No public mourning on this day — Yuri Radchenko on the tradition of Hanukkah celebrations

Our guest is Yuri (Amir) Radchenko, Ph.D. in History, co-founder of the Center for Interethnic Relations Research in Eastern Europe, invited lecturer at the International Interdisciplinary Judaica Certification Program, and acting rabbi in Masoret, a traditional (conservative) Jewish community in Kyiv.

[Editor’s note: This interview originally aired in 2023.]

What is Hanukkah?

Yelyzaveta Tsarehradska: What is the first thing to know about Hanukkah? What kind of day is it?

Yuri Radchenko: When I try to talk about Hanukkah, I have certain feelings of contradiction. If we analyze the Jewish tradition and the Jewish context of this holiday, we understand that it's quite interesting. Hanukkah is dedicated to the cleansing and reconstruction of the Second Temple after the Greco-Syrians captured it and defiled it with paganism. It happened around the year of 168 before our era. A group of rebels cleansed this Temple in 165 BCE and later created a state. But the central perspective of this holiday is a change in symbolism if considered from a Jewish point of view, a historical one, and if we try to look at it with non-Jewish eyes.

Initially, it was one situation when the Hasmonean state existed until 63 BCE. Hanukkah was a celebration of the military victory over the Greco-Syrians with the help of Rome. After the Temple was destroyed in 70 CE, the sages of the Talmud slightly changed this symbolism, i.e., they began to refocus all this celebration on the symbolism of a miracle. We read about it in the Talmud (Gemara, Shabbat 21b): there was no clean, from a religious viewpoint, oil to light the menorah when the Maccabees entered the Temple. They found a little oil, enough for a day. But it burned for eight days after all that. And this is the symbolism that has come into focus.

In the conditions of the diaspora, Jews were scattered. Even now, the majority of Jews still live outside the land of Israel. And this symbolism is fascinating. The emphasis shifted from a military victory because what was there to celebrate when everything was destroyed? There was no temple, no state, etc. After 1948, the situation changed a little. But, as you can see, things can be different, especially after 7 October 2023. Hanukkah's symbolism combines both, but in the Jewish tradition, the first place is given to the miracle itself, followed by the military victory.

What also surprises me as a historian in this situation is that we have a text to recite for essentially every holiday. For example, take Purim, a holiday outside the Torah (the Pentateuch of Moses). It is part of the Tanakh and was established by the sages, the men of the Great Assembly. There is a text that specifically legitimizes this holiday — Megillat Esther. It is a mitzvah, a commandment of the sages, to listen to this text during Purim. But we do not have a text that would be canonized as part of the Hanukkah celebration. This is a very, very interesting topic discussed in several books: 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, and 3 Maccabees. The story is described there, but these books are not canonical in either in the Jewish or Christian traditions. They came down to us in a Greek translation, like, for example, the books of Philo of Alexandria. We can read them, but they are not part of the Tanakh or what is called the Old Testament in the Christian tradition.

That is why it's such an interesting situation when we celebrate, and there is an addition of "Al HaNissim" ("On the Miracles") to the Amidah, the main prayer, which tells about these events. But there is no canonical text for Hanukkah.

How is Hanukkah celebrated, and for how many days?

Yelyzaveta Tsarehradska: Was the Hanukkah celebration process shaped somehow? When?

Yuri Radchenko: The current tradition is part of normative Judaism: Hanukkah is celebrated for eight days, starting from the 25th day of Kislev. This year [Ed.—2023], it falls on the evening of Thursday, 7 December. The holiday ends on the third of Tevet, the month following Kislev. It's not Yom Tov, i.e., a holiday when work is prohibited, and you can't smoke, make a fire, cook food, etc. All of these things are allowed on this day. But the commandment of the sages is to light the Hanukkah menorah when the sun sets. Daily. According to the developed tradition, a new candle is lit every day.

There is a discussion in the Talmud that goes back to the first century BCE when the Jews had already lost their statehood. It's a debate between two schools: the House of Hillel and the House of Shammai. The latter said that all eight candles had to be lit at once and then reduced one at a time. According to the House of Hillel, which was, to use the modern term, more "liberal," candles had to be added daily. This tradition eventually prevailed.

