Recently I watched a video of Alex Edelman a talented Jewish comedian joking about Chanukah versus Christmas. He explained that even though some non-Jews may think that Jewish kids get a gift every night of Chanukah, his experience has been most parents actually give their kids only one gift for the entire holiday. The example he gives is that if the child gets a bike, he’ll get the wheel on the first day, the handlebar on the second day, the seat on the third…..and so forth.

While funny, this joke misses the point of what our holiday of Chanukah is all about.

People tend to compare the Jewish holiday of Chanukah to X-mas, mocking Chanukah, claiming that the songs are fewer in number, the gifts are sparse, the fun is less, and less overall hoopla holiday. I say these people are missing the point. Yes, there are many X-mas songs (written by Jewish composers!), and since most of them are famous, it appears to people that we Jews don’t have Chanukah songs.

Time to clarify the real meaning of Chanukah and what Chanukah truly represents. (hint: not only festive pajamas, fun vacations, daily gifts….)

1. Chanukah represents light overcoming darkness. We light a menorah and each night increase the candle lighting by one until the entire menorah is filled with light on the eighth night. What a beautiful sight.

2. Chanukah commemorates dedication to Jewish practices. One of the miracles of Chanukah is that the Maccabeas (the Jewish army) overcame the Hellenist army. The Hellenists were trying to convert the Jewish people to their way of life. And the victory by the Maccabeas affirmed the Jewish people’s dedication to religion and to G-d.

3. Chanukah is accompanied by beautiful songs and music. Jewish people sing all kinds of songs describing the foods we eat, the miracles we witnessed in the year 165 BCE.  From traditional to modern, to songs in every language, (Hebrew, English, Spanish, Yiddish, Ladino), Chanukah songs are aplenty.

4. Chanukah celebrates the miracle of the oil. After the war, there was very little oil left in the Temple for the menorah of the Temple (which had 7 candles). It was only enough to last for one day. But it lasted eight days. And so, from then on, we celebrated the holiday with eight candles on that date.

5. Chanukah is full of good times and family togetherness. The routine and structure of every night lighting the menorah is just so thrlling for children. And yes – the children get “gelt” – from grandparents

6. Chanukah  elicits creative decorations. Children design pictures and arts and crafts from construction paper at school to decorate their house and windows.

7. Chanukah  offers low-stress holiday. There’s not much to do besides light the menorah, fry latkes, have family over for low-key and relaxed meals and get-togethers and say certain extra prayers. (Admittedly, we have Passover and other holidays which are high-stress but we are talking about Chanukah now!)

8. Chanukah reminds us of hope and victory. It means quality over quantity. The small army of Maccabeas overcame the large one of Hellenist. The Jewish people and Israel will prevail in our times.

 

Am Yisrael Chai!