Not by Might, Nor by Power: Miketz Shabbat Hanukkah

Shabbat Shalom and Hag Orim Sameach.

On Thursday afternoon, as the sun was setting, I headed down to Brown University for a special dinner and meet and greet with Peter Beinart in advance of his lecture at MacMillan Hall. As many of you know, Peter Beinart authored a article published this past June in the New York Review of Books entitled, “The Failure of the American Jewish Establishment”; in which he condemns institutionalized Judaism for their failures to teach liberal, democratic, Zionism to the past several generations of American Jews, and he warns that continuing this trend could lead to the collapse of Zionism, and indeed the collapse of the Liberal Jewish State.
As you might imagine, his article garnered a lot of attention.

The dinner and the event were sponsored by J-Street Rhode Island, and before we sat down to ask him some of our most pressing questions, we paused to light the Hanukkiah. In the glow of the flickering candlelight, we sat down to discuss one of the most pressing issues of our time – the relationship between American Jews and the Jewish State.

The first question was a simple one. “What can the American Jewish Establishment, which you believe has failed to attract our youth to the cause of Zionism, do to change its course?

Mr. Beinart’s answer was also simple, if not somewhat surprising. “At the risk of sounding timely,” he said, “I think the best answer is that we need to change the way we teach about Hanukkah.” He went on to explain, that Hanukkah is indeed a holiday that is precariously trapped between two opposing identities. On the one hand there is the narrative of the Maccabees and their military might, and on the other hand there are the Rabbis and their emphasis of the divine miracle of Hanukkah.

The history, we all know well, and is documented in the Apocryphal Books of the Maccabees as well as in the Jewish pre-historian Josephus’ The Wars of the Jews. In the Second century BCE, Mattitiyahu ben Yohanan, a Hasmonean, began a rebellion against King Antiochus IV, the leader of the Hellenized Seleucid Kingdom. Mattityahu’s son, Judah Maccabee led the revolt, culminating in the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem in the year 164 BCE. It is this rededication that we celebrate each Hanukkah.

But curiously absent from this version of the story are two important elements. The first is there is no mention at all of the well known, oft-quoted, seemingly ubiquitous legend of the miracle of one small vessel of oil, lasting for eight long nights. Secondly, we rarely mention what happened to the Maccabees, and indeed the Jewish people after this successful revolt and a return to Jewish sovereignty in the Land of Israel.

Let’s take the second point first: As Peter Beinart was quick to point out, the story does not end well. The Maccabees, were Hashmonaim, or Hasmoneans, a priestly family, though not traditionally of the ‘high priest’ caliber. Nonetheless, their victory led to a series of unfortunate events in Jewish history. The first was the combining of the political seat of leadership with the position of the High Priest – which despite having been separate since the time of Moshe and Aharon – now were controlled by one person, the Hasmonean King Alexander Yannai. There were forced conversions of gentiles, conflicts with the Pharisees, and an ultimately regrettable alliance with Rome, which led to the creation of a puppet State in Judea under the Roman King Herod, which eventually resulted in the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem. - Try teaching that to your kindergarten class.

In addition to this, Mr. Beinart’s first point is also important to explore – which is the true miracle, the military victory of the Maccabees or that famous tale of the bottomless jar of oil? In the Talmud, Massechet Shabbat 21b, the rabbis explain their version of the Hanukkah story:

“Mai Hanukkah? What is Hanukkah all about, they ask:
For our Rabbis taught: On the twenty-fifth of Kislev the days of Hanukkah begin…. For when the Greeks entered the Temple, they defiled all the oils therein, and when the Maccabees prevailed and defeated them, they made search and found only one small vessel of oil which showed the seal of the High Priest; but that vessel only contained sufficient oil for one day's lighting; yet a miracle happened there; and they lit the lamp, and the oil lasted for eight days. The following year these days were appointed a Festival with the recital of Hallel and thanksgiving.”

