Chanukah is the only traditional Jewish religious festival that has any association with an historical warfare event. The Second Temple could only have been purified and rededicated to Jewish worship after Judah Maccabee and his followers had fought to retake it from the Seleucid Empire forces that had captured it.
Yet the rabbis of the Talmud and thereafter downplayed this aspect of the event and the festival. They made sure to credit God for the result, as one can read in the Chanukah prayer “Al Ha’Nisim” (“For the Miracles”). They omitted any mention of Judah Maccabee from the Talmud and midrashic literature. And they made sure that on the Sabbath during Chanukah, the Torah service would include the passage from Zechariah (4:6), “Not by might, nor by power, but by My spirit, says the Lord of Hosts.”
Why? According to Milwaukee’s own Rabbi David Shapiro, z”l, in his essay “The Jewish Attitude Toward Peace and War” (in volume one of his “Studies in Jewish Thought”), it is because Judaism extols peace and refuses to glorify war.
“For the Rabbis, no ideal is so glorious as peace. They never tire of singing its praises,” Shapiro wrote. “The Torah enjoins peace, say the Aggadists, under all circumstances and in all possible ways, even towards the enemies of Israel. Peace, unlike other religious precepts, must be sought after and pursued.”
Judaism is not pacifistic; it recognizes that wars are sometimes necessary. But “even the wars enjoined by the Torah … are intended to lead to peace,” wrote Shapiro.
With such values, it would seem that we Jews should not only strive for peace, but also greet any prospect of peace with hope and optimism — even when we have doubts.
This week, one week before Chanukah begins, officials of the U.S., Israel, the Palestinian Authority and several Arab countries met at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md. At this writing on Tuesday (Nov. 27), what has come out of the meeting is a “joint understanding” between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and P.A. President Mahmoud Abbas that President Bush read aloud to reporters.
“We express our determination to bring an end to bloodshed, suffering and decades of conflict between our peoples; to usher in a new era of peace, based on freedom, security, justice, dignity, respect and mutual recognition; to propagate a culture of peace and nonviolence; to confront terrorism and incitement, whether committed by Palestinians or Israelis,” the understanding agreement states.
The parties also agreed “to engage in vigorous, ongoing and continuous negotiations, and shall make every effort to conclude an agreement before the end of 2008.”
There has already been much controversy over this meeting and its possible results. Some Jews and some Arabs have taken to the streets voicing their disapproval of the peace process.
But isn’t it interesting that this Annapolis meeting comes 60 years almost to the day (Nov. 29) after the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution calling for the creation of a Jewish and an Arab state in the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea?
Israel and the P.A., with the backing of the United States, appear to be heading toward realization of that compromise vision, which has loomed over the region for six decades and keeps returning, despite the efforts of those who vehemently reject it and the hesitations of those who doubt and mistrust it.
Still, we at The Chronicle are guardedly optimistic. Yes, the past 60 years have seen many wars and terrorist attacks, have raised hopes that have collapsed in disappointment and frustration.
But Israel and the Arabs and the world deserve peace — not an impossible utopian peace in which all memories of injustice and prejudice and grievances real or imagined are forgotten, but mutual acknowledgement that even a bad peace is better than the best war; that conflicts can be solved without violence; and that real honor is won not by beating somebody down but by helping each other rise together.
Indeed, “not by might or power” to destroy, but by the spirits of creativity and work and humanity will peace come. That is our message and our hope for the Annapolis meeting and for this year’s Chanukah.
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