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WPCNR MAIN STREET JOURNAL. December 20, 2008: A reader has sent along the following sermon announcing the beginning of Chanuka, The Festival of Light Sunday evening, giving a perspective on this special time. WPCNR is pleased to pass this along in the spirit of the season:
A Chanukah Sermon
Rabbi Sid Schwarz
Founder/President, PANIM: The Institute for Jewish Leadership and Values
Tomorrow night, Dec. 21st corresponding to the 25th day of Kislev in the
Hebrew calendar, marks the first night of Chanukah. The very word Chanukah,
conjures up happy and joyous images and memories for most Jews. Dreidel
(spinning top) games, latkes (potato pancakes), presents or at least some
Chanukah gelt (money) are all part of the Chanukah experience.
Surveys tell us that Chanukah is one of the two most popular festivals for
American Jews, Passover being the other. Passover is mentioned as one of the
three pilgrimage festivals in the Bible, a time when Jews in ancient times
made their way to Jerusalem to celebrate the holiday. But Chanukah is not
even mentioned in the Torah as its historical origins post-date the Biblical
canon. Some rabbis have cynically commented on the popularity of Chanukah as
the attempt of Jews to copy the observance of Christmas by their gentile
neighbors. How better for Jewish parents to counter the “Christmas envy” of
their children than to provide a “Jewish Christmas”.
But motivations for observance notwithstanding, just as serious Christians
try hard to put the Christ back into Christmas, Jews too must drill down a
bit to discover the power of the Chanukah message. And when they do, they
will discover a message that is as central to Jewish teaching as any in our
tradition. It is also a message desperately needed in the world.
In 198 BCE, the Syrians conquered the land of Israel bringing it under the
influence of Hellenism which had swept the continent over the previous two
centuries. With the rise of Antiochus Epiphanies as the king of Syria in
175, the Jews of Israel suddenly faced a tyrant bent on crushing the
practice of Judaism and enforcing the submission of Jews to the political
and cultural influence of Hellenism and the Seleucid kingdom. In 169
Antiochus devastated Jerusalem, massacring thousands of Jews and desecrating
Judaism’s holiest shrine, the Temple in Jerusalem.
While much of the political and religious elite of Israel seemed prepared to
bend to the will of their powerful enemies and compromise on the tenets of
Judaism, one family, the Hashmoneans, refused. Under the military leadership
of Judah the Maccabee, Israel gradually rallied against Antiochus. On the
25th day Kislev, the Maccabees retook Jerusalem from the Syrians and
rededicated the Temple for Jewish worship. The Hebrew word Chanukah,
literally means, “dedication”. The custom of celebrating eight days of
Chanukah stems from the belief that the small amount of oil that was
available to rekindle the menorah (sacred lamp) in the Temple burned for
eight days even though the amount of oil was barely sufficient for one.
Whether or not one believes literally in the miracle of the high octane oil,
on a spiritual level Chanukah is about a much bigger miracle. It is the
miracle of faith conquering fear; the miracle of the few overcoming the
many; the miracle of liberty winning out over oppression.
As is so often the case, life and history come to affirm eternal truths. I
believe that it is no coincidence that Chanukah comes within a week or two
of Human Rights Day every year. Human Rights Day was celebrated on December
10, or at least it should have been celebrated. We ignore the day at our
peril. This year marked the 60th anniversary of the adoption of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations. Enshrined in
that international agreement are principles that are at the core of
democracy: the right to life, liberty and security of person; equal justice
before the law; protection against cruel and degrading forms of punishment;
freedom of thought, conscience and religious practice.
These principles are also at the core of Judaism. Genesis 1:27 articulates
the principle that every human being is made in the image of God (tzelem
elohim). I believe that tzelem elohim is the single most radical teaching in
the Torah. “Radical” has two meanings and I intend both. The first meaning
of “radical” is “going to the origin or fundamental meaning”. In that sense
tzelem elohim points to the fundamental teaching of the entire Torah-treat
every person as if they were made in the image of God. The second meaning
of “radical” is “drastic reform from a current state of social or political
affairs”. Were we to internalize the message of tzelem elohim in our own
behavior and succeed in getting societies and nation-states to abide by that
principle as well, we would be well on our way to the Messianic era.
We are far from that place!
-In violation of the teachings of Torah we stand as idle witnesses to the
ongoing genocide in Darfur. The Sudanese government defies international
sanctions with impunity, the Chinese continue to support the perpetrators of
genocide with arms and Darfurians continue to die.
