Shedding light on Hanukkah tradition
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The Talmud records a debate between the House of Shammai and the House of Hillel as to the proper procedure for lighting the Hanukkah candles.
(The House of Hillel and the House of Shammai were 1st century schools of Jewish thought founded, respectively by Hillel the elder and Shammai, and well known disputants.)
The House of Shammai says to start with eight candles and work your way down, while the House of Hillel says to start with one and add one each night of the holiday, which ends today at sundown.
The Talmud explains that the House of Hillel asserts that the candles are lit corresponding to the number of the days that have already passed, while Beit Shammai maintains that the candles correspond to the number of holiday days to come.
Conceptually, we can understand that the House of Shammai focuses on looking forward to what is a next — eight days left, seven days left, etc. The actual day is just a marker as to what comes next.
“Blessed be the Lord day by day.” Hillel the elder
The House of Hillel, on the other hand, considers the actual day as significant. Each and every day is momentous.
There is another, less known debate between Shammai and Hillel.
The Talmud in tractate in Beitza records the following.
It was taught: They used to say about Shammai the elder that all his life he ate in honor of the Sabbath. So, if he found a nice animal he would say: “Let this be for the Sabbath [meal].” If he later found a nicer one, he would put aside the second for the Sabbath and eat the first. But Hillel the elder had a different approach, for all his deeds were for the sake of heaven, as it is said: “Blessed be the Lord day by day” (Psalms 68:20).
Shammai, as depicted was a sabbath Jew — that is very laudable — he wished to observe the sabbath in the most respectful and beautiful way possible and so each day was seen as a preparatory step towards shabbat.
Rabbi Itamar Eldar, a contemporary Rabbinic scholar, explains Hillel’s behavior this way.
“Hillel on the other hand wishes to reach a spiritual peak every day. All of his days and all of his actions are part of his standing before God. He eats the nice animal on the day he finds it in order to honor that day, which is meaningful in and of itself. That very day offers an opportunity to perform a deed for the sake of Heaven.”
Rabbi Yechiel Yaakov Weinberg (1884-1966), in an essay on the significance of Hanukkah, coined the phrase “cemetery Judaism.” He notes that what the assimilationists at the time wished to do for the Hanukkah story was not destroy Judaism, but to remove Judaism from life. Judaism is good for the Sabbath or the cemetery or holiday time. But Judaism has nothing to say about how we speak, do business, or how we should respond to humanitarian crisis or react to societal questions.
Jewish tradition has ruled in accordance with Hillel and sided with fullbodied religion. On the first night of Hanukkah, one candle is lit and one is added each subsequent night, signifying that each and every day is important in it’s own right.
This is the overarching message of Hanukkah. Judaism, indeed all religions, are best lived each and every day, in every encounter and in all experiences.
Hanukkah comes to remind us of the grandeur of religion.
All too often we shrink religion and put it in a corner with permission to speak only at church, synagogue or mosque — but silenced in the supermarket and the stock market.
Like Hillel, each of our days must reflect the light of the Hanukkah candles — the light of God’s presence and religious sensitivities, each and every day, in all aspects of our life so that we too can say, as Hillel did: “Blessed be the Lord day by day.” Rabbi Barry Gelman serves United Orthodox Synagogues of Houston.