In the middle of Stacy Schiff biography of Cleopatra. Fascinating stuff but dry as the Sinai and not easy for a reader lacking previous knowledge of the period. (too flattering by half Cleo portrait on right by Michaelangelo) But just occurred to me today that the story of Hannukah dates back to the same period (about 100 years before Cleo's prime) and involves many of the same political factors and forces. Amidst all the convoluted and complex details in the Schiff narrative, the thing that stands out most is the violence. Ruthless, merciless, common-place and almost incomprehensible to a modern sensibility. Everyone is at risk. Family means nothing. Money and power is all. And the Chanukah story is mainly about a heroic resistance to military might and fiscal corruption. Those Maccabees sure were a tough bunch...and I'm happy to light a candle in their honor--but the more I read the murkier the story gets.

Dr. Rachel Adelman, jewish educator at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, wonders why the Talmud is so thin on the historical facts. " What does the Talmudic legend of Hanukkah tell us about the rabbinic response to the vicissitudes of history? The historical events behind the military victory are not told. There is no mention of insurgencies or despotic decrees. Instead a little cruse of olive oil, sealed with the stamp of the High Priest, becomes the “hero” of the story. The discussion of Hanukkah in the Talmud occupies all of three pages, and is found in the context of laws related to lighting Shabbat candles:

Theodore Herzl Gaster suggests that the Hanukkah story is essentially about the inalienable right to be different. The festival teaches the value of “the few against the many, of the weak against the strong, of passion against indifference, of the single unpopular voice against the thunder of public opinion. The struggle was not only against oppression from without but equally against corruption and complacency within. It was a struggle fought in the wilderness and in the hills; and its symbol is appropriately a small light kindled when the shadows fall.”

On the other hand, David Brooks, in his op-ed in the New York Times (Dec. 10th, 2009), describes Hanukkah as “the most adult of holidays. It commemorates an event in which the good guys did horrible things, the bad guys did good things and in which everybody is flummoxed by insoluble conflicts that remain with us today.” For Brooks, the story of Hanukkah is a “self-congratulatory morality tale,” commemorating a Civil War, a war in which he may have fought on the side of the Hellenizers.

But questions remain: Why repress the historical account, leaving us to piece the puzzle together from ancient Greek texts?

Did the Rabbis feel some discomfort with military victory in the wake of the Jewish Wars? Or is the story too secular and politically problematic for inclusion in a text intended to inspire more spiritual and faith driven thoughts.

I'm a pretty ignorant jew, but now I'm intrigued. Could it be that this was a negligence that had serious consequences throughout history in that it failed to provide the Jewish People with a much needed sense of might and power in the face of threat and oppression?

Oy Vey...guess I'll keep reading...


MY FAVORITE HOLIDAY SEASON SONG, THOUGH IT'S NOT A HOLIDAY SEASON SONG.

Frank Loesser wrote it in 1944. Sang it for years with his wife at parties. Loesser intended song (as indicated specifically on the printed score) to be sung as a conversation between two people, marked as "mouse" and "wolf". Loesser sold rights to the song to MGM in 1948 (to his wife's chagrin) and was used in an Esther Williams movie Neptune's Daughter and it won the Oscar for best song. Recorded many times by many artists, but the one by Ray Charles and Betty Carter from their 1961 Duets album is the classic--and has become a staple of the holiday season, though it was never intended as such.

Ray Charles & Betty Carter - Baby It's Cold Outside - The funniest movie is here. Find it