Chanukkah: The First Day (Part 1)

Written to be read for the first day of Chanukkah 2020 / 5871 [10th of December / 24-25 Kislev]

Tonight is the first night of Chanukkah foreshadowing the first day of the Jewish festive season; for the first day of the festive season the first light of the Chanukkiah is lit the night before.
As evening passes and morning comes: the first day, the Festival of Lights.

In the midst of each and every winter season we find ourselves at an overlap between the Jewish and Christian festive seasons of Chanukkah and Christmas, respectively. The first being the 8-day Jewish festival of dedication (Chanukkah) to God. The second beginning with a 3-4 week Christian countdown (counting down 4 Sundays), in remembrance and anticipation, of Christ’s coming (Advent).

This festive overlap almost always occurs between the beginning of Chanukkah and the Advent of Christmas:

• *2020*
  Chanukkah = 10th-18th December
  Advent = 29th November – 20th December
• *2021*
  Chanukkah = 28th November – 6th December
  Advent = 28th November – 19th December
• *2022*
  Chanukkah = 18th-26th December
  Advent = 27th November – 18th December
• *2023*
  Chanukkah = 7th-15th December
  Advent = 3rd-24th December
• *2024*
  Chanukkah = 25th December – 2nd January
  Advent = 1st-22nd December
• *2025*
  Chanukkah = 14th-22nd December
  Advent = 30th November – 21st December

With this overlap comes shared similarities, such as:

1. – Both festivals taking place on the 25th of their respective months (25th of Kislev for Jews and the 25th of December for Christians);
2. – Both festivals indulging in rich and fanciful foods (fried for Jews and roasted for Christians);
3. – Both festivals celebrated through friendship and family gatherings, generosity and gift-giving.

Despite this overlap and the similarities that come with it, it is important to recognise that Chanukkah is not simply Christmas for Jewish people and Christmas is not the Christian version of Chanukkah, as both festivals have different origin stories:

Chanukkah originates from the story of the Jewish people’s dedication to God by resisting an oppressive and idolatrous culture. As such, this is an origin story of Jewish integrity found in the Books of Maccabees and the Talmud:

“Judas and his brothers said, ‘Now that our enemies have been defeated, let’s go to Jerusalem to purify the Temple and rededicate it.’ […] [Judas] chose some priests who were qualified and who were devoted to the Law […] They repaired the Temple, inside and out, and dedicated its courtyards. […] The 25th day of the ninth month, the month of Kislev, in the year 148 [164 BC] was the anniversary of the day the Gentiles had desecrated the altar. On that day a sacrifice was offered on the new altar in accordance with the Law of Moses […] All the people bowed down with their faces to the ground and worshipped and praised the Lord for giving them victory.”

1 Maccabees 4:36-61 (GNB)

Whereas Christmas originates from the story of a Jewish betrothal that is unbelievably blessed by God through human consent. As such, this is a story about the power of believing the impossible found in the Gospel accounts of Matthew and Luke:

“Then Mary said, to the angel, ‘How can this be, since I do not know a man?’ And the angel answered and said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. For with God nothing will be impossible.’ Then Mary said, ‘Behold, the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be according to your word […]”

Luke 1:26-38 (NKJV)

Nevertheless, even in acknowledging and accepting the different origin stories, it is essential to recognise that both originate from the first page and first day of God’s story: God’s gift light to the world and humanity.

“In the beginning God created heaven and earth – the earth being unformed and void, with darkness over the surface of the deep and the spirit of God sweeping over the water – God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, a first day.”

Genesis 1:1-5 (TNK)

As such, both Chanukkah and Christmas are rightly recognised by their respective faiths to be Festivals of Light:

Chanukkah celebrates the endurance of light despite the darkness that threatens it.

The rabbis taught: “On the twenty-fifth day of Kislev ‘Hanukah commences
and lasts eight days, on which lamenting (in commemoration of the dead) and fasting are prohibited. When the Hellenists entered the sanctuary, they defiled all the oil that was found there. When the government of the House of Asmoneans prevailed and conquered them, oil was sought (to feed the holy lamp in the sanctuary) and only one vial was found with the seal of the high priest intact. The vial contained sufficient oil for one day only, but a miracle occurred, and it fed the holy lamp eight days in succession. These eight days were the following year established as days of good cheer, on which psalms of praise and acknowledgment (of God’s wonders) were to be recited.

Chapter II, ‘Regulations Concerning the Sabbath and ‘Hanukah Light’, Babylonian Talmud, p. 35

Whereas Christmas celebrates the coming of light in the midst of the darkness that needs it.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness could not overcome it […] That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.” – John 1:1-9

Due to this overlap in the meaning and significance of light from both the Jewish and Christian faiths, it seems fitting to focus on an overlapping worldview: the perspective of Messianic Judaism.

Who are Messianic Jews?
These are Jewish people who have been born and raised in Jewish culture yet embrace and accept the figure of Christ as fulfilling the Messianic prophecies of the Jewish Tanakh (the Hebrew Bible). In the Jewish communities they can be considered outcasts / outsiders or even traitors to the Jewish faith and culture due to their confessed faith in Yeshua HaMaschiach (Jesus the Christ). Yet, they are not Christian, in an orthodox sense of the word, as they have not ousted or uprooted themselves from their Jewish roots and culture through this confession of faith.

Why is this important for Chanukkah and Christmas?
You could say that this is important as Messianic Jews live and exist on the cusp of both cultures; they see and perceive in the twilight between two faiths and, as such, they stand from a point of view that embraces both sides and sees the significance of each without sacrificing the integrity of either. In essence, for the first day – evening and morning – of this winter festival, it is enough to acknowledge that the one faith of Messianic Judaism is able to truly appreciate the two winter festivals of Chanukkah and Christmas as one Festival of Light.

(TBC on the eighth day…)

Bibliography

(Anon.). 1982. The Holy Bible, New King James Version. Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, Inc

(Anon.). 2003. JPS Hebrew-English Tanakh. Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society.

(Anon.). 2005. Good News Bible with Deuterocanonical Books/Apocrypha. HarperCollinsPublishers.

Chabad.org. (n.d.) The Story of Chanukah. Available at: https://www.chabad.org/holidays/chanukah/article_cdo/aid/102978/jewish/The-Story-of-Chanukah.htm (Accessed 10 December 2020)

Chabad.org. (n.d.) What is Hanukkah? Available at: https://www.chabad.org/holidays/chanukah/article_cdo/aid/102911/jewish/What-Is-Hanukkah.htm (Accessed 10 December 2020)

Chabad.org. (n.d.) When Is Hanukkah (Chanukah) Celebrated in 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025? Available at: https://www.chabad.org/holidays/chanukah/article_cdo/aid/671899/jewish/When-Is-Hanukkah-Chanukah-Celebrated-in-2020-2021-2022-2023-2024-and-2025.htm (Accessed 10 December 2020)

JVL. (n.d.) The Babylonian Talmud. Available at: https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/FullTalmud.pdf (Accessed 10 December 2020)

Learn Religions. 2020. Advent Calendar Dates. Available at: https://www.learnreligions.com/what-are-the-advent-dates-4025718 (Accessed 10 December 2020)

Marcel, G. 1951. Homo Viator: Introduction to a Metaphysic of Hope. Chicago: Henry Regnery Company.