■ The Jewish holiday remembers
the people of Judea’s fight for
independence from Hellenistic rule
hundreds of years ago.
By Karl Anderson
Staff Reporter
Unlike Christians, who treat Christmas
as one of the most significant religious hol
idays, Jewish families will celebrate
Hanukkah as an important day in its history.
Hanukkah, which literally means “to
dedicate,” dates back to Alexander the Great
and his conquest of the Persian Empire.
Among Jewish holidays, Hanukkah is a
minor celebration. Lincoln Rabbi Stanley
Rosenbaum said the distinction between
major and minor holidays is made by
whether the holiday is ordained by God.
All ordained celebrations are considered
major by the Jewish community, he said.
Hanukkah results from significant histori
cal events and remains a very personal cele
bration within Jewish families.
Rosenbaum recounted the story sur
rounding the celebration of Hanukkah:
By 333 or 334 B.C., Alexander the Great
had conquered most of the Persian Empire.
The people of Judea - the land including the
city of Jerusalem - were mostly Jewish and
did not want to give up their rights of self
rule.
Alexander made a deal with the people
in which Judea would become a vassal state
in his empire in exchange for the right to
maintain its own rule, which was based on
the Torah, tile Jewish holy book.
That agreement became a source of con
flict after Alexander’s death, when his
empire was divided and Antiochus IV
ascended to power.
Antiochus, who vainly declared himself
a god, wanted to establish a formal religion
and bring Judea under Hellenistic law.
He next attempted to destroy the Jewish
religion entirely. Antiochus demanded that
the Jewish temple in Jerusalem be opened to
the new religion and that statues of the
Greek gods be erected within the temple. He
also demanded that all Hellenistic people be
allowed to worship inside the temple.
The Jews considered this a desecration
of their temple and many became upset with
the new ruler and his disregard for Jewish
autonomy.
Under the leadership of their father, the
sons of the Jewish Maccabee family lead a
rebellion against Antiochus’ army. In the
end, by what seemed a miracle, the
Maccabees defeated the army and Jewish
independence was reestablished.
After the rebellion was over, the temple
in Jerusalem was to be cleansed and the
altar, which had been desecrated by live sac
rifices, had to be rebuilt before the temple
could be rededicated. The tradition of
Hanukkah originates from this rededication.
Within the temple was a chanukiah, or a
candle stand holding eight different candles
that spread out in a straight line. This
chanukiah, also called a menorah, burned
olive oil and was to remain eternally lit
within the temple. The process by which the
oil was prepared took eight days to com
plete.
When the temple had been cleansed and
made ready for its rededication, only one
flask of oil remained to with which to light
the chanukiah. The supply would never last
for eight days and the menorah would soon
u---— |
That’s the real miracle.”
Stanley Rosenbaum
Lincoln rabbi ^
bum out.
Faced with this problem, God provided
for the people of Judea, and the oil in the
flask lasted for a full eight days, until new
oil had been processed. The temple was
rededicated and the event is now marked by
the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, which is
now celebrated by Jewish families in many
different ways.
Sanford Kaplan, adjunct professor of
geology at the University of Nebraska
Lincoln, said his family celebrates
Hanukkah in a traditional manner.
One candle on the chanukiah will be lit
each night of the holiday in Kaplan’s home,
he said. This is to represent the growing
strength of the light as the holiday progress
es.
,nHis family also will exchange gifts on
the first night of Hanukkah, although some
families exchange gifts every night of the
holiday, he said.
Dreidel, a traditional Jewish game that
had its birth during tl^e days of Antiochus,
will also be played by Kaplan’s family dur
ing Hanukkah, he said. •
A dreidel is a four-sided top decorated
on each side with a different letter. These
letters each have a meaning related to the
teachings in the Torah.
The game, which is often played for
money, is started when a player spins the
top. When the spinning stops, the person
must expound on the meaning of the
exposed letter. ,
The letters, Hey, Gimmel, Nun and Shin, ?•
each have a different numerical value and
the people playing the game will make
wagers based on the value of the letter.
The game was played by early Jews as a
way of secretly teaching their children the
lessons of the Torah during a time when i|>
was illegal to practice their religion. ( , -i
Another tradition that Kaplan observes
is eating latke potatoes, or potato pancakes.
Kaplan said his family will eat these!! pdh-T*
cakes, which they usually cover with apple*'
sauce, frequently during the Hanukkah cele
bration.
Rosenbaum said Hanukkah commemo
rates a new beginning for the Jewish com
munity. Jews were faced with new questions
and the challenge of how to re-establish^
themselves following the rebellion against'
Antiochus, Rosenbaum said. They had to..
decide what sort of culture they would adopt
and what their new beftefs would be. 1
Hanukkah also recalls tbeimportance of
commitment, inner strength, resolve and'
dedication, Rabbi Rosenbaum said. That^
such a small number of people could defeat
Antiochus’ army, which must have been
large, seems incredible, he said. It is hard to
imagine the dedication with which those .
few fought to defeat the masses, he said.
“That’s the real miracle,” Rosenbaum,
said.
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Church services
- ; By Tanya Wortman
Staff reporter
With the hustle and bustle of the
weeks between Thanksgiving and
Christmas, people sometimes forget
the holidays’ true religious meanings.
Some Lincoln churches are focus
ing on simplifying the holiday this year.
Other churches are offering their tradi
tional worship activities in splendor.
First Plymouth Congregational
Church, 2000 D St, has made booklets
available to its members on taking the
stress out of die holidays. The Rev. John
Smeltzer also had a workshop called
“Destressing the Holidays” for the
churchls members.
The Rev. Kathryn Campell said too
many people get caught up in buying
gifts, decorating and sending
Christmas cards, which makes the holi
day just a list of things to do.
; First Plymouth is offering five
Christmas Eve services, beginning at 3
p.m. with a Christmas pageant. At 5
p.m. the church has a youth service,
, where youths read, sing and perform in
an instrumental ensemble.
At 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. will be the fes
tival of lessons and. chpthles^ which ns
offers scripture readings followed by /
anthems sung fay the Plymouth Choir s
chorales sung fay the congregation.
At midnight, the church holds qm- ~ -
dlelight services and the handi-bell
Choir plays. The festival of lessons and
chorales mass will be broadcast on
KOLN-TV Channel 10/11 at midnight
At St Mary’s Catholic Church, 14th
and K streets, the parish is focusing on
preparing for Christ and Advent Sister
Mary Schroer, die church’s organist,^
said she liked,the midnight Mass
because die parish’s adult choir per
forms a 30-minute concert before the
Mass begins. 1 '
St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic
Church, 320 N. 16th St, has amittnk&ht
Mass on Dec. 16 where students are ;
encouraged to brings gifts for either the
Lancaster Office of the Mental
Retarded or for the elderly at Lancaster
Manor.
For those looking for Christmas
music, St. Paul United Methodist
Church, 1144 M St., is holding the
Chancellor Choir Christmas musical; /
Dec. 14. “Shout for Joy!” consists of
spirituals and traditional Christmas
music.
On THE COVER
Sandy Summebs^DN
ONE-MONTH-OLD ELIZABETH SABATKA begins her first Christmas with a visit
to Santa. But front the looks of it, all she’ll be asking from Santa tills year
is another USB.
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