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 Encyclopedia
Judaica 2nd Edition
An essential source of information on
Jewish life, culture, history, and
religion.
In 1972, the Encyclopaedia Judaica
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HANUKKAH: (print this
article)
By : Kaufmann Kohler
ARTICLE HEADINGS:
Supposed Origin.
In the Synagogue.
Scriptural Readings.
Kindling the Lights.
The Feast of Dedication, also called
"Feast of the Maccabees," celebrated
during eight days from the twenty-fifth
day of Kislew (December), chiefly as a
festival of lights. It was instituted by
Judas Maccabeus, his brothers, and the
elders of the congregation of Israel, in
the year 165 B.C., to be celebrated
annually with mirth and joy as a memorial
of the dedication of the altar (I Macc.
iv. 59) or of the purification of the
sanctuary (II Macc. i. 18). Three years
earlier, on the same day, Antiochus
Epiphanes had caused a pagan altar to be
set up at the altar of burnt offerings in
the Temple at Jerusalem, and sacrifices to
be offered to his idol (I Macc. i. 41-64;
II Macc. vi. 2). The idol called "Zeus
Olympius" was probably also called "Ba'al
Shamayim," of which seems to be a
cacophemy (Dan. xi. 31, xii. 11; I Macc. i.
54; see Hoffmann, "Ueber Einige
Phönizische Inschriften," 1889, p. 29). |
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After having recovered
the Holy City and the Temple, Judas
ordered the latter to be cleansed, a new
altar to be built in place of the one
polluted, and new holy vessels to be
made. When the fire had been kindled
anew upon the altar and the lamps of the
candlestick lit, the dedication of the
altar was celebrated for eight days amid
sacrifices and songs (I Macc. iv. 36),
similarly to the Feast of Tabernacles
(II Macc. x. 6; comp. ib. i. 9), which
also lasts for eight days, and at which
during the Second Temple (Sukv. 2-4) the
lighting of lamps and torches formed a
prominent part. Lights were also kindled
in the household, and the popular name
of the festival was, therefore,
according to Josephus ("Ant." xii. 7, §
7), ???? = "Festival of Lights."
Supposed Origin.
In the Talmud it is principally known as
the "Feast of Illumination," and it was
usual either to display eight lamps on
the first night of the festival, and to
reduce the number on each successive
night, or to begin with one lamp the
first night, increasing the number till
the eighth night. The Shammaites,
usually representatives of the older
traditions, favored the former custom;
the Hillelites advocated the latter (Shab.
21b). Josephus thinks that the lights
were symbolical of the liberty obtained
by the Jews on the day of which Hanukkah
is the celebration. The Talmudic sources
(Meg. eodem; Meg. Ta'an. 23; comp. the
different version Pes. R. 2) ascribe the
origin of the eight days' festival, with
its custom of illuminating the houses,
to the miracle said to have occurred at
the dedication of the purified Temple.
This was that the one small cruse of
consecrated oil found unpolluted by the
Hasmonean priests when they entered the
Temple, it having been sealed and hidden
away, lasted for eight days until new
oil could be prepared for the lamps of
the holy candlestick. A legend similar
in character, and obviously older in
date, is that alluded to in II Macc. i.
18 et seq., according to which the
relighting of the altar-fire by Nehemiah
was due to a miracle which occurred on
the twenty-fifth of Kislew, and which
appears to be given as the reason for
the selection of the same date for the
rededication of the altar by Judas
Maccabeus (comp. Hag. iii. 10, 18, 20;
Num. R. xiii. 4).
The actual reason for the selection of
the twenty-fifth of Kislew by Judas
Maccabeus for the dedication of the
altar is stated to have been, as
mentioned above, that on the very same
day three years earlier Antiochus
Epiphanes had a pagan altar set up at
the altar of burnt offerings in the
Temple of Jerusalem and sacrifices
offered to his idol (I Macc. i. 41-64;
comp. II Macc. vi. 2, where the heathen
god is called "Zeus Olympius"). The
twenty-fifth of Kislew was accordingly a
day sacred also to the heathen before it
became a Jewish festival. According to
Ewald ("Gesch. des Volkes Israel," 3d
ed., iv. 407) and Wellhausen ("Israelitische
und Jüdische Gesch." p. 210; comp.
Paulus Cassel, "Weihnachten," pp. 57,
97, and p. lii., notes), it had been
celebrated as the winter solstice feast
by the Jewish people before it became a
historical festival associated with the
great Maccabean victory. Regarding the
historical data connected with the
Hanukkah feast see Maccabees; Maccabees,
Books of.
In the Synagogue.
In Pharisaic circles the political
achievements of the Hasmoneans were
pushed into the background, and the very
name of Judas Maccabeus fell into
oblivion. For some time Ps. xxx.—which,
according to verse 1 (A. V. heading),
was sung by the Levites in the Temple
"at the dedication of the House" (of
God), that is, Hanukkah—was also recited
in the synagogue (Masseket Soferim
xviii. 2; comp. Pesik. R. 2). Later on
only the Hallel was recited, as on any
other festival of thanksgiving; and in
the "hoda'ah" (thanksgiving) benediction
"Shemoneh 'Esreh" the liturgical formula
"'Al ha-Nissim" was inserted, referring
briefly to the victory achieved over the
Syrians by the Hasmonean Mattathias and
his sons. The erroneous designation of
Mattathias as son of Johanan the high
priest seems to rest upon the late
Hebrew apocryphal "Megillat Ant.yokus"
or "Megillat Hanukkah," which has other
names and dates strangely mixed. The
liturgical part inserted reads as
follows:
(see image) Hanukkah Lamp Found in
Jerusalem Excavations. (In the
possession of J. D. Eisenstein.)
