Rosh Chodesh Kislev 5777 December 1, 2016

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2 Rosh Chodesh Kislev 5777 December 1, 2016 Chanukah recalls miracles, history, dedication and resolve. Kehillat Chovevei Tzion continues to have an exciting impact on its member families, friends and community. As an all-volunteer, lay-lead independent Kehillah, the challenges are many and the rewards are uplifting. The warmth of smallness with the passion of deep commitment spill across all of the Shabbat and Yom Tov services, special occasion events and educational programming throughout the year that bring us together in communal study and celebration. The passionate closeness that marks life-cycle events extends the reach of family into community. We are delighted to be able to bring to you at various times throughout the year, these thematic and holiday preparation booklets for your enjoyment and personal study with friends, family and neighbors. Speaking of friends and neighbors... Why not bring them with you to the next Shabbat service or to one of the exciting upcoming social and educational events? Be sure to stay informed about all happenings via the KCT listserv and the website ( Being here, learning, speaking encouragingly of the activities, providing transportation to services and assistance in managing the needs of the Kehillah, sharing thoughts for improvements and for new programs, providing tzedakah to nourish the fiscal needs of KCT and its diverse program... all are the welcome expressions of dedication to the goals of the Kehillah that are most urgently sought as we approach in the coming weeks, the historic rededication symbolized by the Chanukah period. The Trustees of KCT and their families join in bringing you our best wishes for an uplifting and meaningful Chanukah celebration. L hitraot, Rona Dressler Elaine Ehrenberg Harvey Goldstein Douglas Lee Karen Mann Martin Vitberg Herman Werner, President Cherie Zager

3 KEHILLAT CHOVEVEI TZION SHABBAT and CHANUKAH SERVICES December January 2017 Kislev - Tevet 5777 Candle Lighting Shabbat Vayetze Friday December 9 6:00 PM 4:06 PM Saturday December 10 9:00 AM Shabbat Vayishlach Friday December 16 6:00 PM 4:07 PM Saturday December 17 9:00 AM Shabbat Vayeshev Friday December 23 6:00 PM 4:10 PM Saturday December 24 9:00 PM Chanukah 5777 Saturday evening, December 24 Shabbat Miketz (Shabbat Chanukah / Rosh Chodesh Tevet) Light Chanukah candles before Shabbat Shabbat candle lighting is 4:15 PM Friday December 30 6:00 PM 4:15 PM Saturday December 31 9:00 AM Shabbat concludes at 5:22 PM. Light Chanukah candles after Shabbat Shabbat Vayigash Friday January 6 6:00 PM 4:21 PM Saturday January 7 9:00 AM Shabbat Vayechi Friday January 13 6:00 PM 4:29 PM Saturday January 14 9:00 AM Shabbat Shemot Friday January 20 6:00 PM 4:37 PM Saturday January 21 9:00 AM Shabbat Va era / Rosh Chodesh Shevat Friday January 27 6:00 PM 4:45 PM Saturday January 28 9:00 AM Kehillat Chovevei Tzion Route 25A at Nicolls Road P.O. Box 544 East Setauket, NY 11733

4 Please be aware that this booklet contains full blessings including HaShem s name. Should you print it out and no longer wish to retain the printed booklet, please take care to dispose of it properly..... Kindling the Lights Washington DC Mall photo courtesy of Chabad. Kindling the menorah lights for each of the right nights of Chanukah, is the most important Chanukah custom. Jews light the candles to remember the miracle of the Maccabees' victory and the miracle of the oil that burnt for eight days in the holy Temple. The Menorah should have eight candle holders in a row all at the same height, and a separate candle holder for the Shamash. The Shamash candle is used to light the other eight candles, since it is forbidden to use the Chanukah lights for any purpose other than viewing. To best publicize the miracle, the Menorah is ideally lit outside the doorway of your house, on