– In violation of the teachings of Torah we stand as idle witnesses to the
ongoing repression in Burma. A military dictatorship has been in control of
the country since 1990. There is widespread state sponsored human
trafficking, forced child labor and use of sexual violence as a means of
political control and repression. Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi
has been under perpetual house arrest for years and the attempted peaceful
protest by Buddhist monks in Burma last year was put down violently.
– In violation of the teachings of Torah we stand as idle witnesses to the
illegal rule of Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe. Ignoring his agreement to share
power after he lost the most recent election to Morgan Tsvangirai, Mugabe
has ruthlesslesly intimidated and killed his opponents, has plundered the
country of its wealth and has left most of the country subject to disease
and starvation.
Tyranny is far from defeated in our world. We have a long way to go to get
the world to abide by the principles of the U.N. Declaration of Human Rights
that are so consistent with Jewish values.
In the Chanukah story, the Maccabees were the ones who fought for liberty,
for the right to practice their religion, for the dignity of human freedom.
Two thousand years before Patrick Henry they declared: “Give me liberty or
give me death!”
Who are the Maccabees who will fight for human rights in our world today?
Nelson Mandela has been a Maccabee in the way he helped South Africa emerge
from a history of apartheid and insured that his society would be ruled, not
by vengeance over the past, but by forgiveness and reconciliation. The Dali
Lama has been a Maccabee in the way he has represented peaceful resistance
to the Chinese occupation of his native Tibet and has become a peace
emissary to the world. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., whose birthday we will
celebrate next month, was a Maccabee in the way he helped this country face
its deeply rooted racism and showed us a path to a better America.
Just last week I participated in a national conference sponsored by Rabbis
for Human Rights here in Washington D.C. That conference was infused with
the Maccabee spirit because the organization understands that truth and
honesty demand that we not only point the finger and act on violations of
human rights around the world, but that we need to look in our own backyard
as well.
It is now common knowledge that our own country has been involved in
state-sponsored torture of detainees, not only in Guantanamo, but in prisons
all around the globe. The Center for Constitutional Rights has documented
that the prisoners range in age from age14 to 80. Most have been denied
access to legal representation. Military experts have testified that the use
of torture is ineffective in extracting information from prisoners and the
practice has made a mockery of America’s claim to be fighting to protect
democracy and human rights around the world.
Even more difficult is for us to look at our beloved State of Israel. Rabbis
for Human Rights is a deeply Zionist organization. It believes that after
2000 years of persecution and the near annihilation of our people during the
Holocaust that the legitimacy of a Jewish homeland in the Middle East is a
necessity. Yet rabbis need to answer to a higher authority. They need to be
Maccabees.
In Israel, Rabbis for Human Rights has fought against illegal home
demolitions, has helped protect Palestinians from Jewish settlers who would
prevent them from harvesting their olive crops, and has called upon the
state to provide equal treatment to all of its citizens regardless of race,
religion or nationality. These are not easy standards to implement in a
country that has been under siege for all 60 years of its existence and that
has enemies both outside and within its borders. However it is a standard
that is set in Israel’s own Declaration of Independence when it calls on the
country to live up to the standards of justice and peace as envisioned and
articulated by the Biblical prophets like Isaiah, Amos and Jeremiah.
Chanukah coincides with the winter solstice. It is the darkest time of the
year. And into that darkness, we are commanded to bring forth light. In the
Talmud there is debate as two whether the Chanukah menorah should be lit
with eight candles the first night, decreasing by one each night until we
only have one on the last night or rather, to start with one and finish with
eight. The ruling was to move from one to eight suggesting that even a
thousand years ago, the rabbis understood something about human nature and
human history.
We live in a dark time. In a world ravaged by war, prejudice, disease and
now, an economic crisis that will put hundreds of thousands of people at
risk of great suffering, we need to bring more light. Each and every day, we
need more light-just like on Chanukah. And to bring light, we need to become
Maccabees, women and men of faith who believe that liberty is worth fighting
for, that human dignity is worth fighting for and that justice is worth
fighting for.
Rabbi Sid Schwarz is the founding rabbi of Adat Shalom Reconstructionist
Congregation in Bethesda, MD. He is the president of PANIM: The Institute
for Jewish Leadership and Values. His most recent book is Judaism and
Justice: The Jewish Passion to Repair the World (Jewish Lights).
