A Light That Lasts

We build lights in the midst of darkness to show us a way forward, to remind us that we can survive another year. 

When I asked my 7 year old daughter what she remembers about the story of Hanukkah she asked “Is “they” the right word? Is “people” the right word?” “People thought they had enough oil for just one night, but it lasted for 8 nights.”  It lasted. 

That’s the story that most of us know.  But the story of Hanukkah from the Book of Maccabees, that story is really of what happened before the miracle of the oil.  At it’s core, Hanukkah is an observance that helps us remember we were part of a persecuted religious group that had to fight for the right to live and exist in our own home.  

The Book of Maccabees, the source of the observance of Hanukkah, isn’t in the Hebrew Bible.  It is from a different text, originally in Hebrew, and written by a Jewish author, in the 2nd century BCE.   This is one of the reasons that Hanukkah is not considered a High Holiday in Judaism.  It’s just a minor feast that was elevated in the US, largely because it happens to come around the same time as Christmas.  Some Jews are bothered by this association,  while others appreciate the opportunity to publicly share their Judaism by performing the mitzvah, the good deed, of lighting Chanukah candles.  

Here is the story we remember:

The Syrian king Antiochus had sent out a decree that made being Jewish illegal.  If Jews wanted to live, they would have to worship the Greek Gods and give up their faith and culture.  Even though they were outnumbered, Judah and the Maccabees won two battles and took back their Temple that had been desecrated. 

The miracle of the lights was added to the story more than a hundred years later.  It makes sense.  The perseverance of the light represents the perseverance of a people to survive and fight for the right to be Jewish, to practice their faith and culture. 

Today, my friend Avi tours the country singing with his grandfather, who is a Holocaust survivor.  Cantor David Wisnia tells the story of how he survived Nazi concentration camps by singing.  His lovely voice was coveted by the SS guards and he was spared time and again, when others were not.  But it was not alone that he survived.  He had a relationship with a woman who was a prisoner with special status and was able to strike his name off lists five times to save his life.  Each day still alive was a miracle in that place. 

Here in Philadelphia, we are supporting families in Sanctuary in our very own community.  Families that built a life for themselves, a career, a home.  The government is telling them they are the wrong kind of person.  They do not belong in their home.  And every month we gather.  Every month, again, food is brought to FUMCOG in Germantown.  Families that are not allowed to leave the church spend all day cooking a feast for their neighbors, neighbors who come to show these people that they can survive one more day, one more month, while we fight for their freedom to be home.  

So what is Hanukkah?  A miracle of lights?  Sure.  But also a miracle of the people.  “People is the right word.  Because it’s not just the Jewish people that have had to survive.  Native Americans, African-Americans, Armenians, Palestinians, Muslim Uighurs, the list goes on and on.  

The miracle is not really about the lights.  The miracle is what we do that makes the light last as long as we need it to, so we can work for freedom for all of us.  

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For more on Avi Wisnia: www.aviwisnia.com  

For more on Cantor David Wisnia: www.onevoicetwolives.com 

For more on Sanctuary Philadelphia: www.sanctuaryphiladelphia.org