the left side when entering. If this is not practical, then the Menorah should be lit in a window facing the public thoroughfare. If the Menorah cannot be lit by the window, it may be lit inside the house on a table, which at least fulfills the mitzvah of "publicizing the miracle" for members of the household. The Menorah should preferably be lit immediately at nightfall (Sundays through Thursdays). If necessary, however, the Menorah can be lit late into the night. It is best to wait until all members of the household are present to light the Menorah. It should remain lit for at least 30 minutes after nightfall. On Friday afternoon, the Menorah should be lit before sundown, before lighting the Shabbat candles. On Saturday night, the Menorah should be lit after reciting Havdalah, concluding Shabbat. On the first night, place one candle in the Menorah's far right (as you face the Menorah) candle holder. Another candle is placed for the Shamash. Recite the blessings below and then light the candle using the Shamash candle. First Blessing... Baruch atah Ado..noy, Eloheynu melech ha olom asher kid shanu b mitsvotav, v tzivanu l hadlik ner chel Chanukah. Amen! Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who has sanctified us by His commandments, and has commanded us to kindle the lights of Hanukkah. Second Blessing... Baruch atah Ado..noy, Eloheynu melech ha olom she aso nissim l avoteinu ba yamim ho heym bazman ha zeh. Amen! Blessed are you, Lord our God, King of the universe, who wrought miracles for our fathers in days of old, at this season. Third Blessing (only on the first night of Chanukah) Baruch atah Ado..noy, Eloheynu melech ha olom she hecheyanu v ki manu ve higi'anu lazman ha zeh. Amen! Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who has kept us alive, and has preserved us, and enabled us to reach this time.

5 Note: On the second through eighth nights... As shown in the diagram above, as you face the Menorah... Place additional candles right to left... light the candles each night left to right! Say the first two blessings and then light the candles using the Shamash. Light the left-most candle first and then light in order, from left to right. Follow this procedure for each night of Chanukah. While lighting the candles themselves, songs like Hanerot Halalu (see below) or verses from Al HaNissim are traditionally recited Maoz Tzur (Rock of Ages) Maoz Tzur, which translates from the Hebrew as "Rock of Ages", is traditionally sung after reciting Chanukah blessings and lighting the candles. Maoz Tzur is an acrostic poem with six stanzas. The first letter of each of the first five stanzas spells the poet's name, Mordechai, in Hebrew (mem, reish, dalet, kaf, yud). The first stanza thanks God for deliverance from our oppressors. The next three stanzas tell the story of the exodus from Egypt and the liberation from Babylonia, Persia, and Syria. The fifth verse recounts the story of Chanukah, and the sixth stanza speaks of the coming age of Mashiach. Hanei rot ha lo lu anu mad li kin Al ha te shu ot v al ha nisim v al ha nif la ot, She a see ta la avo tei nu ba ya mim ha heim biz man ha zeh, Al ye dei ko hanecha ha kedoshim. V chol shemonat y mei chanukah, haneirot halalu kodesh hem, V ein lanu re shut lehish ta meish ba hen, E la lirotan bil vad, ke dei lehodot u lehaleil l shimcha hagadol Al ni secha v al nifle otecha v al ye shuotecha. We light these lights for the miracles and the wonders, for the redemption and the battles that you made for our forefathers in those days at this season, through your holy priests. During all eight days of Chanukah, these lights are sacred and we are not permitted to make ordinary use of them. But only to look at them in order to express thanks and praise to Your great Name for your miracles, your wonders and your salvations. Once the candles have been lit, Maoz Tzur is traditionally sung (See the next article).

