Hanukkah

And those thoughts would be correct.
But Hanukkah is so much more in its history.
Known as the Festival of Lights, Hanukkah is a commemorative event, which began as a holiday in the late 1800s to early 1900s. It is not considered by the Jewish people to be an important holiday like Rosh Hashana or Yom Kippur.
“The Shabbat or Sabbath is the most important holiday,” says Rabbi Joe Blair, who presides over Temple House of Israel in Staunton and Congregation Beth El in Harrisonburg. “The important holidays are celebrated more regularly.”
The hubbub around the event, according to Rabbi Joe as he is called, developed as more and more Jews populated American culture.
The Christian celebration of Jesus’ birth being celebrated by a majority of families became more and more popular each year, especially due to marketing and advertising gurus in the late 19th and early 20th century. With Christian gift giving increasing yearly, some became concerned that Jewish children were feeling left out of the sharing atmosphere.
With the Industrial Revolution taking place, advances in advertising, marketing and printing increasingly pushed “Hallmark moments.”
“The holiday has become far more elevated in importance by its proximity to Christmas,” says Blair.
What Hanukkah actually commemorates is the rededication of the Jewish temple after the success of a rebel Jewish family (the Hasmoneans) reclaimed it and their power from the Greco-Syrian empire.
“The temple was cleaned up, reconstructed and blessed after the [Hellenists] left. Hanukkah means rededication and education. It’s a rededication to learning,” Blair says.
How the story of the rededication connects with the Festival of Lights requires a little more explanation.
During the fall season, a major eight-day holiday, Sukkot or the Festival of Booths, is celebrated. Due to the outside occupation of the temple, Jews were unable to observe traditional services. But after the rebel guerrillas reclaimed the temple, preparations were made to celebrate the holiday, which required a lamp lighting with special oil on each of eight nights.
Unfortunately, there was only enough of the specially prepared oil to last one evening.
“The miracle came in when the oil lasted eight nights,” Blair says.
That is how it became known as the Festival of Lights.
But, says Blair, “Only in America it’s a big holiday.”
Big or not, Natasha Benenson celebrated Hanukkah because it helped her to immerse herself in her chosen religion.
Benenson was raised in an interfaith family. Members of her family practice Christian and Jewish traditions.
“When I was growing up we always celebrated Easter and Christmas. But I never felt comfortable with that. As I got older I started exploring and experiencing more of the different religions in my family and found out I was more comfortable with the Jewish side of [our religions].”
Benenson’s boyfriend is Christian. They celebrate both Hanukkah and Christmas now. But still, she prefers the Jewish traditions.
“I’m not comfortable with a tree in my house,” she says.
Even though Hanukkah is a minor holiday in the Jewish religion, Benenson uses it as a time to reconnect with friends and family by holding at least one party during the eight days.
“The focus is on other aspects of the holiday, not gift giving,” she says.
“For me, it’s about survival of a culture for [more than] 5,000 years and that this culture is still thriving,” Benenson says of why she would celebrate a holiday that is religiously insignificant.
“It’s about having the freedom to celebrate.”