THESE NEW OLD TRADITIONS

Menorahs!

Tonight is the first night of Hanukkah. Despite what political correctness and commerce wants us to think, it’s not really a major festival. But this is New Old Traditions…does a festival need to me “major” in order to honor it? Hell, no! We like festivals of all kinds, and this Reveler has found some personal meaning in this one that might be worth sharing.

Most of us probably have a basic idea of the story behind this holiday, but in case you missed it I’ll do a basic overview (in eight steps):

1. Jewish people living peacefully in The Land of Canaan, which was part of the Hellenistic Selecuid Empire. (No need to define where exactly that might have been or who should be living there now for the sake of this story.)

2. A new king took over the empire and he gets a bit over-zealous about getting everyone to assimilate to the ancient Greek (Hellenistic) ways of life. The Jews get antsy about losing their identity. Basic “melting pot” kind of stuff (as in, violence, control, and destruction).

3. An army is formed and revolt occurs. Revolt is a success. Familiar players such as Judah Maccabee get their names recorded in the annals of legend.

4. The holiday (Hannukah, meaning “dedication”) is named and everyone heads to the big temple to re-dedicate it. A big part of this is lighting the eternal flame.

5. Oops! Not enough olive oil (biblical requirement) to burn eternally. Or, at least not enough oil to burn long enough to make more olive oil.

6. The Jews light the flame anyhow with enough oil to burn for one day. They hope for the best as they go off to make more oil.

7. Lo! Magic! The oil burns for eight days, which happens to be the amount of time it takes to make more oil. CRAZY!

8. Centuries pass, traditions are built around money and commerce, scholars argue about whether that story of the miracle of the oil or even the details of war itself are true, and every year Jewish folks light a set of candles each night for eight days. Hoorah!

What does New Old Traditions want to note about all this?

The number eight. Since scholars like to nit-pick, some argue that the miracle of the oil burning for eight days is not actually mentioned in early versions of the story. Miracle or no, I can’t really find anything (biblical or otherwise) saying it actually takes eight days to make olive oil. That’s not a big surprise, since traditional stories have a way of being adjusted over the hundreds of years that they are told. So why eight days? There are a couple of theories, but this Reveler likes the one that notes that eight is a pretty important number in Judaism that symbolizes new beginnings and being one step beyond perfection. The whole idea is rooted in the six days of effort it took to create heaven and earth, the seventh day of perfect rest, and on the eighth day the universe moved forward.

The symbol works great for Hanukkah. First, the effort of living with oppression and destruction, then the effort of the revolt. Next, the perfection of the re-dedication of the temple and the lighting of the eternal flame. Last, the new beginning and the rest of history.

New beginnings as being one step beyond perfection. Radical. Though Hanukkah in Judaism really has nothing to do with the turning over of the year, the theme works well for us modern folks, as we Revelers mark the end of our own calendar year.

2009 has been a year of destruction for me and many people in my life. I am seriously happy to see it draw to a close, somehow believing that the relatively arbitrary date of December 31 will bring an end to the strife. Lighting the first Hanukkah candle tonight will be the first physical action I take this holiday season that will lead me to the close of the year. So, tonight when I hear the match strike I’ll go ahead and chant the prayers I’ve been taught, but I will also contemplate the effort 2009 has taken. I’ll take the opportunity over the next couple of weeks to rest in the perfection created by the completion of the effort. And then, I’ll move one step beyond into a whole new beginning.