Well, if the ADL is wishing people Happy Hanukkah, then I guess I can (In fact, I’m probably a day late. Even so, I have more days available.)
Theologically, Hanukkah (however you spell it) is considered to be a minor holiday commemorating a military victory. But there are reasons why it’s more widely recognized (particularly in the United States) than more major Jewish holidays. For one thing, every human culture since pre-pre-history has had sone kind of holiday, festival, ritual – centered aroind the winter solstice, and celebrating light. For another, Hanukkah, certainly in the United States, has become very much about the children. And parents of any culture can see an opportunity to teach religious and cultural principles without pushback just as well as parents of any other culture.
In fact, I find actions like those of Hobby Lobby – removing all Hanukkah merchandise from all stores – to be shameful. I’ve said this before, but I think not here. The historical events upon which Hanukkah is based can be roughly dated to 170-160 BCE. (I grant that at that time history was not considered an exact science deserving of accuracy, but there are written histories datable to at least sometime in the BCE referencing Antiochus abd the Maccabbees.) That certainly suggests that Joseph and Mary grew up celebrating Hanukkah, which in turn siggests that Jesus as a child also celebrated, even in Egypt. All these self-styled Christians who whine about this or that attempt for any person to be the person they were born to be “makes the Baby Jesus cry” should start asking themself what taking away the baby Jesus’s dreidl and gelt away – let alone latkes – does to the baby Jesus’s mood.
It’s still possible to find the books of First and Second Maccabbees in some (though not all) Catholic versions of the Bible. And Handel’s Oratorio “Judas Maccabeus” – at least parts of it – are still being sung (probably mostly by Jews for Hannukah, ironically.) I’m not trying to advocate cultural appropriation, but would it hurt us to give a nod to a story which is part of our story too? One which shows what religious persecution really means (and that it DOESN’T mean people saying “Happy Holidays”)?
Religious persecution also doesn’t mean a menorah (specifically a Hanukkiah – menorah basically means candlestick, and there are different kinds) like this one. Anything that holds the right number of candles in the right configuration will do – and probably has done, at some point in history.