6 Transliteration: 1. Ma-oz Tzur Y shu-a-ti Le-cha Na-eh L sha-bei-ach Ti-kon Beit T fi-la-ti V sham To-da N za-bei-ach L eit Ta-chin Mat-bei-ach Mi-tzar Ha-mi-na-bei-ach Az Eg-mor B shir Miz-mor Cha-nu-kat Ha-miz-beiach 2. Ra-ot Sav-ah Nafshi B yagon Kochi Ka-leh Cha-yai Mei-re-ru V koshi B shi-bud Malchhut Egla U-v yado Ha-g dola Ho-tzi Et Ha-sgula Cheil Par-oh V chol Zar-oh Yardu K even Bim-tzula 3. Dvir Kodsho Hevi-ani V gam Sham Lo Sha-kat-ti Uva Nogeis V higlani Ki Zarim Avad-ti V yein Ra-al Ma-sachti Kim-at She-a-varti Keitz Bavel Z ru-bavel L keitz Shiv-im No-shati 4. Krot Komat B rosh Bi-keish A-gagi Ben Hamdatah V ni-h yata Lo L fach U-lemokeish V ga-a-vato Nishba-ta Rosh Y mini Niseita V'oyeiv Shmo Machita Rov Banav V kin-yanav Al Ha-eitz Ta-lita 5. Y va-nim Nik-bi-tzu A-lai A-zai Bi-may Chash-ma-nim U far-tzu Chomos Migda-lai V tim-u Kol Ha-shma-nim U mi-no-tar Kan-ka-nim Na-a-sa Neis La-sho-sha-nim B nei Vi-nah Y mei Sh mo-nah Kav-u Shir U ri-nanim 6. Cha-sof Z ro-a Kodshecha V ka-reiv Keitz Hayeshu-ah N kom Nikmat Ava-decha Mei-uma Har-sha-ah Ki Archah Ha-sha-ah V'ein Keitz Limei Ha-ra-ah D chei Admon B tzeil Tzalmon Ha-keim La-nu Roim Shiv-ah Translation: 1. O mighty stronghold of my salvation, to praise You is a delight. Restore my House of Prayer and there we will bring a thanksgiving offering. When You will have prepared the slaughter for the blaspheming foe, Then I shall complete with a song of hymn the dedication of the Altar. 2. My soul had been sated with troubles, my strength has been consumed with grief. They had embittered my life with hardship, with the calf-like kingdom's bondage. But with His great power, He brought forth the treasured ones, Pharaoh's army and all his offspring Went down like a stone into the deep. 3. To the holy abode of His Word He brought me. But there, too, I had no rest And an oppressor came and exiled me. For I had served aliens, And had drunk benumbing wine. Scarcely had I departed at Babylon's end Zerubabel came. At the end of seventy years I was saved. 4. To sever the towering cypress sought the Aggagite, son of Hammedatha, But it became [a snare and] a stumbling block to him and his arrogance was stilled. The head of the Benjaminite You lifted and the enemy, his name You obliterated His numerous progeny - his possessions - on the gallows You hanged. 5. Greeks gathered against me then in Hasmonean days. They breached the walls of my towers and they defiled all the oils; And from the one remnant of the flasks a miracle was wrought for the roses. Men of insight - eight days established for song and jubilation 6. Bare Your holy arm and hasten the End for salvation - Avenge the vengeance of Your servants' blood from the wicked nation. For the triumph is too long delayed for us, and there is no end to days of evil, Repel the Red One in the nethermost shadow and establish for us the seven shepherds.

7 .... Maoz Tzur: A Sixth Stanza Written by Dr. Ron Wolfson, who is the Fingerhut Professor of Education at American Jewish University and the president of Synagogue This well-known Chanukah song summarizes historical challenges faced by the Jewish people that have been overcome with God's help. Yet this joyous song also contains a later addition, a sixth stanza composed three centuries after the original Maoz Tzur was written. The appearance of this little-known, rarely-sung stanza poses a challenge to modern Jewish sensibilities. It is a raw, emotional reaction to persecution faced by the Jewish community in Christian Europe. While being able to identify with the emotions that arise out of the historical circumstances, the call for Divine retribution is foreign to the modern ear. Nonetheless, the theological question of God s role in history raised in the last stanza of this song is a question that is still asked today. Maoz Tzur is undoubtedly the most famous of Chanukah songs. Composed in the 13th century of the Common Era by a poet only known to us through the acrostic found in the first letters of the original five stanzas of the song--mordecai-- it became the traditional hymn sung after the candlelighting in Ashkenazi homes. The familiar tune is most probably a derivation of a German Protestant church hymn or a popular folk song. Although many families attempt to sing the first stanza, either in the original Hebrew or in a not-so-accurate English translation by M. Jastrow and G. Gottheil entitled "Rock of Ages," the song as it has evolved through the years now contains six stanzas, the last stanza having been added by an unknown poet sometime during the 16th century. Unfortunately, due either to the exuberance of children rushing to open presents or general illiteracy with regard to Jewish liturgy, Maoz Tzur often gets a token singing at best, with the vast majority of Chanukah celebrants quite unaware of its true meaning. In a fascinating look at Maoz Tzur, Professor Ismar Schorsch, past chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, examined the text of the poem in a penetrating article entitled "A Meditation on Maoz Zur" (Judaism, fall 1988, pp ). Explaining that he and his family fled from Germany on the first day of Chanukah, 1938, Schorsch says the singing of Maoz Tzur has always held special significance for him. Yet, he wonders, why was it that their practice was to sing the first five stanzas and not the later sixth? The theme of Maoz Tzur is a familiar one: God's unfailing redemption of the people Israel. After an opening stanza promising thanksgiving to God now and always, the poet recalls four moments of Divine intervention in chronological order: Egypt, Babylonia, Persia, and the Greeks of the Chanukah story. It is the sixth stanza that brings Schorsch to his analysis of the meaning of the poem. In a particularly blunt plea for revenge against the "wicked kingdom," the poet dares to wish for God to intervene once more and "vanquish Christianity in the very shadow of the cross." How could a Jewish poet who knew of the persecutions inflicted on his people by the Romans and their descendants be ignored at the triumphant moment of Chanukah? Yet, the addition of the sixth stanza calls into question the basic theology of the entire song. If God always redeems his people, why are we still awaiting the messianic kingdom? Schorsch turns our attention to Psalm 31, upon which the opening phrase, "Maoz Tzur" is based. The second verse of the Psalm reads: "I seek refuge in You, O Lord; may I never be disappointed; as You are righteous, rescue me." The midrash, the rabbinic commentary that seeks to expound the simple meaning of the text, pounces on the word "le'olam"--"never"--and poses one of the most difficult problems for a religious person: how to reconcile the continuous promise of redemption with the harsh reality of life. In the midrashic dialogue between the people Israel and God, Israel asks why, if God's redemption is everlasting, do we continue to suffer? "To be sure, You have already redeemed us through Moses, through Joshua, and through some judges and kings. But we have once again been subjugated and endure degradation as if we had never been redeemed." God responds that redemption effected through mere mortals is not true redemption, even if influenced by Divine intention. The author of the sixth stanza of Maoz Tzur, reeling from the shock of persecutions and expulsions, attached his messianic codicil. The previous redemptions, from the Babylonian exile to the Syrian-Greek oppressions, were of limited duration because they were mediated by men. The fourth kingdom, Christianity will only be overcome by God directly.

8 Schorsch concludes that "taken together, the two strata of Maoz Tzur blend into a liturgical reflection on Jewish history--the precariousness of minority existence, the reality of Divine concern, the consolation of collective memory, and the rarity of true messianism." He warns us to be careful of emphasizing the human role of the Chanukah story and draws a parallel to the current political situation in Israel. Just as the Maccabees achieved only a limited "redemption," Schorsch warns that "messianism, properly understood, leads to political restraint." The true meaning of Maoz Tzur serves both to remind us of the harsh divergence between history and theology and to hold out the promise of ultimate redemption by the hand of God..... A Synopsis of the Chanukah Story: The Maccabean Revolt By Lesli Koppelman Ross, a writer and artist whose works have appeared nationally. She has devoted much of her time to the causes of Ethiopian Jewry and Jewish education. NOTE: The author of this article explains that information in this article reflects the traditional sources regarding the Jewish understanding of the events of Hanukkah. These sources are not completely reliable historically. For example, the story of the events at Modin is part of the Hanukkah saga, though its historical veracity is questionable. In 168 BCE, the ruler of the Syrian kingdom, Antiochus Epiphanes IV, stepped up his campaign to quash Judaism, so that all subjects in his vast empire which included the Land of Israel would share the same culture and worship the same gods. He marched into Jerusalem, vandalized the Temple, erected an idol on the altar, and desecrated its holiness with the blood of swine. Decreeing that studying Torah, observing the Sabbath, and circumcising Jewish boys were punishable by death, he sent Syrian overseers and soldiers to villages throughout Judea to enforce the edicts and force Jews to engage in idol worship. When the Syrian soldiers reached Modin (about 12 miles northwest of the capital), they demanded that the local leader, Mattathias the Kohein (a member of the priestly class), be an example to his people by sacrificing a pig on a portable pagan altar. The elder refused and killed