Rabbi Howard Morrison

Dear Congregational Family,

"What is Chanukah?" the Talmud asks. The answer given is the familiar narrative that everyone knows, the miracle of the one day supply of pure oil which lasted eight days.

The reality, however, is that the rabbinic period produced multiple versions of what the Maccabees saw when they entered the Temple after their military victory. For those who might question the reality of the golden Menorah being preserved when the Hellenists had desecrated so much, here is an alternative depiction. The following account is found in Pesikta Rabbati, a collection of Midrashim, from the Talmudic period:

"At the time the sons of Hashmon triumphed over the kingdom of Greece, they entered the Temple and found there eight spears of iron which they grooved out, poured in oil, and kindled wicks."

One of the lessons from the above quotation is that the Maccabees transformed the enemies' weapons of violence into a symbol of faith, belief, optimism, and spirituality.

Over the ages, Chanukah has provided us with many images teaching the same lesson.

Sincerely,

Rabbi Howard Morrison