CHANUKAH: THE HOLIDAY OF DEDICATION

The story of Chanukah does not appear in the Torah (the system of law described in 'the Book of the Law of Moses'), the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible (called by Christians as the 'Old Testament' and Judaism as the, "'Tanakh' [which] is an acronym of ... Torah ... Nevi'im (Prophets), and Ketuvim (Writings)" [1]) or standard versions of the New Testament. It does however appear in Books 1 and 2 of the Maccabees, which are included as part of the Catholic and Orthodox Christian Bibles [2].

The Story Behind Chanukah

In 1 Maccabees 1:20-21, we are told:

"In the year 143 ... Antiochus marched with a great army against the land of Israel and the city of Jerusalem. In his arrogance, he entered the Temple and took away the gold altar [and] the lampstand with all its equipment" [5].

1 Maccabees describes the heroic actions of valiant Israelites (including Priest Mattathias and his son, Judas Maccabeus, also a Priest) who stood up to and defeated the vast armies of King Antiochus against all odds. Judas Maccabeus then ordered the Temple be purified and rededicated (1 Maccabees 4:36; Maccabees 4:49-50 [6]).The celebration that has come to be known as 'Chanukah' is then described in 1 Maccabees 4:54-59:

"The 25th day of the 9th month, the month of Kislev in the year 148, was the anniversary of the [desecration of] the altar ... The new altar was dedicated and hymns were sung to the accompaniment of harps, lutes, and cymbals ... With great joy they brought burnt offerings and offered fellowship offerings and thank offerings ... For eight days they celebrated the rededication of the altar ... Then Judas, his brothers and the entire community of Israel decreed that the rededication of the altar should be celebrated with a festival of joy and gladness at the same time each year, beginning on the 25th of the month of Kislev and lasting for eight days".

The word 'chanukah' itself means 'rededication' [7].

Observations on 'Dedication'

Last year, I discussed the power held exclusively by priests to declare religious practices outside of what is written directly in the Torah (the Law of Moses). It was noted that the practice of lighting candles has come from the Oral Torah only (the collection of writings compiled by the Pharisees after they took over control from the Priestly Sadducees) and is not a law made by Priests (and Judges [8]). 

This year I noticed a new interesting point. There is no law of the Torah that says Torah-observant Israelites [9] should be faithful to Y-hova [10] to the 'point of death'. This concept does however appear as a statement of what the Israelites did in practice in 1 Maccabees 1:62-63 [11]:

"But many people in Israel firmly resisted the king's decree and refused to eat food that was ritually unclean. They preferred to die rather than break the holy covenant and eat unclean food- and many did die". 

Last year I noted that Jesus was recorded as celebrating the Feast of Dedication in John 10:22 [12] and this year I noticed that a few passages before, in John 10:6-18 [13], Jesus presents one of his parables where he mentions the practice of the 'Good Shepherd' laying down his life for his sheep.Laying one's life down for Y-hova (like the Maccabees) and laying down one's life for the people (like the Good Shepherd) are different but, as someone channelling the power of Y-hova so profoundly, Jesus' relationship to the law is extremely interesting.

I do think an under-recognised fact is that Jesus had been teaching on the Sabbath (Luke 6:6) [14] and also walking out in the fields on the Sabbath (Luke 6:1) [15], when Sabbath laws require us to rest on this day and remain in our dwelling places (Leviticus 23:3; Exodus 16:29) [16]. Y-hova's support of Jesus in his decision to heal on the Sabbath, on the very same occasion he had been out in the synagogue teaching, is manifest from the fact that a sick man's hand was ultimately healed at Jesus' word (Luke 6:10) [17] and the Pharisees persecuting him were put to shame by Y-hova. This, however, may have been more a demonstration of the passage in Psalms 124:2-3 that, 'had not Y-hova been on our side when people attacked us ... they would have swallowed us alive' [18]. Of course, the Pharisees themselves were also away from their dwelling places at the time, on the basis that the Oral Torah entitled them to do so. 

Conclusion

The Maccabees were not prepared to eat even food Y-hova had declared unclean because their 'dedication' to Y-hova was so strong [19]. 

Chag Sameach!! Happy Holidays!!!

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