Hanuka Quiz for Fun

In Hebrew, the word, Hanuka, comes from the root that means, to inaugurate, to educate. Interesting connection between these two ideas, eh?

Also, when someone moves into a new home, they often have a housewarming party. In Hebrew, this is called 'hanukat bayit', where 'bayit' means 'house'. So, because the word, Hanuka, is a Hebrew word, the spelling in English has no significance really.

The Wailing Wall and Hanuka Chandelier by Izzet Keribar
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Traditional Treat for Hanuka in Israel

As Hanuka approaches, we start to see mounds of jelly-filled donuts (sufganiot) for sale in supermarkets, small grocery stores and street kiosks. But you can make them at home easily with the kids or for a party with this recipe. They might even taste better than store-bought when you get some practice in making them.

Warning: They are very high in calories.

Dreidel Photo by Roland Sheicher
and released by him to the public domain

Jerusalem: The Temple of Solomon and the City Gates by Giclee Print
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Menorah
Deborah Kotovsky
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Traditional Hanuka Fare in Europe and North America.

Potatoes were cheap in northern Europe in the past century, and the important ingredient in foods prepared especially for Hanuka is the oil in which it is cooked. That is believed to be the origin of the potato latke (pancake) commonly made by European and North American Jews for parties and just for the kids. Try this terrific latke recipe by respected American-Israeli culinary expert, Phyllis Glazer.

Actually, there is an alternative explanation offered for the reason behind the 8-day Hanuka holiday. Some say that during the time before the Maccabees waged war against the oppressors, the Jews were not able to celebrate the Sukkot holiday at its proper time, in autumn. After winning this war, their religious freedom regained, they could now belatedly commemorate the missed holiday.

The story of the oil, however, is the one that is still being told. According to this story, with their control of the Temple re-established, they wanted to light the Temple oil-lamps. This required olive oil and there was only one small container left, certainly not enough to last the eight days it would take to prepare a new batch. However, the small amount of oil did last and the Temple lamps did not extinguish at all. This was regarded as a miracle, a miracle marking the re-dedication of the Holy Temple.

It is possible that the Greeks sought and gained control, not on their own initiative, but at the behest of one or more of the Jewish factions. Judaism is not a monolithic religious group - there were always different sects and probably always will be. The problem is that each sect wants to define "The One True Judaism". And then there is trouble.

It appears that there were Hellenized Jews (took on Greek culture to some extent; in other words, secular) and the more conservative Jews who wanted to preserve the Laws and practice of Judaism in a certain rigid fashion. Wow!! This seems a precursor to what would happen in another 200 years, with the birth of Jesus! In any case, the secular Jews apparently turned to Antiochus IV, asking him to help them regain what they considered their rightful leadership role in the Jewish community. If this is true, then the war that led to the victory of the Maccabi brothers, the war whose victory is celebrated at Hanuka, was, in fact, a civil war among Jews.

This victory did not last long. And the victory did not really bring peace to the community. There were still rivaling factions among the Jews and the descendants of Judah HaMaccabi vied for control, some seeking support from the Greeks and some from the Romans. Seventy years later, there was an 8-year civil war among the Jews (maybe we should light our 8 Menorah candles in remembrance of those 8 years of stupidity) and the end result was total loss of control of Israel by the Romans and destruction of the Temple.

Even with all of this, the Jews did not stop fighting among themselves, and when Jesus grew up he tried to change the rigidity of the Jewish leaders and courts. We all know how that initiative turned out.

The troubling issue is that we have not learned from our apparently long history of in-fighting. In Israel, today, there is a horrible shadow hanging over the country, threatening it's very fabric. Ultra-orthodox Jews want sole right to define who is a Jew, and all matters related to personal and public life that can be defined by religious law (marriage, divorce, separation of men and women, closing down of all entertainment establishments on the Sabbath, and much more). Secular Jews balk at such an intrusion into their own way of life and claim to be no less Jewish than their Ultra-orthodox peers, demanding a change to certain privileges enjoyed by the Ultra-orthodox that threaten democratic life in this country.

While some have begun talking about the awful possibility of civil war in modern Israel, nobody seems to be reading the "writing on the wall". If Hanuka celebrates the Maccabi victory of a civil war, then we really have nothing to celebrate because there has been no victory. Because the war is still being waged to this day.

Sorry to put a damper on your Hanuka fun.

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Hanukah Dreidel with Gelt by Sally Moskol
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