"[We thank Thee] also for the miraculous
deeds and for the redemption and for the
mighty deeds and the saving acts wrought
by Thee, as well as for the wars which
Thou didst wage for our fathers in days
of yore at this season.
(see image) HANUKKAH LAMPS.1. Bronze,
French, attributed to 12th cent. (in the
Musée de Cluny, Paris). 2. Yellow
copper, modern (in the synagogue at
Pogrebishche, Russia). 3. Silver (?),
medieval (in the possession of Dr.
Albert Figdor, Vienna). 4. Yellow
copper, modern (in the synagogue at
Padua, Italy). 5. Silver and bronze,
17th cent. (in the possession of Jacob
H. Schiff. New York).
(see image) Hanukkah Lamps.1. Silver,
modern (from the collection of the late
Rabbi Benjamin Szold, Baltimore). 2.
Bronze, Italian, 15th cent. (in the
Victoria and Albert Museum, London). 3.
Silver, English (?), 16th cent. (in the
possession of E. A. Franklin, London).
4. Silver, Nuremberg, 17th cent. (in the
possession of N. S. Joseph, London). 5.
Silver, modern (in the possession of
Maurice Herrmann, New York).
"In the days of the Hasmonean Mattathias,
son of Johanan the high priest, and his
sons, when the iniquitous kingdom of
Greece [Syria] rose up against Thy
people Israel, to make them forget Thy
Law and to turn them away from the
ordinances of Thy will, then didst Thou
in Thine abundant mercy rise up for them
in the time of their trouble, plead
their cause, execute their judgment,
avenge their wrong, and deliver the
strong into the hands of the weak, many
into the hands of few, the impure into
the hands of the pure, the wicked into
the hands of the righteous, and insolent
ones into the hands of such as are
occupied with Thy Law. Both unto Thyself
Thou didst make a great and holy name in
Thy world, and unto Thy people didst
Thou achieve a great deliverance and
redemption as at this day. Whereupon Thy
children entered the sanctuary of Thy
house, cleansed Thy temple, purified Thy
sanctuary, kindled lights in Thy holy
courts, and appointed these eight days
of Hanukkah in order to give thanks and
praises unto Thy holy name."
Scriptural Readings.
The Pentateuch readings for the eight
Hanukkah days are taken successively
from Num. vii., the chapter relating to
the gifts of the twelve princes of
Israel on the occasion of the dedication
of the altar of the tabernacle in the
wilderness. On the eighth day the verses
Num. vii. 54-viii. 4 are read, the last
four verses referring to the kindling of
the lights of the holy candlestick (Meg.
iii. 6; Bab. 31a). The twenty-fifth of
Kislew was taken by tradition to have
been also the date of the dedication of
the altar in the time of Moses (Pesik.
R. 6; Ex. R. lii.; Num. R. xiii. 4).
Chief importance is attached by
rabbinical law to the kindling of the
Hanukkah lamp, the sole object of which,
however, was originally not the lighting
of the house within, but the
illumination of the house without, so
that passers-by should see it.
Accordingly lamps were set up near the
door leading to the street; and when a
house had doors on several sides, lamps
were placed in front of each door. As
many lights were kindled as there were
persons in the house. Only when there
was danger of persecution, as was the
case in Persia under the rule of the
fire-worshipers, were the lamps placed
indoors. As the lights were intended
only for illumination in honor of the
feast, reading by them was prohibited (Shab.
21b-23a).
Kindling the Lights.
He who lights the Hanukkah lamp and
those who see it kindled recite the
benedictions, "Blessed be the Lord our
God, King of the Universe, who hast
sanctified us by Thy commandments and
enjoined us to kindle the Hanukkah
lamp," and "Blessed . . . who has done
wondrous things to our fathers in days
of yore at this season." See also She-h.eh.eyanu
(Shab. 23a; comp. Yer. Suk. iii. 53d,
and "Tanya," xxxv.).
Women also are enjoined to kindle the
Hanukkah lamp (Shab. 23a). In fact,
Jewish legend loved to connect the
heroic deed of Judith with the Maccabean
story (see Judith).
The kindling of the Hanukkah lights is
solemnized also by songs extolling God
as Israel's Deliverer (see Ma'oz Z.ur).
In view of the fact that work ought not
to be done by the Hanukkah
light—especially by women ("Tanya,"
l.c.; T.ur Orah. Hayyim, 670)—games,
riddles, and other pastimes were
indulged in on Hanukkah evenings (Bodenschatz,
"Kirchliche Verfassung der Juden," ii.
3, 4, 6; Berliner, "Aus dem Inneren
Leben der Deutschen Juden im Mittelalter,"
1900, p. 32; Brüll's "Jahrb." ix. 18;
Abrahams, "Jewish Life in the Middle
Ages," pp. 385, 396; Tendlau, "Sprüchwörter
und Redensarten," 1866, p. 52).
Hanukkah is mentioned in John x. 22 as
"the feast of the dedication." |
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