By Dan Brosgol
Polish off your chanukiyot and buy your boxes of candles now, because Chanukah is right around the corner. Last year we covered Chanukah 101, so without further ado, here’s Chanukah 102, a.k.a. 8more things you might want to/need to know about the upcoming holiday. Happy reading. . .
1. I still don’t get it. When is Chanukah? Wasn’t it just on Thanksgiving a few years ago?
Indeed it was; welcome to the amazing world of calendar drift! The Jewish calendar is a lunar calendar and is thus 11 days shorter than the solar year that we all use to mark time. This means that to keep Chanukah and July 4th from coinciding (July Fourthukkah? Independence Day-ukkah?), or Yom Kippur happening in mid-winter, the Jewish calendar adds a leap month about every three years—or 7 years out of every 19 years. Ergo, we have Thanksgivukkah (a la 2013), this year’s Christmasukkah (Chanukah begins on December 24), and even a New Yearsukkah this time around, as Chanukah ends on January 1, 2017 in the evening.
2. Where does the Chanukah story take place?
Obviously the Temple that was recaptured and rededicated by the Maccabees in the Chanukah story was/is in Jerusalem, but the six other battles of the Maccabean Revolt took place in a roughly 30-by-30-milebox in the middle of ancient Judaea (present-day central Israel) While the rebellion started near what is now the city of Modi’in, 35 minutes by car northwest of Jerusalem, the battles took place throughout the central valleys and in the narrow passes in the Judaean mountains. Coincidentally (or not), the same terrain was also hotly contested in Israel’s War of Independence in 1948, or about 2,110 years later than the Chanukah story.
3. What’s the deal with Chanukah and elephants?
In ancient times (see movies: Lord of the Rings and 300), elephants were a big deal—big, scary, ferocious, et cetera. And, according to the Book of Maccabees and other Chanukah lore, war elephants were used by the Seleucids against the Maccabees in the battles of Chanukah.In 162 BCE at the Battle of Beth-Zachariah, Judah Maccabee and his band of rebels squared off against General Lysias, who brought 50,000 troops and 30 elephants with him. This particular battle was won by the Seleucids, partially because Judah’s army had trouble with the elephants. Famously, Judah’s younger brother, Eleazar, slayed an elephant by thrusting his sword into its belly, but died when the elephant fell on him, proving that even in death the elephants were not as invincible as they seemed. (Sounds a little like the rebels taking down imperial walkers in The Empire Strikes Back.)
4. What is the correct way to light the Chanukiyah?
(Remember, it’s a chanukiyah, not a menorah.)As usual, there was, and sometimes still is, an argument about this one. One tradition, that of a Talmudic Rabbi named Shammai and his disciples, held that you should start by lighting all 9candles (8plus the shamash/helper candle) and end by only lighting 2.Another tradition, that of a different Talmudic Rabbi named Hillel and his disciples, states that you begin with just 2 candles,but end with a blazing 9-candledchanukiyah on the final night. While almost everyone I know follows Hillel, a few people do the Shammai thing, or do one of each. I leave it to you.
5. What’s the most famous Chanukah prayer or song?
Music and singing is an integral part of the Chanukah celebration—other than Passover, Chanukah is probably the most musical holiday that we’ve got. Each family has their own favorites, but when it comes to the traditional liturgy the most famous prayer is Ma’ozTzur, which is translated as “Rock of Ages.” Note- this is NOT the Rock of Ages you might know from church, it is medieval Hebrew piyyut, or liturgical poem, which is sung in Hebrew and often in English as well, with the following lyrics (translations may vary):
Rock of Ages let our song,
Praise thy saving power;
Thou amidst the raging foes,
Wast our sheltering tower.
Furiously they assailed us,
But Thine arm availed us,
And Thy word broke their sword,
When our own strength failed us.
And Thy word broke their sword,
When our own strength failed us.
In our household, an old family classic is “The Lady Maccabee,” which is a song that I think only we sing as it’s from a very obscure 1950s Chanukah booklet, but that’s a story for another year.
6. What’s up with the gelt?
Yes, why do we eat coin-shaped chocolates on Chanukah? Well, it depends whom you ask. Some allege that going back to Poland in the 1600s, it was the custom for parents to give their children money at Chanukah time, which they were to then give to their religious teachers as thanks for their work. As time went on, the kids wised up and started asking for money for themselves, and then the older kids hopped on the bandwagon, and soon the poor yeshiva students were also asking for financial support during Chanukah. When Eastern European Jews brought their customs to the New World in the early 20th century, American candymakers sensed an opportunity and started making chocolate Chanukah gelt to be bought, eaten, and anted up in games of dreidel . . .and a tradition was born.Going back to the original intent though, it is still customary to give gifts of money at Chanukah time. Still others cite the minting of national coins with menorahs imprinted on them by the victorious Maccabees during the Hasmonean Dynasty as the reason for this tasty tradition.
7. I hear there’s more to the dreidel than the Hebrew letters. True or false?
TRUE! Last year we talked about the lettersnun, gimel, hey, and shinon the dreideland how they represent four Hebrew words that translate into “A great miracle happened there.”But, in a twist that most people do NOT know about, the letters on the dreidel are also a Yiddish instruction for how to play the game of dreidel. Each letter (the letters are the same in Hebrew and Yiddish) tells you what to do if you spin the letter- nit (nothing), gantz (all), halb (half), and shtell (put). That’s advanced Chanukah knowledge right there. Ask your Jewish friends and I bet even they don’t know.
8. Anything new and bizarre out there this year for Chanukah?
As a matter of fact, yes.Burger King in Israel is rolling out something truly, um, unimaginable on the menu for Chanukah 5777—a hamburger sandwiched not between hamburger buns, but between two halves of a sufganiyah–a fried donut, which is a traditional Chanukah food. I have only one word- why? Click here to read more, but I’ll quote one section of the article right here for you: “The burger ‘proves that miracles still happen,’ Burger King Israel said in a Facebook post.” This time, I’ll pass oncelebrating the miracle.
Have a wonderful Chanukah, a Merry Christmas, and a joyful holiday season.
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