The Battle over our Spirit
The first candle of Hanukkah and Christmas Day came together this year. For those of us with interfaith families, we may have put gifts under a tree standing next to a Hanukkiyah.
When I first moved to the United States, I found it very hard to understand how so many Jewish people were celebrating Christmas. Even Jewish people who were not living in interfaith households still found it enjoyable to put a Christmas tree in their living room.
In Israel, where I grew up, it was only the Christian minority in the country who celebrated it — and for any Jewish people, even the most secular, celebrating Christmas would seem like an act of heresy.
After many years here, I came to realize that for many Jewish people there was no religious significance to Christmas and that it was a purely American cultural holiday for them which was simply… a lot of fun.
I recently came across an astounding essay by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz about the meaning of Hanukkah which I am excited to share with you. The full essay which is called “A Stiff-Necked People” can be found in his book “Change & Renewal: The Essence of the Jewish Holidays, Festivals & Days of Remembrance.”
In his essay, Steinsaltz wondered about the deeper meaning of the holiday of Hanukkah and why we celebrate it. Steinsaltz mentioned, and rightly so, that during the hundreds of years in which Jews lived in the Land of Israel they have been through many conquests, fought and won many battles, but not all of them were celebrated. What was it about the victory over the Seleucids which was so significant?
Steinsaltz suggested that the victory was significant because that victory was detrimental to the survival of the Jewish nation as a whole. It was detrimental to its survival because it was a battle over the spirit of who we are.
“In order to consolidate the power of their empire, the Greeks transformed the lower expressions of Hellenistic culture - language, lifestyle, gods - into universal culture.”
According to Steinsaltz, the destruction of local temples by the Greeks was not done for religious reasons but rather for cultural reasons. Nations which treated their gods as folklore characters to begin with had no problem accepting the new gods as an addition to their own; moreover, the Greeks offered a new and enlightened way of being, one of understanding and tolerance.
To that Steinsaltz writes: “Tolerance toward everything does not indicate respect for others’ principles, but rather a general devaluation of principles, which makes possible the acceptance of foreign and even opposing ideas.”
Steinsaltz claims that the Greek war against the Jewish way was not ideological — on the contrary, they tried to force all ideologies and principles out of the Jews. What makes Judaism special, he writes, is that “it is in its essence, intolerant.”
As some of you may know, the conflict resolution that we celebrate during Hanukkah involved more than a rebellion against a conquering empire. There was also a civil war raging between Jews who wished to assimilate or at least partially adapt Greek culture, and a minority of Zealots, Orthodox Jewish fanatics if you will, who wished to reject it all together.
It’s hard not to think of the parallels to our times. After all, the “Western” culture which we all now embrace, in the US as well as in Israel, stemmed out of that Greek culture.
Who are the zealots of our time? Are they the Orthodox Jews of Brooklyn? The religious Zionists in Israel? Or maybe the Ultra Orthodox in both?
Steinsaltz wonders how we would react today should these minority groups among our people be waging a war against a culture that we’ve grown to love, respect and be fully immersed in?
“On the festival of Hanukkah, we celebrate the Hasmonean victory over the Greeks and the Hellenism that spread among the Jewish People. Each year during this festival, we are reminded that we must continue the struggle to maintain our singularity - particularly in our time, when we are faced with the very same issue.”
Don’t get me wrong, I find the celebration of a holiday, which for many in our society is purely cultural, quite harmless (that is if you’re not bothered by the consumerist aspect of it), but where should we draw the line? When is it appropriate or even necessary to “maintain our singularity?” How should we feel about celebrating every year the victory of a group of people which nowadays we dismiss at best? I find these questions worthy of asking.
In Steinsaltz’s words: “In commemoration of the Jewish victory over Hellenism, we celebrate Hanukkah as the festival of those people who are still moved by zeal for their Judaism. Hanukkah is perceived by the public as a pleasant holiday, for it entails many delights, but in essence, it is a religious-zealous holiday!”
Personally, Steinsaltz's words got me thinking about how much have I assimilated to a “foreign culture” and to what degree my Judaism is compromised? If I am honest, I’m quite sure that had I lived in the times of the Hasmonians, I would most likely have dismissed them as lunatics, protested against them and protected my status achieved within the enlightened Hellenistic culture.
Despite that, this Hanukkah, to every candle that I light, I’d like to bring a simple intention - to ask myself, as a Jewish person living in the US in 2024, how should I “maintain my singularity” today?