It is also obligatory, again from a religious point of view, to recite the full Hallel after the morning Shacharit. Hallel is hallelujah, i.e., glory to G-d. It's Alhamdulillah for those closer to the Islamic tradition. These are excerpts from a collection of, let's say, psalms, to use the Christian term.

Another thing, which is not a religious obligation, is to have some kind of dinner with deep-fried doughnuts called sufganiyot. It's junk food, but it's interesting and necessary. And you should be happy, i.e., there is a ban on mourning. If someone is in Shiva over a deceased relative, G-d forbid, that person must remove mourning. In other words, you cannot publicly mourn on this day. Certain memorial days fall on Hanukkah, such as Holocaust Remembrance Day. For example, the local Jews were persecuted en masse, driven into the ghetto, and then shot in Kharkiv on the eve of Hanukkah in 1941. So, people who follow the tradition should postpone these commemorative practices.

These are the basic things. Plus, the festive "Al HaNissim" insert is added to Birkat Hamazon, the grace after meals. There is another symbolic dimension of this holiday that concerns the morning. It is described in 2 Maccabees. Again, it's not in a canonical book within the framework of Judaism or Christianity. It's a story of a woman who became a martyr and her sons. (In August, Christians celebrate the Holy Maccabean Martyrs.) A Greco-Syrian king forced this woman and her sons to eat pork in public. They refused and were killed gradually and brutally. One by one. This story is also recounted in the Gittin tractate in the Talmud but without the names of the martyrs.

In addition, there is Haggadic literature of the Middle Ages. But this image of people dying and fulfilling the law has become symbolic. Incidentally, the first Christians and Muslims also followed this example. When the first Christians were persecuted, they were also killed and tortured to force them to make sacrifices to idols. The first Muslims were also tied up, beaten, and left exposed to the sun without clothes. Large rocks were placed on their chests, and they were told to "pray to pagan gods."

Then, there was this military vs. non-military debate. It is also described in 1 Maccabees. A group of Jews were killed by Greco-Syrians during the Sabbath because they didn't want to fight on the Sabbath. The leader of these rebels was Mattithias, a kohen, i.e., a priest from the Temple, a descendant of Aaron. He said they would fight on the Sabbath. Both the sages in the Talmud and later the halachic scholars said you could fight on the Sabbath in defense, i.e., if you knew you would be killed otherwise. It's permitted; it's the principle of "pikuach nefesh," saving a life.

How Jews in Ukraine celebrate Hanukkah

Yelyzaveta Tsarehradska: What about Jews in Ukraine and their ways of celebrating Hanukkah? Have these changed over time? 

Yuri Radchenko: There are halachic prescriptions that I have described. From a historical perspective, the Hanukkah celebrations were described by Flavius Josephus. There were very basic things, such as the eight-day duration of the festivities. Why eight days if there was enough oil for one day, according to the Talmud tradition? The answer is provided in the medieval Halachah: the first candle is in memory of the military victory, and the other seven are for the miracle.

There are descriptions of very basic celebrations of this in the New Testament. In the Gospel of John, when Jesus comes to Jerusalem and continues his discussions with his opponents, it says that this happened during a feast of restoration. Hanukkah is enlightenment, education, and restoration. This root can have different interpretations.

But then, again, we have medieval texts about all these things, as I've mentioned. This symbolism and a certain contradiction of publicity are very important.

One of the aspects is to show the Hanukkah menorah in public. And it's a different matter that the Jews, as a minority community, were persecuted virtually all the time. This is where the contradiction lies: you must publicly display the symbol of military victory and miracle in a hostile environment. It's such a challenge.

I'm not sure it was such a public demonstration in the Middle Ages, for example. Religious Jewish law says that you can put the Hanukkah menorah in a place that is not very visible, but preferably on the windowsill or near the entrance. The purpose was for it to be seen by both Jews and non-Jews and serve as a reminder to the Jews about the need to light another candle at home.

Dinner is an important point in the Hanukkah festivities. Certain communities organize meetings. There was a pre-COVID, pre-war tradition of organizing such interreligious meetings in Ukraine. For example, the Masoret community held them on one of the Hanukkah days in the 2010s. But there is no permanent obligatory tradition.

