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THE "MIRACIJEWF
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To children, and not only
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,CHWWCK‘COLLEGE
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children, ‘the‘f‘east
‘of
chanukkah
is-
almosfvinseparably bound up with the story of the cruSe of oil, fibicfla
‘the Maccabees fdfind‘in thq_Temple when they fecaptured it from the
Syrians, the only undefiled‘oii left behind XKE by the pagan conquebofs,.j
whichvseemed to be sufficient only for pné dai but whgch, by a miracle,fl‘
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1as£ed for eight days,
‘I
wonfier how many grown—ups afe inciined to
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give credence to‘that story, a$ any rate the special kind of semie
serious credence whicp is commonly given té othgr miracle téles
afithenticated by traditionu
If by any chance that Should apply to
some of‘you, allow me gently to undefmihq your credulity.
ThexJ
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earliest mention bf that story, and it is d véry briéf‘and casual‘
ohe, occurs ii the«$almud,r The first and second bogks of Maccébees
which recount KKK in considerable detail the épfisode Eulminating in
the rededication of fihe Temple and the institétion.of an annual
commemoration of that event,“kndw nothing'of it.
Indeed they do not
even mention tfie fififixfim name 6f ffie festival or thé éustom of kindling,
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lights gn,the'ce1efiration of
it.’
Josefihus, writing in the fifSt
century’of the common era, although he does refer to thé cfistom‘df
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kindling lights, had not heard of it either;
The Miehnah is curiously
silehtvabqut the feasfi of Ghanukkfih altogether, apaét from a few stray
reférencesr
In the Talmud several quite different atflempts are made
to account for the custom of kindlifig eight lights onlsuccessive
Jevenings; of which the story of the éruse of oil is only one, JIn
the Prayerbook there is an anCient pagsage; g; Hanissim, "For fhe‘
-mirac1es"; to be read on Chanukkah, which give thanks for fhe
deliverance wrought by the MaccabeeS) and it too, deSpite its title;
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“makes no referenée to the mirécle of the cruse of oil.
There is indeed
an ancient benediction, to be recited when kindling the Chanukkah lights,
which praises GOd shesasah nissim gedolim‘laiavoteynu bayamim hahem
bazemafi hazzeh, Who wrought miracles for ogggggthers in those days, at,
this seasén. But the Worfi "miraéles" is in the plufal and does nnf
thergfore seem to gilude to the particular miracie of the oil,
To maké
quite sure that ibis Blessing should not be misunderstood the compiler‘
of our Liberal Préyér Book éhanged the herds to read sheasah tesguah
teshuah geuoiah laavéténynulbéet tzaratam; who didst work a great
vdeliverance for our fathers in the time of theiézafflictibn.
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There is indeed ho evidence that our forefathefis paid any great
atfébtion $0 the Talmgdic”legend a‘nntil the M:dd;e Ages; when a certain;
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'hymn-
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a very bad hymn? by the way
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gainéd currency.
‘1
refer to the
“Maoz Tzur, the last Verse of which reads: “Thé“Grecianévwerézgéthered
against me in the days of'the Haemonéan57‘éhey brokg down the walls of
my £0weré, and défiled 311 XXX: the oils; but from one of the last
remaining flasks a miracle wés wrought for thy beloyed, and‘their men
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understanding appointed these eight days for song and praises."
It is, I éuspect, the populgrityvof‘this hymn as a Chanykkah song which
rof
-has
fiéen largely respgnsiblg for the w;despreaq dissemination of the
legend about the oil. Perhaps a1So the custdm of épinning tops, calledlk
dreidel,,pn which are wgitten fhe four letters nun, gimel; heh, shin;
which gré said to stand for thé phraséflnes‘gado; hafah sham, a great
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miracle happened fhere.
Now you may be thinking: what sort of‘a germon is this?
why
do I
go out of my Way to debunk a pretty legend? ’Well, I a: not deny thgt it
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pretty, and I am not So pedah$icjaa‘to suggest thai ii shpulfi not be éqtd»
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and retoid, especially to th¢=bhildren;.a£ Chahukkéh timem
But I hm
o
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:énxious to show‘that there is no reason, ndlrgason whatsbéverg‘fdn regarding:
1% as historical fact, or §ndeedflf§f making undue ffiss abouf jg, becauée
it Seems to me important to undeféfiand;whét 3;; the historibal facté
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‘Ynh‘i‘ch‘y.i
it is worth whole to make a‘fusé aboufiir Like-Jeremiah, I wént to pail
down only in order to build up.
For I want to go on to Say that the words Egg gaggl ggxgg gggg, a gfeat,,f
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miratle happened there, are pepfecfily‘tiueq' Only it was duite a different:
flinacleé.
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It did not happgnrfio a émgil
Quantity of dli#e nil, bit in the
‘heants and minds of those whom history haé’éalléd the Haccébees.
The
miracle was quite simply fihe resolie they formed to defbnd %heip faith
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‘against seemingly insuperabie odds;t And why i; it important to stress
“£hat ppjht?
Because that is'a miratle which fian happen to us too, _It ié
rmost unlikely that any candle we bfiy from the grocers will burn longer-7
a
than the hour or two which is claimed f6? it~By the ménufactfiréré, gut‘:
it is not at all impossiblé for us to abquiye,through p ayérrénd study,
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Ts.‘o.
firm a loyalty to our Jewish» faith
that‘ vié shall,
make
,‘éacrificés of which noone would have fifiougfit us capable»
:‘E'o‘r‘
its §ake
The miracle of
“the'oil happened only once; or rathér,.it did not happen éven odbé;‘butf W
mthe réai miracle of Chanukkgh; which
isjypeipoweqifié
igm yo triumyh‘
over every adversity, efen over the mighfiiewf of all its gnemies, apaigj;
gcan.happen'eVery year,,not only bayamim hahem KKXKKEEXKKEKKK} in those L
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far off days EKXEKXfiX§§§§Kfi; but also zfixifiEE§XH bayamimrha—éleh, in‘f
fheée days, and especiai}y.bazeman hazzeh, at.fhis Cfanukkah season,
if we Observe it with real understanding and if we make it an decasiqn
of sincere rededication on our part.’
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