not only the Jew who stepped forward to do the Syrian s bidding, but also the king s representative. With the rallying cry Whoever is for God, follow me! Mattathias and his f i v e s o n s (Jonathan, Simon, Judah, Eleazar, and Yohanan) fled to the hills and caves of the wooded Judean wilderness. Joined by a ragtag army of others like them, simple farmers dedicated to the laws of Moses, armed only with spears, bows and arrows, and rocks from the terrain, the Maccabees, as Mattathias sons, particularly Judah, came to be known, fought a guerilla war against the well-trained, well-equipped, seemingly endless forces of the mercenary Syrian army. In three years, the Maccabees cleared the way back to the Temple mount, which they reclaimed. They cleaned the Temple and dismantled the defiled altar and constructed a new one in its place. Three years to the day after Antiochus mad rampage (Kislev 25, 165 BCE), the Maccabees held a dedication (hanukkah) of the Temple with proper sacrifice, rekindling of the golden menorah, and eight days of celebration and praise to God. [Proper] Jewish worship had been reestablished..... Half the Chanukah Story Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm is a leading scholar, author and Jewish communal leader, who served as the Chancellor and Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva University until his retirement in July This essay is excerpted from a 1967 writing of his. Two themes are central to the festival of Hanukkah. They are, first, the nes milhamah, the miraculous victory of the few over the many and the weak over the strong as the Jews repulsed the Syrian-Greeks and reestablished their independence. The second theme is the nes shemmen, the miracle of the oil, which burned in the Temple for eight days although the supply was sufficient for only one day. The nes milhamah represents the success of the military and

9 political enterprise of the Macabeeans, whilst the nes shemmen symbolizes the victory of the eternal Jewish spirit. Which of these is emphasized is usually an index to one s Weltanschauung. Thus, for instance, secular Zionism spoke only of the nes milhamah, the military victory, because it was interested in establishing the nationalistic base of modern Jewry. The Talmud, however, asking, "What is Hanukkah?," answered with the nes shemmen, with the story of the miracle of the oil. In this way, the Rabbis demonstrated their unhappiness with the whole Hasmonean dynasty, descendants of the original Macabees who became Saducees, denied the Oral Law, and persecuted the Pharisees. Yet, it cannot be denied that both of these themes are integral parts of Judaism. Unlike Christianity, we never relegated religion to a realm apart from life; we never assented to the bifurcation between that which belongs to God and that which belongs to Ceasar. Religion was a crucial part, indeed, the very motive, of the war against the Syrian-Greeks. And unlike the purely nationalistic interpretation of Hanukkah, we proclaim with the prophet (whose words we read on the second Sabbath of Hanukkah), "For not by power nor by might, but by My spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts." In fact, the Macabeean war was, to a large extent, not a revolution against alien invaders as much as a civil war against Hellenistic Jews who wanted to strip Israel of its Jewish heritage. Hence, Hanukkah symbolizes a victory through military means for spiritual ends. That is why rabbinic sources tell of both themes, the Pesikta speaking of the nes melhamah, and the Gemara speaking of the nes shemmen. It is interesting that the dual themes adumbrated in the Hanukkah narrative are anticipated in the Sidra we read on the first Sabbath of Hanukkah. Young Joseph has two dreams, the first of which is equivalent to the nes milhamah and the second reminiscent of the nes shemmen. In the first dream he sees himself and his brothers me almim alumim, binding their sheaves in the field, and the sheaves of the brothers bow down to his sheaf. This is clearly a materialistic dream - he wants to take over the food industry and corner the grain market. The second dream is a more spiritual and cosmic one: it is a dream of shemmesh ve kokhavim, the sun and the stars and the attainment of spiritual preeminence. Even more interesting is the reactions that these dreams evoke. When Joseph tells his brothers of his dream of the alumim, we read: va-yosifu ode seno oto, they hated him even more. When he tells them of his dream of the sun and the stars, we read: va-yekanu vo ehav, his brothers were jealous of him. The material dream evokes sin ah, hatred; the spiritual dream arouses kin ah, jealousy. We Jews are hated for our nes milhamah, and we are envied for our nes shemmen. The State of Israel, in our day, has fulfilled the first dream. The alumim of the State of Israel, its farms and its fields, its towns and villages and