|
|
December 19, 2003/Kislev 24 5764, Vol. 56, No. 13
Celebrating our uniqueness
FLORENCE ECKSTEIN
Publisher
You don't have to be Jewish to love Hanukkah.
There's a universal message in recounting the more than two millennia-old story of the Jews' defiance of the Assyrian Greek King Antiochus' attempt to outlaw the practice of Judaism in Judea, and the Maccabees' successful fight to free themselves from his tyranny.
There's universal allure in the golden glow of multihued candles gracing the hanukkiah, which we light in remembrance of the small jug of olive oil that burned for eight days when the Jews reclaimed the Temple in Jerusalem from their oppressors.
There's universal charm in the sweet voices of our children singing of the Maccabees' rescue of Judaism from those who would have destroyed it forever.
There's universal pleasure in the pungent aroma of potato latkes frying in oil, and in savoring the intermingling flavors of latkes doused in applesauce and succulent brisket.
And there's universal delight in exchanging gifts with loved ones, and of sharing what we have with those less fortunate.
Filled with rituals of universal appeal, Hanukkah is, in some sense, a celebration of those things we share with the rest of humanity. Truly, though, Hanukkah is not a time to remember how we are alike, but to recall why it is important to be different.
The Maccabees fought for the right not to be like everyone - not to adopt Greek names, not to dress in Greek clothing, not to eat Greek foods, and most importantly, not to abandon their monotheism and worship Greek gods. They went to battle to defend their differentness, and they won.
The Assyrian Greeks have plenty of company on a daunting list of those who would eradicate the Jews for being different. Consider the Babylonians, the Romans, the Explusion from Spain, the Crusaders, the Nazis - and now, as in days of old, most of Israel's neighbors.
And yet through it all, we have rasied our families, done our work, engaged in community and national affairs, and cultivated a continually evolving Jewish faith and culture. Notwithstanding the threats of our enemies and the allure of assimilation, we have nurtured our uniqueness.
The personal implications abound. Our immediate family will gather around our table Dec. 19 to celebrate Shabbat and the first night of Hanukkah with little Lauren Gamiel Eckstein, our first grandchild. Lauren was born Sept. 27, the first day of Rosh Hashana.
As we light the first Hanukkah candle, recite the blessings over the candles and the Shehecheyanu, and sing the traditional songs, we will pray that the Maccabees' victory helped pave the way for Lauren's future as a self-assured girl and woman, confident in her uniqueness as a Jew. We will hope that she will come to understand the Jewish past, will feel safe in the Jewish present, and will help to light the way for a future in which Jews throughout the world know the freedom the Hanukkah candles represent.
Contact the writer at flo_eckstein@jewishaz.com.
|
