Hanukkah
Rededication through education’
by JILL SCHMELZER Reporter
Hanukkah, which means “rededication through education,” is not a big celebration in the Jewish religion.

“It’s clearly in beautiful America the proximity of the amazing trappings of Christmas that has elevated a relatively small holiday in the Jewish calendar to large proportion,” Temple Beth Am Rabbi Irwin A. Tanenbaum said.

The holiday originates in the second century, “Before the Common Era,” B.C.E., when the Jews in Israel were not permitted to practice their faith, Tanenbaum explained.

Schools were forbidden, meaning children couldn’t learn about their religion, and the temple was polluted with the idols of the pagan festivity, he said. King Antiochus IV decreed that the country over which he ruled was to be unified through Greek ways.

A Jewish priest in the provincial town of Modi’in, south of Jerusalem, led a three-year uprising with the aid of his five sons.

In 164 B.C.E., the family victoriously marched into the temple in Jerusalem and immediately began the work of rededication, Tanenbaum said. The menorah was re-lit in the temple, and according to the legend, the priest could not find consecrated oil, except for a tiny jar containing enough for one night.

“This they used, and miraculously, the menorah remained lit for eight days,” the Amherst rabbi said, noting that this was enough time to secure more oil.

“Hanukkah represents the will of a small group to overcome enormous adversity and defeat wickedness,” Tanenbaum said. “The issues of religious freedom and acceptance of each other has not left us. Hanukkah remains an inspiration for the positive practice of one’s faith in the midst of that which would remove us from that sense of God’s spirits within us.”

Hanukkah begins at sundown Friday, Dec. 15. Temple Beth Am, at 4660 Sheridan Drive, will celebrate the start of the holiday at 6 p.m. with a latke (potato pancake) dinner. A service will follow at 7:30 p.m. and will contain music, children’s games and fellowship for adults.

Guests of the temple are welcome, and the dinner costs a small fee.

“Hanukkah is great fun,” Tanenbaum said. “Our homes are decorated, and we exchange small gifts that have been traditional in Jewish life.”

e-mail: JSchmelzer@beenews.com