Light, Not Weapons

These comments are taken from my father's writings.

          The Maccabees fought for religious freedom. Indeed, their revolt was the first war in history whose goal was achieving religious freedom.

          They fought as well for the Jewish heritage. The Land of Israel is the Jews’ heritage, given to them by the Almighty Himself. It was the desire to preserve this heritage which motivated the Maccabees.

          On Ḥanukka we commemorate the miracle of the small jug of pure oil, not victories against the mighty Greek army, though this is the more important miracle. Our Sages’ choice to stress the miracle of the jug of oil emphasizes that the war was aimed at achieving religious freedom.

          Our prayers on Ḥanukka do refer to the military victory of Judah Maccabee and his fighters. However, our symbol of Ḥanukka is not weapons, but the lighting of the menorah. The special prayer added on Ḥanukka, “al haNissim”, which deals with “the battles … of the mighty against the weak”, etc., concludes with “then Your sons came to Your Holy dwelling and lit the candles of the menora” in order to demonstrate that the war was merely the means necessary to achieve the spiritual end.

          Our symbol is not the sword, but the light. Ḥanukka shows that the spirit is mightier than the sword.

          Our goal was much loftier than the defeat of the Greek armies. Our aim was to gain religious freedom, to be able to worship the Almighty and to carry on our golden heritage.

          We celebrate Ḥanukka by lighting a menorah because we are interested in bringing light to enlighten people, not to destroy them. The menorah is the symbol of education, of God’s light.

          Ḥanukka means dedication and is a reminder of necessity of dedication to our spiritual values.