The Hanukkah Story
By DAVID BROOKS
NY Times: December 10, 2009
Tonight Jewish kids will light the menorah, spin their dreidels and get
their presents, but Hanukkah is the most adult of holidays. It commemorates
an event in which the good guys did horrible things, the bad guys did good
things and in which everybody is flummoxed by insoluble conflicts that
remain with us today. It's a holiday that accurately reflects how politics
is, how history is, how life is.
It begins with the spread of Greek culture. Alexander's Empire, and the
smaller empires that succeeded it, brought modernizing ideas and
institutions to the Middle East. At its best, Hellenistic culture emphasized
the power of reason and the importance of individual conscience. It brought
theaters, gymnasiums and debating societies to the cities. It raised living
standards, especially in places like Jerusalem.
Many Jewish reformers embraced these improvements. The Greeks had one
central idea: their aspirations to create an advanced universal culture. And
the Jews had their own central idea: the idea of one true God. The reformers
wanted to merge these two ideas.
Urbane Jews assimilated parts of Greek culture into their own, taking Greek
names like Jason, exercising in the gymnasium and prospering within Greek
institutions. Not all Jews assimilated. Some resisted quietly. Others fled
to the hills. But Jerusalem did well. The Seleucid dynasty, which had
political control over the area, was not merely tolerant; it used imperial
money to help promote the diverse religions within its sphere.
In 167 B.C., however, the Seleucid king, Antiochus IV, issued a series of
decrees defiling the temple, confiscating wealth and banning Jewish
practice, under penalty of death. It's unclear why he did this. Some
historians believe that extremist Jewish reformers were in control and were
hoping to wipe out what they saw as the primitive remnants of their faith.
Others believe Antiochus thought the Jews were disloyal fifth columnists in
his struggle against the Egyptians and, hence, was hoping to assimilate them
into his nation.
Regardless, those who refused to eat pork were killed in an early case of
pure religious martyrdom.
As Jeffrey Goldberg, who is writing a book on this period, points out, the
Jews were slow to revolt. The cultural pressure on Jewish practice had been
mounting; it was only when it hit an insane political level that Jewish
traditionalists took up arms. When they did, the first person they killed
was a fellow Jew.
In the town of Modin, a Jew who was attempting to perform a sacrifice on a
new Greek altar was slaughtered by Mattathias, the old head of a priestly
family. Mattathias's five sons, led by Judah Maccabee, then led an insurgent
revolt against the regime.
The Jewish civil war raised questions: Who is a Jew? Who gets to define the
right level of observance? It also created a spiritual crisis. This was not
a battle between tribes. It was a battle between theologies and threw up all
sorts of issues about why bad things happen to faithful believers and what
happens in the afterlife - issues that would reverberate in the region for
centuries, to epic effect.
The Maccabees are best understood as moderate fanatics. They were not in
total revolt against Greek culture. They used Greek constitutional language
to explain themselves. They created a festival to commemorate their triumph
(which is part of Greek, not Jewish, culture). Before long, they were
electing their priests.
On the other hand, they were fighting heroically for their traditions and
the survival of their faith. If they found uncircumcised Jews, they
performed forced circumcisions. They had no interest in religious liberty
within the Jewish community and believed religion was a collective regimen,
not an individual choice.
They were not the last bunch of angry, bearded religious guys to win an
insurgency campaign against a great power in the Middle East, but they may
have been among the first. They retook Jerusalem in 164 B.C. and rededicated
the temple. Their regime quickly became corrupt, brutal and reactionary. The
concept of reform had been discredited by the Hellenizing extremists.
Practice stagnated. Scholarship withered. The Maccabees became religious
oppressors themselves, fatefully inviting the Romans into Jerusalem.
Generations of Sunday school teachers have turned Hanukkah into the story of
unified Jewish bravery against an anti-Semitic Hellenic empire. Settlers in
the West Bank tell it as a story of how the Jewish hard-core defeated the
corrupt, assimilated Jewish masses. Rabbis later added the lamp miracle to
give God at least a bit part in the proceedings.
But there is no erasing the complex ironies of the events, the way progress,
heroism and brutality weave through all sides. The Maccabees heroically
preserved the Jewish faith. But there is no honest way to tell their story
as a self-congratulatory morality tale. The lesson of Hanukkah is that even
the struggles that saved a people are dappled with tragic irony, complexity
and unattractive choices.
***
On Sunday, December 13, at 8 PM Eastern and Pacific / 7 PM Central, THE
PEOPLE SPEAK -- the long awaited documentary film inspired by Howard Zinn's
books A People's History of the United States and, with Anthony Arnove,
Voices of a People's History of the United States -- will air on History.
Tune in!
More details are at http://www.history.com/peoplespeak
ABOUT THE PEOPLE SPEAK
Using dramatic and musical performances of the letters, diaries and
speeches of everyday Americans, the documentary feature film THE PEOPLE
SPEAK gives voice to those who spoke up for social change throughout U.S.
history, forging a nation from the bottom up with their insistence on
equality and justice.
Narrated by acclaimed historian Howard Zinn and based on his best-selling
books, A People's History of the United States and, with Anthony Arnove,
Voices of a People's History, THE PEOPLE SPEAK illustrates the relevance of
these passionate historical moments to our society today and reminds us
never to take liberty for granted.
THE PEOPLE SPEAK is produced by Matt Damon, Josh Brolin, Chris Moore,
Anthony Arnove, and Howard Zinn, co-directed by Moore, Arnove and Zinn, and
features dramatic and musical performances by Allison Moorer, Benjamin
Bratt, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Chris Robinson, Christina Kirk, Danny
Glover, Darryl "DMC" McDaniels, David Strathairn, Don Cheadle, Eddie Vedder,
Harris Yulin, Jasmine Guy, John Legend, Josh Brolin, Kathleen Chalfant,
Kerry Washington, Lupe Fiasco, Marisa Tomei, Martín Espada, Matt Damon,
Michael Ealy, Mike O'Malley, Morgan Freeman, Q'orianka Kilcher, Reg E.
Cathey, Rich Robinson, Rosario Dawson, Sandra Oh, Staceyann Chin, and Viggo
Mortensen.
Buy the SOUNDTRACK, featuring new songs from THE PEOPLE SPEAK by Allison
Moorer, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Eddie Vedder, Exene Cervenka, Jackson
Browne, John Doe, John Legend, Lupe Fiasco, P!nk, Randy Newman, Rich
Robinson, and Taj Mahal.
http://www.peopleshistory.us/news/people-speak-soundtrack-CD-on-Verve
A two-disc special DVD set of THE PEOPLE SPEAK will be out in January!
More details soon at:
http://www.thepeoplespeak.com
NEW AND UPDATED edition of a source book for THE PEOPLE SPEAK just
released:
Voices of a People's History of the United States, by Howard Zinn and
Anthony Arnove
http://www.sevenstories.com/book/?GCOI=58322100808900
Sign up at http://www.thepeoplespeak.com
Join The People Speak on History on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/thepeoplespeakonhistory
Follow us on Twitter @vph and @HISTORY_Daily
MORE INFORMATION
http://www.PeoplesHistory.us
http://www.facebook.com/Voices.Live
http://www.HowardZinn.org
http://www.facebook.com/HowardZinn
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