Now here’s a story that the kids can relate to! No evil King, no guerilla warfare, no complicated history of a monarchy gone awry – instead a simple, inspiring tale of a divine miracle which led to the establishment of a festival of warmth and of light in the middle of the winter.

However, noticeably absent is any mention of Mattitiyahu, Judah or Simon Maccabee or the Hasmonean dynasty at all. But let me assure you, this absence is intentional. The clear Rabbinic intention was to downplay the militaristic victory and instead raise up the cause of divine intervention. This led them to focus upon the miracle of the oil, and it also led them to choose this morning’s haftarah as a necessary antidote to the Book of Macabees.

In this morning’s Haftarah from the Prophet Zechariyah – we hear tale of Joshua the High Priest who stands in a Heavenly court accused of impurity. He is vindicated, cleaned of his filthy garments and given a crown and a charge – to keep all of God’s ways. The Haftarah ends with Zechariyah’s vision of a heavenly Menorah, a lampstand all of gold, with seven columns, and seven lamps, flanked on either side by olive trees. “What does it mean?” asks Zechariyah. And the angel responds:
לֹא בְחַיִל וְלֹא בְכֹחַ כִּי אִם-בְּרוּחִי אָמַר יְהֹוָה צְבָאֽוֹת:
“Not by might, nor by power, but by My spirit alone – said the Lord of Hosts.”

“Not by might, nor by power, but by My spirit alone – said the Lord of Hosts.”

Which brings me back to Peter Beinart. Mr. Beinart’s main thesis is that those who lead our top-tier Jewish institutions have a Zionism which was born from the fires preceding the Six Day War and the tumult of Yom Kippur, 1973. These are mostly liberal-minded Jews who saw Zionism as their form of Jewish expression and built institutions committed to the safety and the sanctity of the Jewish State. The only problem with this being – that they did not replace themselves. Newer generations of American Jews who lived through the Lebanon War, the First and Second Intifada, the increasing power of the settler movement and the ultra-Orthodox in Israel, do not have 1967 upon which they can build their monument to Liberal Zionism. And so we have generations of Jews who feel little to no connection to the narrative of the State of Israel; and most of those who do feel this connection, feel that it is born out of their religious convictions and tend to shy away from nuance and shades of fine moral distinction. To point out this trend, Beinart explains that in a recent poll, 79% of Orthodox Jews under forty self-identified as being ‘very close to Israel’; while among the non-Orthodox that number dropped to 16%.

Put succinctly, Beinart maintains that if we continue ‘to ask Jews to check their liberalism at Zionism’s door, we will find that many Jews will decide to check their Zionism instead.’

But, miraculously, Peter Beinart does not even give off a tinge of pessimism. Instead he maintains that Liberal Zionism is indeed alive and well – though it is not in power, neither here in America, nor in Israel. And so therefore this is his cause: to inspire a generation of young Jews on the campuses of our nation to take up the cause of Liberal Zionism; to help create and maintain a Modern Israel, or as he calls it – “A Jewish State which was worth waiting two thousand years for.”

I must admit – that I did not go to these events on Thursday evening planning on being inspired. I planned on being disappointed, disheartened, and made more cynical. But this was most certainly not the case. I left with the feeling that in Beinart there is a leader for the Jewish left – one who begins his journey with a deep and unshakable love of Israel, its people and its holy mission. One who chooses to use his words to build empathy and mutual respect between all human beings, to move towards peace with conviction, to talk openly and not stifle debate about the Jewish State.
And ultimately, on Thursday I encountered a deeper understanding of the miracle of the oil we celebrate this week of Hanukkah. The neis was not that one jar of oil lasted for eight nights. No the true miracle was in the creation of the light of God in the midst of stunning darkness; the establishment of warmth in place of chilling cold, and the championing of an ancient and holy purpose:
לֹא בְחַיִל וְלֹא בְכֹחַ כִּי אִם-בְּרוּחִי אָמַר יְהֹוָה צְבָאֽוֹת:
“Not by might, nor by power, but by My spirit alone – said the Lord of Hosts.”