Mathew Arnold, in his book "Culture and Anarchy", suggests that Judaism and Hellenism are the two essential philosophies of life, which civilized human beings must choose from. Hanukkah is the story of the clash between these two world visions. On our Jewish calendar, Hanukkah really becomes the time of year when we find the time to locate our spiritual direction on the road between Athens and Jerusalem.
As Hanukkah approaches, we must ask ourselves if we are more Jewish on the outside and Hellenistic on the inside. If the answer is yes, part of our Hanukkah ritual this year is to look at some new dimension of the ancient conflict of ideas and bring its relevancy to our lives today. The story of Hanukkah makes us think about the values of balance and stability. How many of us at some point in our lives think of pursuing a new direction but have held back because change brings with it a slight element of fear, of instability. Balance and stability are important values. However, the source of these values is rooted in Hellenism and not Judaism.
For Hellenism, a balanced personality is the ideal. However this approach comes from a place of detachment. Plato once said: "become a spectator to all time and existence." The Hellenist view seeks eternity. For the Hellenist, theory is always more important than application, thinking is higher and more pure than doing. This is not so in Judaism. Our place in the world makes application and doing, through Torah, top priorities that connect us as a Jewish people to God and to the rest of the world. In addition, with our application and doing, we must include a passionate involvement in the realness of life. Our tradition shares with us that there is no greater sin than the sin of detaching from the world. The Jewish attitude is the full embrace of the concreteness of being.
The world view of Judaism differs from that of the Hellenist on four different levels. First, our visions of God differ. The Jewish God is personal and cares deeply about all creatures. Our Rabbis describe God as one who is attentive and empathetic to the joys and pains we experience. Judaism commands us to imitate God (imitatio dei in Latin). To be like God is about moral commitment. To be like God is to have a passionate social vision, which addresses all facets of humanity. Secondly, for the Hellenist God is a force in the universe, an unmoved being. The notion of a God who does not move, who does not cry, who has no feeling, is considered blasphemy in Judaism. Thirdly, the Hellenist seeks to prove that God exists through rational demonstrations. Judaism longs for intimacy with God. Finally, we as a Jewish people on occasion, challenge God. Abraham was the first when God intended to destroy the ancient cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Elie Wiesel once wrote: "The Jew can be angry and even shout at God, but can never ignore God. For the Hellenist, God must be shaped to be beyond taking any responsibility for the world. For the Hellenist, to contemplate is to embrace. For us as Jews, to struggle is to embrace."
The holiday of Hanukkah, the festival of our religious freedom reminds us that our values of balance and stability are to be subservient to our values of moral passion, reality and empathy. Hanukkah invites us to understand that God exists within each of us and such a divine presence is always rising and evolving. And to get there, we have to take a passionate risk. A risk in falling, failing and at times losing our place. Change by definition involves getting lost sometimes. Change brings with it the possibility of instability.
So on Hanukkah this year, as the American custom has become to give each other presents, let's give ourselves one. Let's risk the new. There is something comfortable about Hellenistic living. Life never really touches me and I do not have to pay the price to become someone. Let's unwrap the present of endless possibilities in saying that our life is not what it is, rather our life is what it could be. Athens was a powerful city in history. But we as Jews, connect and identify with the city of Jerusalem, which continues to be a powerful place in Jewish history. Our Judaism relies on our personal stories and potential for change.
May Hanukkah this year be one in which the flames of the Hanukkah candles in our souls allow the darkness of fear to disappear. May Hanukkah this year give us courage to change, to become, to care and to love in places where we have never been before. Just as the Maccabees were victorious long ago, it is time for us to be victorious today!
Michelle, Brianah, Julia, Avi and I wish everyone a Hag Urim Sameyakh. May we all embrace Hanukkah this year with the gifts of new possibilities!
Rabbi Micah Caplan
