|
|
December 3, 1999/24 Kislev 5760, Vol. 52, No.14
Hanukkah lights signify importance of peace
Torah Study
RABBI SHLOMO RISKIN
Hanukkah
(Genesis 37:1-40:23/Vayeshev)
Maimonides, the 12th century halachic (Jewish legal) codifier and philosopher, concludes his Laws of Hanukkah by describing the significance of the Hanukkah lights: "The commandment of the Hanukkah lights is extremely beloved; every individual must take great care ... to intensify our praise and gratitude to God for the miracles God has wrought for us. (If a person is poor), oil to kindle the Hanukkah lights (must take) precedence over the purchase of wine for the sanctification of the Sabbath ... because it contains the remembrance of the miracle" (Chapter 4, Laws 11, 13).
Maimonides concludes with a resounding declaration: "If a person must choose between (purchasing) candles for the Sabbath or candles for Hanukkah ... or between Sabbath candles or kiddush wine, Sabbath candles take precedence because of the household peace (which the Sabbath lights symbolize). ... The Torah was given only in order to make peace in the world, as it is written: 'Its paths are paths of pleasantness, and all its roads lead to peace' " (Chapter 4, Law 13).
I believe that Maimonides is hinting at the deep, dark secret of Hanukkah, one guarded by our sages in the manner in which they describe the miracle and celebrate the festival - a secret that contains the seeds of the ultimate failure of the Maccabean Revolution with the fall of the Second Commonwealth barely 200 years after the Hasmonean rededication of the Holy Temple.
The Apocryphal Books of the Maccabees and the history of Josephus reveal that the initial stage of the Hasmonean revolt was not against the Greek Syrians, who were renowned for their tolerance, but was waged against the assimilating Hellenistic Judean ruling class and the High Priest Menelaus, who wanted to transform Jerusalem into a Greek city-state and to sponsor Olympic games dedicated to one of the idolatrous gods of Mount Olympus. When the Hasmoneans appeared to be winning, the High Priest called in the Greek-Syrians for help. The Maccabees nevertheless won: "the many in the hands of the few, the mighty in the hands of the weak, the wicked in the hands of the toilers in Thy Torah."
But in recording the Maccabean struggle, the sages played down the civil war aspect, choosing as the symbol of victory not weapons of war, but the menorah of lights. Light symbolizes peace. Sabbath lights are for the sake of shalom bayit (familial wholeness).
Our sages apparently were ashamed that the Maccabees had not convinced the ruling class with inspiration, like Ezra in an earlier generation, who publicly read from the Book of Deuteronomy, inspiring even the most errant Israelites to banish their gentile wives, but had instead coerced them with arms.
The hatred continued into the generations of the Hasmoneans themselves, with Hyrcanus fighting against Aristobulus, leading to the surrender of Jewish national sovereignty to Rome.
Fascinatingly, the brotherly strife between Joseph and his siblings, which we read about in this week's Torah portion, foreshadows the fratricidal hatred that continues to threaten our existence. Only when Joseph is able to forego his dreams of economic and cosmic domination and accept the fact that he must use his gifts to help Judah convey the tradition and disseminate ethical monotheism, does peace descend upon the great-grandchildren of Abraham.
The self-righteous brothers learned that Joseph's dreams of Egypt, agriculture and universalism did not justify physically attacking him, and Joseph learned to harness his gifts of charm and culture not for self-aggrandizement but in the service of God and Torah.
The Torah explicitly, and our celebration of Hanukkah implicitly, teach that brotherly strife can lead to the destruction of all. In concluding the Laws of Hanukkah with a ringing declaration of the importance of peace, Maimonides emphasizes that familial peace, as symbolized by the Sabbath candles, takes precedence over the brotherly conflict that gave rise to the miracle of Hanukkah.
Rabbi Shlomo Riskin is the spiritual leader of the Jewish community in Efrat, Israel.
|
