By John Ballard
Some might think it's inappropriate for a non-Jew to talk about Hanukkah, but I've been doing it for years. I consider myself an honorary Jew because during my high school years in Columbus, Georgia all the Jewish families sent their kids to the same high school where I went and a few years later when I realized that Southern Baptists, the church of my youth, were not on the side of the angels in the civil rights movement, I found refuge among my Jewish friends. After getting kicked out of my apartment and uninvited to my church, I joined Hillel and became the only goy for brunch every other Sunday.
As we Christians celebrate the Christmas season, I never forget our Jewish roots and have a deep appreciation for those traditions, both sacred and secular. (Had I learned about klezmer music earlier I may not have laid down the clarinet.)(So take a look at this, already!)
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Yeah, I know.
That's not very spiritual.
I'm not feeling all that spiritual this morning. Besides, I got the link from one of my favorite writers, Bernard Avishai. Here is a snip from his Hanukkah post today.
...Chanukah is Judaism at its gravest: a radical attack on all forms of idol-worship, including the worship of the love of the child.
When the Maccabees reconsecrated the ancient Temple (Chanukah means "reconsecration") they emptied it of all images�in this case, the Hellenistic statues celebrating the "gods," who personified familiar human virtues�warriors for justice, masters of the natural world, protecting fathers, fecund mothers. There may well have been images of fleshy, innocent children, too.
No wonder, as the Book of Maccabees reveals, a great many residents of ancient Jerusalem loved these statues. One could have had a "season" with them. Nevertheless, Maccabean zealots determined to make a terribly abstract point, even to kill and be killed for it: God is nameless, God is fugitive, God is silent. A kind of Jewish Taliban. True, the Maccabees were defending the God of Torah and Law. But what is law if not an expression of the silenced God?
And so Christmas is for love, Chanukah for awe....
John, I knew we had a connection! Shalom!
ReplyDeleteEt shalom cum spiritu tuo.
ReplyDeleteDanish you can find anywhere, but I never got my fill of lox and bagels. Or latkes.
My favorite Jewish joke...
Priest and a rabbi playing golf.
Priest says to the rabbi, "My friend, we are both clergy and anything we say to one another will be strictly confidential. I want to ask you something very personal. Have you ever eaten pork?"
Rabbi pauses and thinks.
Finally he replies, "Yes, Father, I have. Once I ate some ham."
The he said, "Now I want to ask you something in confidence. Have you ever been with a woman?"
Long pause here.
Finally the priest confessed, "Yes, Rabbi, I have. Once in my younger years I was with a woman."
The rabbi replied, "Better than pork, isn't it?"