Hanukkah: Key holiday or no big megillah?

Families celebrate the 'Festival of Lights' in one of Northern California's oldest Jewish communities

December 21, 2005

By DANE GOLDEN
ARGUS-COURIER STAFF

When members of Petaluma's Jewish community, the oldest in California north of the Golden Gate Bridge, wish their Christian friends a "Merry Christmas," they might get the following response:

"Thank you very much. So when is Hanukkah?"

Which is a good question, because Hanukkah starts on a different day each year. It can begin anywhere from late November to late December.

Of course, that's if you use the standard Gregorian calendar. But if you're marking time according to the Hebrew or Jewish calendar, the eight-day "Festival of Lights" starts on the same day every year: the 25th of Kislev, the third month of the Jewish year.

But for those wanting to wish their Jewish friends a Happy Hanukkah this year, the date should be quite easy to remember. For 2005, Hanukkah starts at sundown on December 25, an uncommon coincidence between Jewish and Christian holidays. The holiday continues until sundown on January 2.

Because it is observed in such close proximity to the most important Christian holiday, Hanukkah is often mistakenly believed to be one of the most important Jewish holidays. It is not. Actually, it's not even among the top five most important celebrations.

According to Rabbi Ted Feldman of Petaluma's Congregation B'nai Israel, which was founded as the Jewish Community Center in 1925, Hanukkah is not a biblically ordained holiday, because it does not appear in the Torah.

Feldman said that the holiday is less important than the Jewish celebrations of Shabbat, Yom Kippur, Rosh Hashanah, Sukkot, Passover, Shavu'ot, and Rosh Chodesh. Hanukkah is of similar to importance to another minor holiday, Purim.

But over the years, and particularly in the U.S., Hanukkah has been given greater and greater attention, largely due to the fact that it is a holiday that Jews can celebrate in lieu of the omnipresent Christmas.

"People were looking for something in the Jewish religion to counterbalance and teach our children," Feldman said.

So Hanukkah is not "the Jewish Christmas," although it has adopted some similarities, such as gift-giving for children. But while some non-Jewish kids might think that their Hanukkah-celebrating friends get a present on all eight days, Rabbi Feldman says that giving gifts is not a mandatory part of the holiday.

"It's a myth that (gift giving) is required," he said. In fact, Feldman said, the only required part of the observance is the lighting of the menorah candles. Some families give their kids a present every night, but some don't.

There are a number of other questions for the uninitiated. One of the most common questions about the holiday is "How do you spell Hanukkah?"

Well, there are many ways to spell it. Journalists usually spell it Hanukkah, as dictated by the Associated Press Stylebook. But it's also commonly spelled Chanukah, the spelling Rabbi Feldman prefers, even as he points out that the spelling is probably inconsequential.

"I personally prefer the 'Ch' spelling," Feldman said. "As minor as the point is, I'd like people to be award of the guttural 'H' at the beginning, which is how it is said. But the great minds that are in the advertising industry have always used the 'H' spelling."

But, of course, the most accurate way to spell Hanukkah is not in English at all, but in Hebrew.

The word Hanukkah means dedication, because it celebrates the rededication of the Temple of Jerusalem by the Maccabees after its desecration by Antiochus of Syria. The eight candles of the Hanukkah menorah symbolize the miracle that occurred during that rededication, where there was only enough oil to keep the sacred lamps lit for one day. But the oil miraculously burned for eight days, until more oil could be produced.

On the first night of Hanukkah, one candle is lit (plus the shamash or servant candle, which is not counted in the total). Each night, an additional candle is added to the total, until the eighth night, when all candles are lit.

"Every day we're going up in the level of the miracle," said Feldman.

Last Sunday night, B'nai Israel held their annual Hanukkah dinner, which included a presentation by the religious school, and traditional Hanukkah games, songs and food.

One of the more popular Hanukkah games is the dreidel game, where children spin a four-sided top with four Hebrew letters: Nun, Gimel, Hey, and Shin, which represent the first letters of the phrase "a great miracle happened there."

