HAPPY CHANUKA !!! DECEMBER 5, 2007

Dear Readers,

Chanuka starts tommorow, December 5, 2007.

There are some very interesting links below. The first link is from the Jewish Virtual library. It gives some very basic information about Chanuka.

I am a long way from being able to teach anyone about Chanuka, however there are some very important points that should be remembered.

Chanuka is not the distant cousin of Christmas, it isn't the Jewish answer to Christmas. Here in America Chanuka has taken on sort of a Christmasy feel, because American Winter Festival Christmas and Christian Christmas are such powerfully celebrated holidays.

However, Chanuka is a celebration of a military miracle that happenned in antiquity. The Greek army was attempting to conquer and throughly Hellenize ancient Jews of the time.

There was only a small amount of olive oil left in the sacked temple to last for one night, but by divine intervention the oil lasted for 8 days.

A female Jew assasinated the leader of the Greeks, and the Jews of antiquity won this war.

This military victory to include the assasination of the Greek general is celebrated by a symbolic lighting of 8 candles to symbolize the entire victorious military campaign, and also the miraculous olive oil that lasted 8 nights instead of only 1.

So, Chanuka is a celebration of divine intervention, and of military victory AGAINST ASSIMILATION, or Hellenization of the Jews by the Greeks.

It is moderately ironic that modern American Chanuka has become celbrated in a Christmasy spirit so to speak. (for lack of a better description).

However, even though modern American Chanuka has become celebrated in a somewhat similar manner as Winter Festival Christmas, it is obviously not the free for all glutinous orgy that has become both Winter Festival Christmas and Christian Christmas.

Enjoy the links below, and may this posting find all of you enjoying the best of health, welfare and happiness.

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/holiday7.html

http://howtojew.org/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MK2J-G8uGM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5v3PY-vfd9Y

WAIT, HOLD THE PHONE, now you know that Mike's Vacation is not going to have a Chanuka article without the good Reb Sandler,, now you just know that wasn't going to happen!!!!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Vrd9p47MPHg&feature=related

Mike's Vacation would also like to wish a very wonderful Chanuka to the Reb Goodman and his family living in Pinsk, Belarus. His stories of life in what remains of the Settlement of the Pale can be viewed at BEINGHAD.COM
Michael Miller
Indiana,
2007