Plus, there are such local moments as Hanukkah geld. To my knowledge, it's a specifically Ashkenazic, i.e., Eastern European, Central European tradition. Geld means money in Yiddish. It's about giving money to children for their needs, etc. The Sephardim and other Eastern Jews do not seem to have this tradition. Karaites do not celebrate Hanukkah because it's not in the Tanakh. As I've said, there is simply no such text. If there is no text in the Tanakh, then this holiday does not exist for them. That's the Karaite approach.

Can non-Jews participate in Hanukkah celebrations?

Yelyzaveta Tsarehradska: Can non-Jews celebrate Hanukkah and send greetings?

Yuri Radchenko: There are no problems with sending greetings to Jews on Hanukkah. Joining the festivities, especially if you're invited, is no problem.

There is no problem, for example, when a non-Jew comes to a synagogue without bad intentions. And if we take this aspect of religious law as such, without politics, there is no problem if a Muslim prays in a synagogue. There is no problem because a Muslim is a monotheist. (Rambam, for one, subscribed to this view.) There are questions about Christianity and certain points of disagreement among religious Jewish authorities in different periods about whether Christians are monotheists. There is some debate about this. But if non-Jews (Christians or Muslims) are present at a Jewish holiday, this is not a problem.

Yelyzaveta Tsarehradska: Is there anything that you need to do? A gift if you're invited? Is it at all appropriate?

Yuri Radchenko: If the family or person inviting you observes kashrut, you should ask, for example, what will be served. Most often, dairy products are served on the Hanukkah table. Some halachic practices and texts substantiate this. You need to discuss it if you're going to put something on the table. But I think something kosher on the Hanukkah table, such as doughnuts bought where this person buys them, would be just right.

"You can adopt certain traditions from non-Jews, but you cannot change your religion"

Yelyzaveta Tsarehradska: It seems to me that, like the Christian tradition, the holiday of light, so to speak, is all about this winter period and the need for motivation to continue this struggle. I can see these parallels with birth, something bright, the beginning, and the light at the end of the tunnel. What is your opinion? 

Yuri Radchenko: The tradition of Christmas, Western and Eastern, obviously has common roots in the pagan tradition and a little bit in the Jewish tradition. Christianity was originally one of the groups of Judaism, which was later de-Judaized and followed its own course. It is a separate religion, a separate group, etc. Symbolically, it coincides with both Hanukkah and the New Year-Christmas cycle of holidays. It's beautiful.

I think that, as a religion that has been persecuted and closed for a long time, Judaism has few moments related to publicity and celebration that would look beautiful from the outside. I believe that Jews should borrow from both Christians and Muslims in terms of celebrations, specifically in the use of illumination. Ramadan involves a lot of light, etc. There are no contradictions in this from the halachic point of view, as I see it. I think the proximity of Christmas and Hanukkah is a beautiful coincidence. If we return to the holiday's symbolism, it's actually religious fundamentalism to a certain extent. Those rebels also killed Jews who did not follow the tradition. They killed both Jews and Greco-Syrians. In other words, it was the first, in fact, "Jewish jihad," Middle Eastern jihad, to use the modern term.

Another thing is that later, this Hasmonean dynasty was also quite heavily Hellenized outwardly while preserving its Jewish religious tradition. Their kings issued coins with their profiles. From a Jewish point of view, this is very, very controversial. But it's such an interesting aspect because we are actually all people living together. And all cultures influence each other. Even in the time of Alexander the Great and his generals, the overall concept of Hellenism was precisely that this Macedonian-Greek tradition could be combined with the Middle Eastern one. Within this cultural approach, it was the norm to honor both one's own god and a foreign god. But from the Jewish point of view, this was impossible because the Jews are "fundamentalists" in this matter: "There is no G-d but

G-d", "Shema Yisrael, Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai Echad." It is forbidden to combine and equate someone or something with G-d. You can adopt certain traditions from non-Jews, but it is impossible to change one's religion. And the Jews have been trying to keep this balance for thousands of years. They have been successful in doing so thus far.

This program is created with the support of Ukrainian Jewish Encounter (UJE), a Canadian charitable non-profit organization. 

Originally appeared in Ukrainian (Hromadske Radio podcast) here.

This transcript has been edited for length and clarity. 

Translated from the Ukrainian by Vasyl Starko.

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