Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, November 23, 1995 TAG: 9511220107
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: E7 EDITION: HOLIDAY
SOURCE: FRANCES STEBBINS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Known among observant Jews as The Festival of Lights, Hanukkah marks a time of brief liberation in the ancient world ``before the Common Era,'' as Jews refer to the period Christians usually call ``before Christ.''
Enslaved by Persian conquerors, the Jewish people were freed by a patriot known to most as Judah Maccabaeus. The story is found in The Apocrypha, a part of Scripture not universally accepted by Christians.
The rabbi regrets that the relatively minor holiday occurring annually in December has become a time for commercialization. Sometimes it appears the central point of freedom and the emphasis on lights has been lost in the culture of the predominant Christian holiday, he said.
Many Jewish children now receive gifts to keep them from feeling left out with their Christian friends.
He remembered a simpler time when his grandmother taught him the customs of Judaism, the lighting of the eight-branched candlestick, the eating of latkes or a special pancake, and playing with a kind of top.
It was then he was told the legend: When the first light on the candlestick was lighted, there was only enough oil for it, but then miraculously fuel was provided for all eight days of the festival.
Later, Fox learned that scholars decided the eight days of Hanukkah are probably a delayed Succot festival known as the Feast of Tabernacles. The Maccabees usually held their Feast of Tabernacles in the fall but the festival, which marks the harvest, was postponed when the Maccabees were fighting the Syrians.
Whether legend or true history is marked at Hanukkah, both Beth Israel Synagogue and Temple Emanuel congregations will celebrate its beginning with dinners and the age-old customs Dec. 17. The last day of the festival this year will be the Christian Christmas.
by CNB