A Concord Pastor Comments: Happy Chanukah!

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Happy Chanukah to our Jewish readers and neighbors!

My blogging, praying friend, Alden Solovy at To Bend Light, gives us his perspective on Chanukah and a prayer for this season of dedication.

Our Jewish neighbors will begin celebrating this year at sundown on Tuesday, December 20.

Right here you'll find just about everything you might want to know about Chanukah!

Chanukah -- the eight-day festival of light that begins on the eve of Kislev 25 -- celebrates the triumph of light over darkness, of purity over adulteration, of spirituality over materiality.

More than twenty-one centuries ago, the Holy Land was ruled by the Seleucids (Syrian-Greeks), who sought to forcefully Hellenize the people of Israel. Against all odds, a small band of faithful Jews defeated one of the mightiest armies on earth, drove the Greeks from the land, reclaimed the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and rededicated it to the service of G-d.When they sought to light the Temple's menorah, they found only a single cruse of olive oil that had escaped contamination by the Greeks; miraculously, the one-day supply burned for eight days, until new oil could be prepared under conditions of ritual purity.

To commemorate and publicize these miracles, the sages instituted the festival of Chanukah. At the heart of the festival is the nightly menorah lighting: a single flame on the first night, two on the second evening, and so on till the eighth night of Chanukah, when all eight lights are kindled. On Chanukah we also recite Hallel and the Al HaNissim prayer to offer praise and thanksgiving to G-d for "delivering the strong into the hands of the weak, the many into the hands of the few... the wicked into the hands of the righteous."

And there's more information here - including an explanation of the dreidel which will help you understand and enjoy the video below.

There are many renditions of The Dreidel Song on the internet, many of doubtful musical quality and some of questionable humor. But this upbeat setting by Kenny Ellis sets a great festive mood!