Patrick Comerford
For the first time in 19 years, Christmas Day and the first day of Hanukkah are falling on the same day. Hanukkah, or Chanukah, is sometimes referred to as the Festival of Dedication or the Festival of Lights.
The word ‘Hanukkah’ means dedication. The festival commemorates the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem by Judas Maccabaeus in 165 BCE, after it was desecrated by Antiochus Epiphanes.
Saint John’s Gospel focuses on major biblical festivals, such as Passover and Sukkot or the Feast of Tabernacles, and Jesus is seen to connect his mission with each of the these major festivals.
In Saint John’s Gospel, he celebrates Hanukkah or the Festival of Lights in Jerusalem: At that time the festival of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon (John 10: 22-23, NRSVA).
But Hanukkah is not one of the major Jewish festivals. It is not included in the Torah, nor is referred to it in the writings of the Prophets. It is a feast of dedication, remembering the Maccabees who recaptured the Temple from Antiochus Epiphanius after it had been captured and desecrated more than 150 years before Jesus was born (see I Maccabees 3-4; II Maccabees 8: 1 to 10: 18).
The Books of Maccabees describe the eight-days that Hanukkah commemorates. The requirements for the rededication of the Temple seemed impossible, with only one day’s supply of oil for the temple menorah or lampstand remaining. According to these accounts, God miraculously allowed the oil to last the full eight days so that the dedication would be complete.
The name of Antiochus Epiphanes means ‘god manifest’. He was one of the successors of Alexander the Great and sought to unify his empire by establishing a single religion. Judaism and its practices, including Sabbath observance, scripture reading and the circumcision of eight-day-old boys, were outlawed, and the Temple was desecrated when a pig was sacrificed to Zeus there.
Under the leadership of Judas Maccabeus, a nickname meaning ‘hammer’, the Jewish people fought a guerrilla-style war against the forces of Antiochus Epiphanes. Although greatly outnumbered, the Jewish rebels were victorious and retook the Temple. On the 25th day of the month Kislev 164 BCE, the defiled Temple was reconsecrated and sacrifices were offered to God.
The people joyfully celebrated the rededication of the Temple for eight days. At the conclusion of the festivities, it was decreed that a similar festival be held each year beginning on 25 Kislev (I Maccabees 4: 36–39).
Hanukkah was not one of the required pilgrimage festivals (see Exodus 23), but those who attended celebrated the days with great rejoicing.
According to Saint John’s Gospel, Jesus is in Jerusalem during Hanukkah or the Festival of Lights, a celebration of hope and justice against dark oppression and tyranny. The account in John 10: 22-42 concludes a festival cycle in John 5: 1 to 10: 42: Sabbath (John 5), Passover (John 6), Tabernacles (John 7: 1 to 10: 21), and Dedication (John 10: 22-42).
In other places, Jesus tells his followers that they are the light of the world and should not be hidden away but to be like a lamp stand (or menorah), to and ‘let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven’ (Matthew 5: 14-16).
Hanukkah continues to be celebrated in Jewish homes and communities. Hanukkah and Christmas are not the same, nor are they equivalent. But, during this season, we are called to be lights in the midst of darkness. With all the evil, division, oppression and injustice that take place in this world, it is important that all who celebrate the lights of this season become the lights of this world for all around us who desperately need light in their darkness.
I recently came ‘A Hanukkah Prayer for a Time of Darkness’, a poem by Marla Baker:
Creator of All,
In the beginning You made the night sky luminous with the light of the moon and the stars and
You made the daytime bright with the light of the sun and
Saw that it was good.
And You created human beings in Your own image, with capacity
To distinguish dark from light, with capacity
To create holy sparks, see into the shadows and
Shine light where it is dark.
And You saw that it was very good.
Creator of All and Rock of Ages,
In the time of the Maccabees once more You worked a miracle of light,
Permitting our ancestors to rededicate holy space.
And it lasted eight days and eight nights.
Creator of All and Rock of Ages,
In the dark of night, at the darkest time of year
We light candles in remembrance of the miracle,
One more each night until there are eight.
Creator of All and Rock of Ages,
Too many lights have been extinguished.
The world has grown too dark.
Creator of Light and Dark,
Teach us once more to see into the shadows,
To shed our light in all the dark corners and to
Create holy sparks for all humankind
So that once more we can say
It is very good.
Chag Chanukah Sameach, חַג חֲנוּכָּה שַׂמֵחַ
