Rabbi Guy Tal: Hanukkah – The Dedication to a New Beginning

by Rabbi Guy Tal

(Calgary) – Hanukkah is the last of the festivals ordained by the Sages before the long exile, until we were privileged in our generation to witness the renewal of our nation’s revival in its land and the establishment of additional holy days:  Yom Ha’atzmaut (Independence Day) and Yom Yerushalayim (Jerusalem Day).

Though it is the last, its very name bears the profound meaning of a fresh start: Hanukkah (חנוכה) stems from the root of “Chinuch” (חינוך), meaning “education” or “inauguration.”

The first occurrence of the root associated with the word Chinuch in the Bible is during Abraham’s war against the four kings: “He armed his retainers (חניכיו)” (Genesis 14:14). Rashi explains this: “This is Eliezer, whom he trained (חנכו) in the commandments, and it is the term for the beginning of a person or an instrument’s entry into the craft he is destined to master.” Rashi provides further examples: “Chanoch la-na’ar”, “educate the child,” and “Chanukat HaMizbeach”, “The dedication of the Altar.”

In essence, when we commence utilizing a specific thing for the purpose for which it was intended – its very essence and purpose in existence – we are “Chonchim” or “dedicating” it. Thus, for instance, when we celebrate “Chanukat HaBayit”, (the dedication of the home), we begin using the house for its intended purpose: to live in it. When we engage in the Chinuch (education) of our children, we strive to guide the one being educated to walk the path for which he is destined. Contrary to a common misconception, we are not constructing something entirely new within the child; rather, we are assisting him in discovering his purpose and inner strengths – “to enter the craft he is destined to master,” in Rashi’s words.

Technically, the word Hanukkah reflects the Chanukat HaMikdash, the rededication of the Temple after the Greeks defiled it. On a deeper level, however, the Hanukkah festival may be understood as our “Chinuch” (our education) – the initiation of our enduring challenge to ignite the light in a place of darkness. In the year’s deepest gloom, there is a necessity to begin fulfilling our destiny of illumination. Approximately 200 years before the commencement of the long exile, which has endured for some 2,000 years, we dedicate our capacity to confront the darkness.

The Midrash in Bereishit Rabbah interprets the verse at the start of the Book of Genesis, “and darkness was upon the face of the deep,” by stating: “Darkness—this is the Kingdom of Greece, which darkened the eyes of Israel with its decrees, for they said to them, ‘Write that you have no share in the G-d of Israel.'”

The struggle against the external influence that seeks to make us forget our essence, our connection to our great past and our luminous future—the redemption of Israel and the building of the Temple on the Temple Mount, the denial of the Divine, and the severing of our bond with the Torah and tradition—this is the perennial struggle of the exile that began with the deeds of the Syrian-Greeks and continues today with various permutations of those same forces antagonistic to the spirit of Israel.

When we light the Hanukkah candles this year, we will begin, yet again, “to enter the craft we are destined to master.”

Rabbi Guy Tal is Rabbi at Beth Israel Synagogue in Edmonton.