Reply
Sun 25 Dec, 2005 09:56 am
The history of Hanukkah.
Hanukkah is celebrated for eight days and nights, starting on the 25th of Kislev on the Hebrew calendar (which is November-December on the Gregorian calendar). In Hebrew, the word "Hanukkah" means "dedication."
The holiday commemorates the rededication of the holy Temple in Jerusalem after the Jews' 165 B.C.E. victory over the Hellenist Syrians. Antiochus, the Greek King of Syria, outlawed Jewish rituals and ordered the Jews to worship Greek gods.
In 168 B.C.E. the Jews' holy Temple was seized and dedicated to the worship of Zeus.
Some Jews were afraid of the Greek soldiers and obeyed them, but most were angry and decided to fight back.
The fighting began in Modiin, a village not far from Jerusalem. A Greek officer and soldiers assembled the villagers, asking them to bow to an idol and eat the flesh of a pig, activities forbidden to Jews. The officer asked Mattathias, a Jewish High Priest, to take part in the ceremony. He refused, and another villager stepped forward and offered to do it instead. Mattathias became outraged, took out his sword and killed the man, then killed the officer. His five sons and the other villagers then attacked and killed the soldiers. Mattathias' family went into hiding in the nearby mountains, where many other Jews who wanted to fight the Greeks joined them. They attacked the Greek soldiers whenever possible.
About a year after the rebellion started, Mattathias died. Before his death, he put his brave son Judah Maccabee in charge of the growing army. After three years of fighting, the Jews defeated the Greek army, despite having fewer men and weapons.
Judah Maccabee and his soldiers went to the holy Temple, and were saddened that many things were missing or broken, including the golden menorah. They cleaned and repaired the Temple, and when they were finished, they decided to have a big dedication ceremony. For the celebration, the Maccabees wanted to light the menorah. They looked everywhere for oil, and found a small flask that contained only enough oil to light the menorah for one day. Miraculously, the oil lasted for eight days. This gave them enough time to obtain new oil to keep the menorah lit. Today Jews celebrate Hanukkah for eight days by lighting candles in a menorah every night, thus commemorating the eight-day miracle.
Hmmm, I never learned it as a menorah that was being lit. Rather, it was the
Ner Tamid, which is the eternal light.
Anyway, not to be picky, thanks for the interesting topic.
The Ner Tamid is, translated into English, the 'Eternal Candle'. It is a featured requirement of every shul (synagogue), and it is used in reflection of the eternality of Hashem (G-d).
On the other hand, the menorah is the Hebrew word for 'lamp'. We call the 'lamp' we use on Chanukah the menorah, not the Ner Tamid.
These two things are different, though close in function; they both are used for commemoration. The menorah, for the miracle of Chanukah, and the Ner Tamid to remember Hashem's eternality.
I know the Ner Tamid isn't a home thing, the menorah is. But wasn't it the Ner Tamid being relit way back during the time of the Maccabees?
jespah wrote:I know the Ner Tamid isn't a home thing, the menorah is. But wasn't it the Ner Tamid being relit way back during the time of the Maccabees?
Not exactly. It was the Temple Menorah. This was a seven branched candelabrum. It was a ner tamid in Temple times, but it is not considered the same thing today.
More precisely, the menorah we light today is called a "Chanukiah" because it is an eight branched candelabrum which we light specifically on Chanukah to commemorate the the miracle of the original Menorah in which one-days-worth of pure oil miraculously lasted for eight days in the Temple.
A ner tamid is the "eternal light" or "flame" as described above.
Now, it is also a commemoration of the Temple menorah; the continual incense burning altar in the Temple; and as pointed out above, the symbol of G-d's continuous presence in the synagogue. It is usually an electric light because it is never turned off.
It is not directly associated with Chanukah.
However, you would be correct by inference that the original Temple Menorah would have been considered a Ner Tamid.
Thank you for the clarification. I hope you had a good
yom tov (oops, I know that's kinda redundant).
jespah wrote:Thank you for the clarification. I hope you had a good
yom tov (oops, I know that's kinda redundant).
Naw, not really. (I mean, yes, I had a great Chanukah, but a good yom tov is not really redundant and Chanukah is actually not a "Yom Tov" in the Jewish calendar).
Although you can impress your friends and annoy your enemies by wishing people a freilichin Chanukah or, for the next Jewish holiday coming up, which would be even more appropriate - a Freilichin Purim! (bearing in mind that the "ch" is the gutteral ccchhhhh sound, not ch as in choo-choo :wink: )
Ah yes, the spitting (well, a little, if you're not careful) sound.
We tend to say
good yontif which I understand is kinda generic but also an odd mix of languages, sort of like saying
merci very much.
I'm wondering if our "good" is the way we heard the Yiddish "gutt"? Though that, too, would be a mix to two languages...
Stumble It!
Tweet This
Bookmark on Delicious
Share on Facebook
Share on MySpace