Posted on December 25, 2024 by Rabbi David Katz
Tonight we will light the first candle of Chanukah. Let’s talk about its double story. The historical account goes like this: the Maccabees fought against the army of King Antiochus for 3 years until they were victorious. The second story goes like this: After the Temple was destroyed a little boy found a tiny flask of oil that miraculously lit the Temple’s menorah for eight days.
How did it come to be that these two stories, one of a military victory and the other of a miracle, both explain why we celebrate Chanukah? The first story, of the Maccabees, is the older one but 300 years later the Jews were suffering under Roman occupation and the story of a rebel band fighting a great empire was not going to be very inspiring or even safe to recount. So the second story, of the little boy and the miracle of a tiny flask of oil, came into being.
Which of the two Chanukah stories should we emphasize today? Our Reform prayer books instruct us.
In the Union Prayer Book, published in 1940, the third verse of “Rock of Ages” reads as follows:
“Children of the martyr-race,
Whether free or fettered,
Wake the echoes of the songs
Where we may be scattered.”
Now listen to the Gates of Prayer, our next siddur, which was published in 1975:
“Children of the Maccabees,
Whether free or fettered,
Wake the echoes of the songs
Where you may be scattered.”
Note the change of wording in the later version. In 1975, thirty years after the Holocaust, we no longer wanted to describe ourselves as martyrs or as a race. We had a Jewish state to defend; we would be children of the Maccabees.
The modern state of Israel cannot depend on miracles to survive, rather it must rely on its political and military strength. This is the new reality and after October 7th, with Israel currently fighting on all fronts, it is the story the story of the Maccabees that must be emphasized. During the holiday our children will eat their latkes and jelly donuts and spin their dreidles but first and foremost they must be taught to protect and defend themselves as Jews. They must see themselves as Maccabees.
And finally, let us pray that someday our children will have to change the words of “Rock of Ages” once again, to reflect a new reality – and these are the lyrics they will sing:
“Children of a peaceful world
Embracing one another,
Nations living side by side
Arms laid down forever.”
This would be a hymn to sing with joy!
Have a Happy Chanukah,
Rabbi Katz