cities, are comparatively safe and secure. We have achieved a miraculous victory in milhamah, the recent war. The result has been predictable sin ah, hatred. Let us not be blind to the nucleus of animosity that is latent even in the admiration which has been expressed for the State of Israel as a result of its military successes. Perhaps I am naive, but I have abiding "faith" in the silent anti-semitic potential within a good deal of this expression of worldwide applause for Israel. The best proof - [in 1967] General DeGaulle, whose press has protested his remarks, but whose countrymen seem more and more to have responded by reverting to their old anti-semitism. The General declared that Israel is "a war-like State bent upon expansion," and that Jews are "an elite people, sure of itself and dominating." Why? Because Israel dared to succeed without first begging his leave. How revealing is his further comment: "Jews provoke ill will in certain countries and at certain times." There it is: sin ah, hatred provoked by the success of our alumim, by the accomplishment of our nes milhamah. Throughout the ages non-jews have circumscribed our areas of endeavor. They gave us no farms for our alumim, and then hated us when we overcame these limitations nevertheless. They pushed us into money lending, and detested us when we became bankers. They allowed only the very uppermost echelons of our young people to get

10 themselves a university education, and then they declared their hatred for us when this group succeeded in producing the world s leading financiers and scientists, doctors and men of culture. They confined us to squalid ghettos and expected to crush our dignity but they were furious when we emerged with our dignity intact, when, in the words of Joseph s dream, ve hineh kama alumati ve'gam nitzavah - our sheaf stood upright, unbent, unsubmissive. Their hostility was boundless when all their oppression resulted in our possessing a fabulously noble religion, a cultural level second to none, and a superb moral life. Definitely, in general, we are "elite, sure of ourselves, and dominating." No people that has had to endure what has been wished upon us, and has survived with our quality, is anything less than "elite" and "sure of itself." Hence our heritage of sin ah, the ill-will we have "provoked" in so much of the world. But now that Israel, for itself and all the Jewish people, has fulfilled the first dream, the time has come to realize the second, the vision of shemmesh ve'kokhavim. Now, just as we have earned the world s sin ah, we must deserve their kin'ah. What is kin ah? It is not envy, pure and simple. Some modern scholars relate the Hebrew word kin ah to the Arabic root kanaa which means to turn red as with a dye. In other words, it means to blush, to be embarrassed. The Hebrew kin ah is thus a rather complex phenomenon, one of its components is the feeling of embarrassment, of self-criticism which results in an awareness of one s shortcomings as he measures himself against the object of his kin'ah and which therefore, may hopefully lead him to transcend himself and inspire him to greater achievement. To inspire such creative kin ah is, in essence, a moral task and an educational function. Our duty at the present stage of our history is to arouse the world s kin ah, and thus make the rest of the world yearn for our spiritual achievements, for our miracle of oil, and thereby prove the correctness of that verse by King Solomon, kin at sofrim tarbeh hokhmah, that envy (in this sense of creative kin ah) amongst scholars can only increase wisdom in the world. Indeed, just as Joseph beheld first his sin ahinspiring material dream, and afterwards rose to his kin ah-provoking spiritual vision, so too, the miracles of Hanukkah are sequential: first there was the nes milhamah, and then later came the nes shemmen. This is reflected in our al ha-nissim prayer which we recite all through Hanukkah. We thank God for the miracle of our victory, for having given over giborim be yad halashim, rabbim be yad me'atim - the strong in the hands of the weak and the many in the hands of the few... ve ahar ken, and afterwards, ba u vanekha l devir betekha, Thy children came into Thy holy habitation, cleansed Thy Temple, purified Thy sanctuary, and kindled lights in Thy holy courts. The Jewish Museum I submit that those two little words, ve ahar ken, "and afterwards," define the position of world Jewry today. We have finished one half the Hanukkah story. We have accomplished the nes milhama, the miracle of military victory, and now we must proceed to the nes shemmen, to the miracle of the conquest of the Jewish spirit. We have realized the dream of the alumim; next we must proceed to the inspiring vision of the shemmesh ve kokhavim. Can it be done? Most certainly! I am more optimistic now than I have ever been before in my life that this, indeed, can be