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Rabbi KaplanThe fifth day ofChanukah this yearwill be December25. The first day ofShavu’ot will benext May 27th. Onwhich day willmore Jews becelebrating? Theone that falls nearthe birthday that took place in thatlittle town of Bethlehem, mentionedfirst in the Torah at the end of theJoseph stories when Rachel is buriedthere. By the way, I realize howChristian sounding that little town’sname is, but almost every Jew knowswhat it means because we say the“Motzi” before we eat- HAMOTZILECHEM MIN HA’ARETZ, “Who bringsforth BREAD from the earth”. BEITLECHEM (the way that little town ispronounced in the Torah) meansHouse of Bread. It may have beenwhere the original Panera was located.Today, that ancient Jewish town,birthplace of that nice Jewish boy, isconsidered occupied Palestinianterritory, just a few miles outside ofJerusalem, which is also consideredoccupied Palestinian territory. It’s astone’s throw (or a bullet shot) fromGilo, the Jerusalem suburb that theworld thinks is standing in the way ofpeace in the Middle East because theIsraelis dare to build new apartmentsthere. Syria slaughters hundreds of itsown innocent civilians every day andthe world yawns. Israel builds anapartment in a Jerusalem suburb andthe world says it’s all Israel’s fault. ButI digress (and ramble- sorry).Back to that young fellow’s birthday.Jews will celebrate Chanukah 99%more than they will celebrate Shavu’otfor two reasons: First: Chanukah comesat Christmas time. Second: 99% of Jewshave no idea what Shavu’ot is.Writes...Chanukah is celebrated by somany Jews, and known by so manyGentiles, ONLY because of itsproximity to Christmas. Even whenChanukah falls on Thanksgiving (whichit will in 2013), we still say “HappyHolidays” instead of Merry Christmas,even though Chanukah will have beena distant memory by the timeDecember 25 rolls around that year.Chanukah is a holiday so unimportantin Jewish tradition that it is notmentioned in the Mishneh. Heck, it’snot mentioned in the Torah! And whenit is first introduced in the Talmud, itstarts with the question, “WHAT ISCHANUKAH??” Believe me, theTalmud did not have to ask “What isShabbat” or “What is Yom Kippur.”They had to ask because it wasn’tcelebrated for hundreds of years. Themilitary victory over the Syrian Greeksoldiers who defiled the Temple inJerusalem was short lived. Within afew generations the Jews had becomeHellenized into Greek culture. Judahthe Maccabee’s great grandnephewwas named Aristobulus. Now whatkind of name is that for a nice Jewishboy? All that Judah and his brothershad fought for was forgotten, and theHasmonean dynasty had fallensquarely into the hands of Rome, andultimately to the destruction of theJewish commonwealth in 70CE. Itwould not be until 1948 that Jewsonce again controlled any land at allin the region.It is noteworthy that under thedescendants of Judah the Maccabee,the size of ancient Israel swelled quitea bit. Not only did Israel include all ofthe West Bank and all of Gaza, but agood deal of what is today Syria andJordan and even a bit of Saudi Arabiawas captured by Aristobulus and hispredecessors, and their populationsoften forcibly converted to Judaism(ouch!). All this, of course, was stillhundreds of years before anyone eventhought of naming their sonMohammad, and the only Palestinianswere Jewish ones.Because of the sour turn in laterMaccabean history, the rabbis foundnothing to celebrate in therededication (in Hebrew: Chanukah) ofthe Temple that had been defiled bythe Greeks. The sages preferred toforget the period that led to theeventual burning of the Temple by theRomans. Only hundreds of years laterdid the rabbis of the Talmud“resurrect” the idea of Chanukah byincluding a story that had never beenheard of before: The oil miraculouslylasting eight days.Now Shavu’ot, on the other hand,celebrates the giving of the Torah toMoses at Mt. Sinai. If I’m not mistaken,that story does actually appear in theTorah and should be a rather big dealfor the Jewish people. So what can bedone to insure that Jews will celebraterevelation at Sinai with the same fervorthey do for Chanukah? My suggestionis to move Christmas to the end ofMay. The weather would be nicer andthink of how much time everyonewould have to shop if they still beganaround Thanksgiving! It would be ahuge boost to the economy as well.We could still light our Menorahsin December and eat latkes and spindreidels. I don’t see a downside toChanukah, and I personally enjoy itvery much. But maybe if Christmaswere actually in May, we could getourselves to celebrate the giving of theTorah too!Happy Chanukah, and (a bit early)Happy Shavu’ot!Rabbi Larry KaplanWe CareWant to attend services or Temple events, but have notransportation? Just call the Temple office a few days in advanceand we will try to arrange a ride for you.Page 2