Winter Holidays
Mon., December 13, 08:25 PM
Cosmicrayola’s comment on Christmas reminded me that my own rants are due. The following conversation has occurred more than once, but this the gist of it.
Some young person tells me he has abandoned all the church teachings he received as a child. He refers to himself as nonreligious, or agnostic, or atheist.
“Not quite,” I point out, “you still celebrate Christmas.” And he replies, “oh, that’s different!”
Of course, it is different. Christmas is fun. And when the days are getting colder and darker, people need the joy and warmth that Christmas brings. I guess if it’s the only religious holiday you observe, though, it may grow out of proportion.
The founders of Christianity (as opposed to those who simply taught what Jesus taught, which is an entirely different thing) knew that the holiday would be celebrated widely if it came at the darkest time of the year. Did they set the date as the 25th to coincide with 25 Kislev, the date for Chanukah? (Chanukah precedes Christmas by a few hundred years, and “December” hadn’t been invented yet.)
I’m not a Biblical scholar, but my guess would be that the time to go to Bethlehem to pay taxes would have been after harvest, either in the spring or fall, since that part of the world has two growing seasons. You wouldn’t disrupt people’s lives during planting or harvest. It seems as if the solstice season would be a good time to make a new holiday.
I have no doubt that Chanukah, the Festival of Lights, was established at Kislev for much the same reason. It was getting darker, and people got depressed. I don’t recall any mention of the season in the story about Chanukah. Other Jewish holidays were in existence already, and it probably made sense to place this minor festival where it wouldn’t interfere with the major festivals.
The story about Chanukah is like a lot of the other Jewish holidays: The enemy tried to destroy us. We won. Let’s eat.
The food most associated with Chanukah is potato latkes (pancakes), a tradition from eastern Europe. They are best freshly made, crispy on the outside and still hot, served with applesauce and sour cream. I didn’t do home-made latkes this year. Not only is it a lot of work for just three people, but Husband is quite apt to say, “I don’t want it now. Maybe later.” (Yeah, right, when they’re cold and greasy.) So I bought frozen latkes, which I could heat quickly when His Majesty was ready to eat. I did make applesauce (a recipe is at that link). Half Braeburns and half Granny Smith made a pleasant flavor that needed no additional sweetener. Both apples and cinnamon are good for diabetics too.
In Israel many people eat latkes for Chanukah, but the big deal is jelly doughnuts. What do they have in common? Oil — as in “one little cruet of oil burned for eight days” — the miracle of Chanukah.
The candles and the story are the important part of Chanukah. My children were never deprived of presents, not by any means; they just knew that big presents were not part of Chanukah. We quietly lit the candles this year and recited the blessings.
Two blessings are said over the Chanukah candles each night. The first blessing is similar those said at other holidays, regarding the commandment to light candles. The second is specific to Chanukah, as it recalls the miracles God performed at that time. On the first night of Chanukah, as on the first night of any holiday, we also say shehecheyanu, thanking God for preserving us to celebrate the current joy. It was the first occasion I had so say this prayer since the end of my cancer treatments. I felt truly blessed.