achieved. As an example, permit me to bring to your attention a revealing report "Maariv," one of the leading newspapers in Israel. One of its most distinguished reporters, Geulah Cohen, interviewed General Ariel Sharon, who is one of the most popular heroes of the young generation of Israelis, and is widely known by his affectionate nickname Arik. Arik, the commander of the Negev and the conqueror of the Sinai, might well be considered the quintessential Sabra. In the course of the interview, he was asked, "I understand that when you came to the Western Wall, a Hasid gave you a pair of tefillin and asked you to wear them and that you did so. How come, why so suddenly?" The self-confident Arik for the first time turned somewhat shy. Yes, he answered, I did do just that. And here follows a remarkable insight: I do not identify myself, said Arik, with those who hate religion. On the contrary, I respect those who believe. Indeed, I believe in those who believe. I am genuinely sorry that I was never taught enough about Judaism. Thus, when I came to the Wall, I had very deep feelings that I wanted to express, but to my dismay I discovered that li ein millim; la-yehudi ha-dati yesh, I had no words, whereas the religious Jew does! This recognition is a historic achievement. Now it becomes our sacred duty, the sacred duty of all religious Jews, to give the Ariks the "words," the

11 spiritual wherewithal to continue to the next glorious chapter in Jewish history of our times. Let us give them, and our American Jewish youth, the stuff with which to finish the second half of the Hanukkah story, with which to perform the second miracle, that of the nes shemmen; with which to realize Joseph s second dream; with which to excite mankind s envy, its creative kin ah of our spiritual and moral success, and not only be afraid and hostile because of our material and martial conquests. Then, having made this second dream a miraculous reality and having provoked the world to emulate our moral attainment, will we be able, with complete justification, to conclude the al hanissim prayer with the words le hodot u- le hallel le shimkha hagadol, now we may thank and praise the great name of Almighty God for ever and ever. Why not sponsor the Shabbat Chanukah Kiddush? Call or us to arrange for it!.... The Surprising Origin of the Dreidel Rabbi David Golinkin, Ph.D., is president and rector of the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem, where he teaches Talmud and Jewish law, and he heads the Va'ad Halachah (Committee on Jewish law) of the Masorti, or Conservative, movement's Rabbinical Assembly in Israel. The well-known Hanukkah symbol has European roots. The dreidel or sevivon is perhaps the most famous custom associated with Chanukah. Indeed, various rabbis have tried to find an integral connection between the dreidel and the Hanukkah story; the standard explanation is that the letters nun, gimmel, hey, shin, which appear on the dreidel in the Diaspora, stand for nes gadol haya sham a great miracle happened there, while in Israel the dreidel says nun, gimmel, hey, pey, which means a great miracle happened here. How to Play the Game of Dreidel One 19th-century rabbi maintained that Jews played with the dreidel in order to fool the Greeks if they were caught studying Torah, which had been outlawed. Others figured out elaborate gematriot [numerological explanations based on the fact that every Hebrew letter has a numerical equivalent] and word plays for the letters nun, gimmel, hey, shin. For example, nun, gimmel, hey, shin in gematria equals 358, which is also the numerical equivalent of mashiach or Messiah! Finally, the letters nun, gimmel, hey, shin are supposed to represent the four kingdoms that tried to destroy us [in ancient times]: N = Nebuchadnetzar = Babylon; H = Haman = Persia = Madai; G = Gog = Greece; and S = Seir = Rome. As a matter of fact, all of these elaborate explanations were invented after the fact. The dreidel game originally had nothing to do with Chanukah; it has been played by various people in various languages for many centuries. In England and Ireland there is a game called totum or teetotum that is especially popular at Christmastime. In English, this game is first mentioned as totum ca The name comes from the Latin totum, which means all. By 1720, the game was called T- totum or teetotum, and by 1801 the four letters already represented four words in English: T = Take all; H = Half; P = Put down; and N = Nothing. Our Eastern European game of dreidel (including the letters nun, gimmel, hey, shin) is directly based on the German equivalent of the totum game: N = Nichts = nothing; G = Ganz = all; H = Halb = half; and S = Stell ein = put in. In German, the spinning top was called a torrel or trundl, and in Yiddish it was called a dreidel, a fargl, a varfl [= something thrown], shtel ein [= put in], and gor, gorin [= all].

