the Antiochus’ soldiers.

Prior to his death, Mattityahu urged his sons to continue to fight. He asked his sons to, “follow the counsel of their brother Shimon the Wise, and their leader in warfare was to be their brother Judah the Strong, or Judah the Maccabee,” chabad.org explained.

The Maccabees continued to battle and won. They then returned to Jerusalem and liberated it.

“Since the golden Menorah had been stolen by the Syrians, the Maccabees now made one of cheaper metal. When they wanted to light it, they found only a small cruse of pure olive oil bearing the seal of the High Preist Yochanan. It was sufficient to create light for only one day,” chabad.org reads. “By a miracle of G–d, it continued to burn for eight days, until new oil was available.”

Yaffe chuckled and shared a modern–day example of this, “Think of it as an iPhone on one percent [battery], but it lasted for eight days instead of one.”

“This was the struggle for religious freedom, the firth against oppression and power and the miraculous idea that when we do our best to turn to God that God fills in the rest of the blanks of us,” Yaffe added.

Todays Traditions: The Menorah

Hanukkah began on Dec. 2 and ends on Dec. 10. The primary celebration of Hanukkah involves the lighting of an eight–branch candelabra, known as the menorah. One branch is lit on the first night of Hanukkah, two candles lit on the second, leading up to all eight branches lit on the eighth night.

“This reminds us of the menorah in the temple that miraculously burned for eight days on one day’s oil,” Yaffe said. “In general, the idea is that when people put themselves on the line, we anticipate and hope and thank God for when it happens that God assists us in doing the right thing and standing up for what’s true no matter how overwhelming the odds.

“That’s why we light the menorah at night. In the winter, when the nights are longest, we bring light to them. We don’t fight it, but we bring light to the world,” he added.

Prayers

Each night there are special prayers said. Chabad.org states that there are two or three blessings said prior to the lighting of the menorah.

The first: “Ba-ruch A-tah Ado-nai E-lo-he-nu Me-lech ha-olam a-sher ki-de-sha-nu be-mitz-vo-tav ve-tzi-va-nu le-had-lik ner Cha-nu-kah. Blessed are You, Lord our G d, King of the universe, who has sanctified us with His commandments, and commanded us to kindle the Chanukah light.”

The second: “Ba-ruch A-tah Ado-nai E-lo-he-nu Me-lech Ha-olam she-a-sa ni-sim la-avo-te-nu ba-ya-mim ha-hem bi-zman ha-zeh. Blessed are You, Lord our G d, King of the universe, who performed miracles for our forefathers in those days, at this time.”

The third, which is recited only on the first night or the first time lighting this Hanukkah: “Ba-ruch A-tah Ado-nai E-lo-he-nu Me-lech Ha-olam she-heche-ya-nu ve-ki-yi-ma-nu ve-higi-a-nu liz-man ha-zeh. Blessed are You, Lord our G d, King of the universe, who has granted us life, sustained us, and enabled us to reach this occasion.” Dairy and Fried Food “It’s traditional to eat food fried in oil because the miracle happened with oil,” Yaffe told Reminder Publishing. “In much of the world, it’s traditional in European Judaism to eat potato pancakes fried in oil. In Israel it’s donuts, to eat dough fried in oil. In most Jewish communities now they do both.” Additionally, dairy products are commonly incorporated into meals. “There’s a long story that during one of the battles at this time there was a city that was beseeched by a Syrian Greek army. There was a widow by the name of Judith who went out to the Greek camp,” Yaffe explained.

He continued, sharing that the woman went to the General of the camp and told him that the people had given up hope and that she wanted to be on the winning side. With her, she brought various cheeses. Judith gave the general wine, and he subsequently fell asleep. With that, Judith beheaded him. She traveled back to her camp and hung the general’s head from the gates of the city. “Since she used the cheese and milk she was looked at as a hero,” Yaffe said. “It’s a well known story and it’s related to that time period so that’s the reason why many communities do dairy foods.” The Dreidel Yaffe shared that the Dreidel stands for “a great miracle happens here.” On each side of the Dreidel there are four Hebrew letters: the shin, hey, gimel, and nun. The Dreidel is played with candies or money that is put into a pot or the middle of the playing space. Depending on which side of the Dreidel it falls over on the players then are instructed what to do with the pot. If the Dreidel falls on the gimmel, the player gets all that is in the middle. If it falls on the nun, they do nothing. If it lands on the shin, one piece must be put into the middle. Finally, if the dreidel lands on the hey, the player receives half of the amount in the middle. The game is over when one player has won all of the middle.

The Importance of the Holiday

Children are an important part of Hanukkah, Yaffe said, as “it’s important for children to absorb the idea that their beliefs are both precious and worth putting everything on the line for.”

“For a long time Jews were a persecuted minority just about wherever they lived. One of the things that has emerged is the large, public menorahs all over the country and all over the world,” Yaffe said. “Hanukkah holds a universal message about the right to religious freedom. This is a lesson that no one can keep down the human spirit and that ultimately it triumphs.”

Yaffe encourages those who may want a menorah to contact B’Nai Torah and he will give them one. Congregation B’nai Torah can be reached at 567–0036 and is located at 2 Eunice Dr. in Longmeadow.

“The main point is that light drives away darkness and the most powerful light of all is the human soul directed in a positive direction,” he closed.