One of the traditional foods is latkes, potatoes fried in oil, to symbolize the miracle of the oil lasting for eight days.

But, as Feldman said, "the real ultimate miracle of Hanukkah is not around the oil, but is around the fact a small group of people were able to overcome the Syrian-Greeks and secure their right to worship freely."

Because of its proximity to Christmas, Hanukkah comes at the time of what Rabbi Feldman called the "December dilemma," which he said is "basically the experience of living in a Jewish home and of the tension of the larger world celebrating Christmas."

"There's a tension about children," he said, "in that 'do we give them a taste of Christmas?'"

And there are further holiday variables, Feldman said, in intermarried families that have one Jewish and one non-Jewish parent.

But, he said, "I feel that if people have a strong Jewish home and their children are aware of the strength of their commitment to Judaism, then the outside influences are not as formidable. There are greater issues in the world than the tension that might come at this season of the year," adding that he feels it's acceptable for families to share in the holidays at the homes of their friends.

Debbie Wiggins, whose children attend the B'nai Israel Hebrew school, knows those pressures well, as the increasing commercialism of Christmas affects Jewish families, too.

"Just like Christians, we want to give something to our children that has meaning, and we want them to go beyond the commercialism of each holiday," Wiggins said. "But it's very difficult during Christmas and Hanukkah, to stay focused on the true meaning of those holidays."

Wiggins' son Jake, 16, a teacher's assistant in the synagogue's Hebrew school, said that some of the symbols of Christmas can be quite strong.

"The tree," he said. "It's the tree. You go over to your friends' house and they always have the big tree, and it smells real nice."

Indeed, according to Rabbi Steven Carr Reuben in his book, "Raising Jewish Children in a Contemporary World," the Christmas tree is one of the most difficult things to shy away from for Jews, even for Jews who have made a conscience commitment to convert to Judaism from Christianity.

"There is just something so powerful about a Christmas tree that it captures the imagination of children for life," writes Reuben.

Debbie Wiggins said that many Jewish Petaluma families attend Christmas parties of their Christian friends, and invite those friends to their Hanukkah parties.

"It's a mitzvah when someone invites you to their home," said Wiggins. "Because they're inviting me to break bread. You're creating a connection beyond your religion, and you're saying, 'I can appreciate what you're doing and I respect that.'"

Wiggins said she and her husband teach their children that "Hanukkah is a time for us to be grateful."

"It's about small miracles," she said. "And miracles happen every day, but the most important lesson that we've been trying to teach our children is about freedom, and that Hanukkah give us an opportunity to free ourselves from our own personal bondage."

As Rabbi Feldman pointed out, the message of Hanukkah that goes beyond the symbolism and gifts is that even a minority is able to stand up to the majority and make a change.

"The Maccabees' struggle for freedom of religion should hit the hearts of Americans," Feldman said, "because that's part of what founded this nation."

(Contact Dane Golden at dgolden@arguscourier.com) -->

HANUKKAH INFO

Hanukkah: means "dedication"

Menorah: Hanukkah candelabra, also called the Hanukkiah, which has eight candles plus one shamash, or servant candle, used to light the others.

Latkes: potato pancakes eaten at Hanukkah

Gelt: gold coins given to children as gifts. Today, chocolates made to look like gold coins are commonly given.

Congregation B'nai Israel:

www.bnaiisrael.net

History of Petaluma Jews:

www.jewishchickenranchers.com

DREIDEL GAME

Each Hanukkah, Jewish children spin the dreidel, a four-sided top with a Hebrew letter on each side, and play for candy, Hanukkah gelt or other items. The four letters begin the words in the phrase "a great miracle happened there." The game begins when each player puts one item in. After each spin, players put one more item in the pot. Here are the rules when it lands on each letter:

Nun: Player takes nothing

Gimel: Player takes everything in the pot

Hey: Player takes half the pot

Shin: Player puts one item in the pot

If the pot has one or no items in it, each player puts one in. The game is over when one player has won everything.