There will be a series of parties focusing on the first couple of days of the holiday featuring latkes (potato pancakes) and sufganiyót (jelly filled doughnuts), there will be trips to Modi’ím (now the modern city of Modi'in)and surrounding areas, the home of the Hasmonean family that started the successful rebellion against Greek Syrian rule. And of course, there will be the gifts and family get-togethers
Just like Christmas, Hanukkah has its dark sides. For Christians, the dark side of Christmas is the endless commercialization of the holiday and the post holiday depression that inevitably comes in its wake for some. For Hanukkah, in addition to the post holiday depression that some of us are prone to, there is the uncomfortable fact that Hanukkah is really about a civil war between Jews who wanted to live their lives according to Jewish law and custom and the “Mityavním,” those who wanted to assimilate into the dominant Greek culture around them.
This struggle is so uncomfortable because it is taking place in Israel right now, between those Jews who want to live by Jewish law and custom and those who want to assimilate into the dominant American culture and values infiltrating the country (and the rest of the world). Israelis are so uncomfortable with this fact that they don’t really want to talk about it at all. The split between the “Hiloním,” (secular Jews) and religious Jews is deep and bitter. Right now it is being papered over by unity against the Arab terror, but should the terror come to an end or significantly abate, this deep split in Israeli society between those who don’t want religion to play a significant role in the country and those who do will show up right away.
There is a second dark side to this holiday, one that is less controversial and is thus explored a bit more often. For this I need to delve into history a bit – some of you might want to nap at this point - for the next three or four paragraphs, anyway.
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