F6: Chanukah

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The many and the few

A bit of history is useful at this point. In 333 BCE Alexander the Great conquered Judea, and, as a part of the Greek empire, the conquered inhabitants of Judea were permitted cultural and religious freedom whilst remaining under the economic and political control of the Greek Empire. Ten years later (323 BCE - just checking), Alexander died and his Kingdom was split up into two. Palestine was in the middle of these two and was thus became a battleground. In 175 BCE, Antiochus IV Epiphanes became leader of one of these kingdoms and tried to fashion an empire held together by Greek religion and Greek way of life. In attempting to establish this common denominator, Antiochus attempted to eliminate all religious differences among his subject people and made a special effort to try and integrate Jews into his kingdom.

Active revolt by the Jews against this oppressive policy began eight years later (work it out) with the famous rallying call of Matathias: "Whoever is for the Lord, follow me!". For two years, he and his five sons waged war against the Greeks and on the 25th of the month of Kislev in the year 165 BCE they re established the Temple. Actually this did not mark the end of the fighting, which continued intermittently. Eventually, however a Hasmonean dynasty, lasting over a century, was established.

So how did the many lose to the few? How was the mighty Greek army humbled by a band of untrained upstarts? Reading descriptions of the various battles, the key feature seems to lie in the fact that the Hasmoneans engaged in what would now be termed guerrilla warfare. The country of Israel has a large amount of hilly regions and the Hasmoneans made use of their knowledge of the terrain to ambush and attack the unsuspecting Greek forces whilst hiding in the hills. Think of all those Vietnam films you have seen and the victory begins to make more sense.

It is no wonder that today, Chanukah has become such a popular festival amongst modern Israelis. Chanukah symbolises the ability of the few to stand up militarily to anyone, irrespective of size and power. Indeed, part of the Zionist revolution was to change the image of the Jew from the weak child pushed around by other people into fighting machines, capable of deciding their futures. The American comedian Jackie Mason once quipped that as individuals, Jews are not very physical people. "Is anyone scared of walking into a Jewish neighbourhood for fear of being beaten up by an accountant"! However, as a group in an army they do seem to be able to turn into a mighty fighting force. For many modern Israelis, Chanukah is seen as the festival celebrating Jewish physical strength, despite the odds and smallness of numbers. The few can beat the many, especially if the numerical disadvantage is compensated with cunning, guile and technological supremacy.

Long life olive oil

How different from all this is the other reason given for Chanukah, the miracle of the oil. This is not about might and fight but about the weird and wonderful. The delivery of the many into the hands of the few may be unlikely, but it is not miraculous. Or at least it is not as miraculous as one day's worth of oil lasting for eight. The latter seems to contradict the very laws of nature. The military victory is possible but unlikely. It is unlikely that a second division football team will beat a team from the premier league, but it could and indeed has happened, as all Spurs fans from last year will remember with pain.

Does that mean that such a military victory is not miraculous at all. After Israel's amazing victory in the Six Day war, the Times newspaper run a front page story with the simple headline: "The Six Day Miracle". It seems that events that are statistically improbable even though they do not contravene the laws of nature too can be miraculous, although it is a different type of miracle from the olive oil. The gangsters in Pulp Fiction are shot at using an automatic weapon at almost point blank range. They somehow survive - all the bullets seem to miss them. For one of the gangsters, this is a clear miracle and he decides that it is a sign from above and decides to give up his gangster ways. His partner sees the same event but has a different response. For him, the bullets going over their heads may be strange but nothing more then coincidence or luck. It seems therefore that there are a variety of different levels of miracles. Some events, such as the olive oil where a law of nature has been altered, is obviously a miracle. There are other cases where, although no law of nature has been changed, they too can be considered as miraculous by some. The military victory of Chanukah or the Six day war are possible examples - although it depends on how you look at them.

It seems that what makes something miraculous depends on what one is used to. In 'Alice in Wonderland', for example, miracles are very normal. "So many out of the way things have happened at the moment that Alice had begun to think that few things were impossible". So, when the Cheshire Cat disappeared into thin air, "Alice was not so much surprised; she was getting used to great things happening". We find such a disappearance to be miraculous too, because we are not used to such things occurring. Imagine that you are confronted with a strange phenomena, an extraordinary event that belongs in an X-file case. How would you deal with such an event? Many would try and find some form of rational explanation, a natural law that can explain the event. Once that law has been found, the surprise is over. It is simply nature. Next time when a similar event happens, you will not be surprised for you now know what to expect.

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