Dear Friends,

 

I hope that everyone is aware that Hanukkah is coming this weekend.

 

(Yes, I know it's early this year, but still: it's not as early as it was two years ago, when Hanukkah famously coincided with Thanksgiving.) 

 

To paraphrase the Talmud's classic question, "What is Hanukkah, anyway?"

 

Does Hanukkah commemorate the Maccabean military victory? Or does it perhaps celebrate the courage of Judith, a bold and resourceful Jewish woman who used her guts, her beauty, and her smarts to save the Jewish people?  (If you've never heard of the story of Judith, take a look at the incredible -- and incredibly graphic -- pictures I've gathered on the following source sheet; it will whet your appetite to read the whole story, which is found in the Apochrypha and can be accessed here.)

 

Or does Hanukkah celebrate the miracle of that small cruse of oil that burned for eight nights -- a story that was first told 400 years after the Maccabees ruled the Land of Israel? 

 

Those stories aren't entirely harmonious, are they?  On the one hand, if you look at the words of some of our Hanukkah songs (like Maoz Tzur or Mi Yimalel) or a prayer like Al HaNissim, we seem to be celebrating a military victory; on the other hand, the haftarah for Hanukkah includes the words, "Not by might, and not by power, but by My spirit," (Zechariah 4:6) -- which definitely seems to downplay military prowess.

 

We don't have to resolve this ambiguity.  What's essential isn't so much the particular Hanukkah story that inspires us, or the particular meaning that we ascribe to Hanukkah as it is our collective commitment to observing it.

 

In honor of the holiday, I would like to share with you three Hanukkah treats.

First, how would you like to hear a Hanukkah song?  No, not the Adam Sandler one, and not any song that you've ever heard before. Every year, our own Arnie Harris, who teaches music at the Perkins School for the Blind, composes an original Hanukkah song to be sung by Perkins School students at their annual holiday concert.  The one he composed this year is a setting for the text I mentioned above:  "Lo v'hayil, v'lo v'khoach, ki im b'ruchi," "Not by might, and not by power, but by My spirit." If you would like to hear Arnie's chorus of deaf and blind students rehearsing this song, click here. Note the striking contrast, toward the end, between the strident "lo v'khoach" and the angelic "ki im b'ruchi."

 

Second, are you still looking for a Hanukkah menorah (or, hanukiyah) for the holiday?  Are you tired of the same old, same old designs?

 

Then take a look at a few new and fun designs for Hanukah menorahs. Click here or here or here.  You'll never look at a bicycle chain the same way!

Finally,  if lighting a Hanukkah menorah seems simple to you, just take a look at this 2012 Youtube video made by the ingenious and creative folks at the Technion in Haifa.  (That's Israel's MIT.)  Just click here and enjoy! 

Sincerely,

 

PS.  Don't forget to join us on the Shabbat of Hanukkah (December 11-12) to hear Rabbi Dayle Friedman share her thoughtful and inspiring insights on the spirituality of aging.  Remember:  aging is what we're all doing, each and every moment! Let's make the most of it! See you then!