Rabbi's Message
The Enduring Significance of Chanukah
One of the most memorable visual images in American political history is the picture of President Harry S Truman holding a copy of the Chicago Daily Tribune, following Election Day 1948, with the large headline proclaiming, "Dewey Defeats Truman." Yes, the odds were so stacked against Truman - all the major polls predicted his defeat - that the erroneous famous headline was printed in advance. But, unbeknown to the prognosticators, Truman, a plainspoken man whose Missouri upbringing allowed him to forge a certain bond with the people, would marshal his ability to victory.
Sometimes, indeed, the odds in life seem overwhelming. The Chanukah holiday that we will be celebrating this month, is above all - beyond all the songs, foods, and gifts - a commemoration of an historic event involving a situation such as this. In 168 BCE, ancient Israel was in the hands of the powerful Syrians of the Greek Empire. They had desecrated the Holy Temple, forbade Jewish worship and study, and even drawn a number of assimilationist Jews into their midst. As the band of rank-and-file Jews - known as Maccabees - prepared to rebel against this religious tyranny, they faced staggering chances of victory. They were largely outnumbered, and certainly had not the sophisticated military equipment of the Greek Syrians. But they did possess something that was more important: the cause of religious freedom, a state ordained by God.
As their leader Judah Maccabee told them: "The victory of battle does not stand in this multitude of a host, but strength comes from heaven ... we fight for our lives and our laws." (I Maccabees 38:18) And with this, three years later, they had won the battle, rededicated the Temple, and set up a Jewish state, again, in Israel. This Chanukah paradigm, the victory of the righteous spirit in the face of dire predictions, certainly has been seen in our own times.
Recently, I read an article about how the crumbling of the Berlin Wall, in November 1989, and the ensuing complete fall of communism in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union was the defining moment of our generation. Surely, throughout the 20th century, few foresaw this; the odds against this happening were enormous. But the cause, the overthrowing of totalitarianism, was a just and sacred one. And beginning with a spark of light - Lech Walesa's labor work in the shipyards of Poland - and taken up by the people there and in Czechoslovakia, East Germany, and in the mighty Soviet Union itself, the cause of freedom inevitably was victorious.
Interestingly, there is meaning in all of this for our own lives. We have goals and causes we work for. At times, success seems elusive and unlikely. The odds seem against us.
But, as the Maccabees showed us, if the cause is right and worthy in God's sight, we ultimately will prevail. In the words of the prophet Zechariah, Scripture for Chanukah: "It is not by might, nor by power, but by God's spirit saith the Lord."
