Philip Goodman - The Hanukkah Anthology

1976 by The Jewish Publication Society of America

Acknowledgments for the use of previously published material appear on , which constitute an extension of the copyright page.

All rights reserved. Published by the University of Nebraska Press as a Jewish Publication Society book. Manufactured in the United States of America.

First Nebraska paperback printing: 2018

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018935054

The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

TO
Solomon Grayzel
AND
A. Alan Steinbach

ILLUSTRATIONS

21. Hanukkah lamp shaped like an oak tree. Silver, partly gilt. Poland. Eighteenth century. Skirball Museum, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Los Angeles.

53. Dreidel. From The Jewish Encyclopedia .
Map of Maccabean War. By W. Streckfuss. From A History of the Jews, by Solomon Grayzel, Jewish Publication Society of America, Philadelphia, 1947.

A N OTE FROM THE P UBLISHER

The JPS Holiday Anthologies are unequaled compilations of Bible, Talmud, prayer, poetry, and folklore.

When I first began studyingjudaism, and later as a young rabbi, these books were indispensable aids in learning and teaching about the holidays. They took a place of pride on my essential reference bookshelf, right next to The JPS Tanakh and The JPS Torah Commentary.

Even in our digital age they deserve a similar place on the bookshelf of the next generation of rabbis, cantors, educators, and readers seeking the meaning and origin of the Sabbath and Jewish festivals.

These classics deserve to be available mdor Idor , from one generation to the next, and we are pleased to make that commitment in this reprint series.

Rabbi Barry L. Schwartz
Director, The Jewish Publication Society

PREFACE

The annual observance of Hanukkah, the Feast of Lights, commemorates not only the successful fight for survival of the Jewish state, but also the first triumphant struggle for freedom of religion. This unique moral victory over pagan Hellenism and the sinister aims of its exponents is marked by joyous celebration. Its primary motif is not the defeat of the enemy on the battlefield but the rededication of the holy sanctuary: Judah and his brothers and the entire congregation of Israel decreed that the days of the dedication of the altar should be kept with gladness and joy at their due season, year after year, for eight days from the twenty-fifth of the month of Kislev (1 Maccabees 4.59).

The Hasmone'an rebellion against the mighty Syrian Empire, initiated by Mattathias and his five sons, succeeded in thwarting the plan of the truculent king Antiochus IV to exterminate the Jewish nation and to eradicate its religion, and in stemming the growing tide of Hellenism amongjews. The Syrian monarchs determination to foist the Greek idolatrous ways upon the jews failed ignobly. The overwhelming multitude of Jews remained loyal to the faith of their fathers; they heroically suffered martyrdom rather than surrender their religious precepts and practices. The history of the Maccabean revolt records the earliest chronicle of martyrs who sacrificed their lives for their religion. This historic event has been a source of inspiration for succeeding generations of Jews, and Christians as well.

The success achieved under the leadership of Judah Maccabee and his stalwart brothers terminated foreign rule and restored independence to Judea. The war of the heroic Maccabees was more important than just a struggle for civil liberties. It assumes universal significance in that it was fought to defend monotheism against paganism, Judaism against Hellenism, religious liberty against tyrannical oppression, human rights against savage autocracy. The grandeur of the Maccabean victory lies in the achievement of freedom to worship God and to observe His laws, in the rejuvenation of the Jewish faith, and in the preservation of Judaism for future generations.

During the long centuries of suffering and agonizing travail in the dark Diaspora, the Feast of Lights has served as a shining beacon for world Jewry. Year after year the frail Hanukkah candles have diffused spiritual luminescence into dreary homes and brought visions of better days to come. Over half a century ago the late Justice Louis D. Brandeis predicted the creation of a new era for the Jewish people in these prophetic words: The Maccabees victory proved that the jewsthen already an old peoplepossessed the secret of eternal youth: the ability to rejuvenate itself through courage, hope, enthusiasm, devotion, and self-sacrifice of the plain people. This will bring again ajewish Renaissance. Indeed, the modern state of Israel was brought into existence and is being nurtured through the same indomitable spirit of the Maccabees that kindled a flame of hope in the yearning Jewish heart and mind for the past two millennia. The establishment of Israel, too, was a victory of the few over the many, of democracy over despotism. It, too, was resurrected through the invincible faith and courage of the self-sacrificing modern Maccabees who gave their lives so that Jews may once again live in freedom.

The story and message of Hanukkah are unfolded in this book through the literature created by Jewry during the past two thousand years. Here one will find the biblical intimations of the festival, the ancient historical sources in postbiblical writings, selections from the Talmud and midrash, pertinent excerpts from medieval books, the home liturgy, and laws and customs. There are also readings from modern writers, descriptions of Hanukkah observances in many countries, stories and poems for both children and adults, and articles on a variety of related subjects. The Hanukkah Anthology is intended for parents and children, for rabbis and educators, for laymen and professionals.

The Hanukkah Anthology is a successor to Hanukkah: The Feast of Lights by Emily Solis-Cohen, Jr., published in 1937 by The Jewish Publication Society of America under the editorship of Dr. Solomon Grayzel, the noted historian and editor emeritus of JPS. The 1937 volume was the first in the Societys Sabbath and Jewish Holiday Series and set the pattern for the others that followed. It was widely used over the years and was reprinted nine times. Dr. Grayzel was also the editor of the Society when I prepared The Purim Anthology (1949) and The Passover Anthology (1961), and I welcome this opportunity to reiterate my sincerest appreciation to him for his constant and helpful guidance, the benefit of his erudition, and the interest and care he evinced in these books, from the initial outline to the final production. I am further grateful to him for permission to reprint his scholarly and lucid article Hanukkah and Its History in this anthology.

I want to extend my thanks for their courtesies and assistance to Dr. I. Edward Kiev of revered memory, late librarian of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, New York, and Mrs. Sylvia Landress, librarian of the Zionist Archives and Library, and their staffs; Mrs. Deborah Brodie, childrens book editor, Hebrew Publishing Co.; Dr. Herbert Parzen, author of Architects of Conservative Judaism and other scholarly works; Rabbi Irving Rubin of Congregation Kesher Israel, West Chester, Pennsylvania; Max Zeldner, formerly head of Department of Foreign Languages, William Howard Taft High School, Bronx, N. Y.; and Dr. Samuel D. Freeman, consultant in adult programing, National Jewish Welfare Board.