Hanukkah is a celebration of freedom

Beginning at sundown Thursday, observant Jews around the world began the celebration of Hanukkah, a festival of lights.

It was instituted to celebrate the liberation of Israel from domination by the Syrian Seleucid empire, which sought to suppress the traditional Hebrew religion by law and violence. It is thus a celebration of religious freedom, as well as the triumph of light over darkness, of spirituality over materialism. These concepts are symbolized by the lighting of the traditional Menorah, the eating of special foods and giving gifts to children.

The Syrian Seleucid emperor Antiochus III ( ruled 221186 BCE) established his rule over Israel after winning a war with Egypt. His policies were fairly tolerant of local religions, but when Antiochus IV began his reign in 174 BCE things changed. After a small- scale rebellion in Israel he responded with a vengeance, killing many Israelites and outlawing certain traditional religious practices, including circumcision. He favored a faction called Hellenized Jews, who sought to incorporate Greek concepts of beauty, art, and culture into the Hebrew culture.

As Syrian soldiers sought to enforce the new laws in smaller villages, they encountered resistance in the village of Modin, where the priest Mattityahu resisted their orders and ended up leading the villagers to kill the Syrians. He and his sons, led by Judah Maccabee, fled to the hills, where they conducted a guerrilla campaign against the Syrian overlords. After they won three battles against progressively larger Syrian armies, the Syrians retreated, leaving Israel to the Israelites.

The Maccabees then sought to cleanse the temple the Syrians had desecrated. One of the rituals was to burn an oil light for eight days, but they found only one cruse of purified oil, enough for a single day, and it would take eight days to create a new supply of purified oil. According to custom, the light miraculously burned for eight days.

This miracle is celebrated by the lighting of the branched Menorah, one additional light per day until all eight lights are burning. Foods cooked in oil, like potato pancakes and doughnuts, are eaten, and gifts of money — Hanukkah gelt — are given to children. The children play with the dreidel, a spinning top with a spiritual message.

We bring forward this spirit at this time because it demonstrates a concept of religious freedom, and that means much in these times of the coronavirus pandemic, where we are being asked to curtail our individual freedoms for the sake of our society.

Many who are deeply religious have protested — and sued in state and federal courts — to exercise their Constitutional rights to gather and worship.

We deeply respect those who want to celebrate their faith — particularly during the season of Christmas which is a Christianinspired holiday — but we also question whether spreading an infectious disease while praying or worshiping God is a smart move, particularly if that infection spreads beyond those in a parish, synagogue or chapel to others of different faiths or those who are not religious.

At this time, we are being asked to stay home as much as possible to protect each other. Restaurants have been ordered to limit their service. Gymnasiums have been told to close. People can’t even get their hair cut in order to prevent spreading the virus.

And, of course, we’re also being asked — or “ordered” as some would claim — to wear a face covering so we can protect others just in case we, ourselves are sick and don’t know it. Yet, some protest even this simple protection as a violation of their Constitutional freedoms to do what they want.

As Hanukkah reminds us, while our freedoms are paramount, they sometimes come at an individual cost. It does little good to be “free” if society as a whole is at risk of dying. And right now, more than 2,220 people are dying each day nationwide.

Concepts like freedom of religion evolve over time but we have to exercise our freedoms with prudence, and that means recognizing the freedoms of others.

Hanukkah reminds us that our freedoms sometimes come at individual cost.