Mai Hanukkah – “What is Hanukkah?” asked the rabbis of the Talmud. In answer to their own rhetorical question, they chose not to tell the story of the Maccabean victory over the Seleucid empire in 160 BCE. Rather, they offered the famous story of the rededication of the Temple and the miracle of the oil that burned for eight days. For the rabbis, the oil of the menorah symbolized hope and faith in the face of overwhelming odds, not the spoils of war.
They also understood the dangers of glorifying violence, having seen the devastating effects of the Bar Kochba revolt against the Roman empire in 132 CE. They were particularly mindful that the independent Jewish commonwealth founded in the wake of the Maccabean victory – led by the priestly Hasmonean Dynasty – was corrupt and oppressive. In the end, their reign would last a little more than one hundred years before falling to the Roman Empire.
The Rabbis knew this all too well: empires, nations and states are artificially-created entities, manufactured through military might and inevitably destined to fall. It was not by coincidence that the famous line from Zechariah: Not by might and not by power but by My spirit says the Lord of Hosts was chosen to be the prophetic portion chanted on the Shabbat of Hanukkah.
This inspiring sacred message of Hanukkah lasted centuries, until it was subverted and overturned by political Zionism.
Source: jewishvoiceforpeace.org