12 character. Inspired by the semantic and etymological connections between "Chanukah" --dedication, and hinnukh--education, some Jewish communities used the Chanukah season as an opportunity to recognize their religious teachers and students. When Hebrew was revived as a spoken language, the dreidel was called, among other names, a sevivon, which is the one that caught on. Thus the dreidel game represents an irony of Jewish history. In order to celebrate the holiday of Chanukah, which celebrates our victory over cultural assimilation, we play the dreidel game, which is an excellent example of cultural assimilation! Of course, there is a world of difference between imitating non-jewish games and worshiping idols, but the irony remains nonetheless..... From Gelt to Gifts Dr. Eliezer Segal of the University of Calgary, intertwines an understanding of Jewish history with a look at the development of practices in the modern Jewish community. Readers of KCT publications will recognize the author from his whimsical writings published around Purim, Pesach and other holidays. During the year that our family was sojourning in California, our children came home from school with marvelous reports of the gifts that their classmates had received in honor of Chanukah: color televisions, Nintendos and beyond. We had, of course, heard about the exaggerated commercialization of the American Chanukah, but the phenomenon did not become tangible for us until that experience. In comparison with the Mishloah manot of Purim or the Afikoman-bargaining of the Passover seder, gifts are not a traditional feature of Chanukah observances. The closest equivalent to an institution of gift-giving on Chanukah is the Eastern European custom of distributing "Chanukah-gelt" to the children. However, even this is of recent vintage, and it is hard to find mentions of it before the nineteenth century. It would appear that Chanukah-gelt evolved out of an earlier practice with a decidedly different An interesting practical application of these ideals is related in "Hemdat Yamim," a homiletical collection first published in eighteenth-century Smyrna, a work whose author's identity (other than the fact that he was a devotee of the messianic pretender Shabbetai Zvi) has continued to elude bibliographers. The Hemdat Yamim reports that "in some communities, the custom has arisen of having the children distribute coins to their teachers along with other gifts. Other beggars make the rounds then, though the mitzvah is intended primarily for the benefit of impecunious students." Rabbi Jacob Joseph of Polnoye, the renowned student of Rabbi Israel Ba'al Shem Tov, wrote that in Eastern Europe it was customary during Chanukah for Rabbis to make the rounds of outlying villages to strengthen their Jewish education. Although initially the teachers were scrupulous about not accepting payment for their services, eventually they agreed to at least accept compensation for lost time. Before long the tour, with trademark lantern in hand, came to be seen by many as expressly intended for the collection of material tokens of appreciation, and this evolved into a quasi-obligatory gift of Chanukah-gelt. Chanukah-gelt tours are mentioned as a routine matter in some early Hasidic stories, and the practice expanded to encompass additional recipients--such as preachers, cantors, butchers and beadles--as well as a broader variety of acceptable currencies--including whiskey, grain, vegetables and honey. The right to collect Chanukah-gelt would be written into the contracts of communal employees, and legends were even circulated to the effect that one of the collectors might be none other than the prophet Elijah! It is not until the nineteenth century that we begin to hear about Chanukah-gelt being directed primarily at children. We are not certain how or why this

13 transformation occurred, but it is described in several autobiographical memoirs, especially by children of well-to-do homes. Variations on these customs were also observed in Sepharadic and o r i e n t a l communities. Poor Jewish children in Persia would go door to door offering, in return for gifts, to protect their benefactors' households from the Evil Eye by burning special grasses. In Yemen, it was customary for Jewish mothers to give their children a small coin on each day of Chanukah, with which to purchase sugar powder and red coloring that would be used as ingredients for a special holiday treat: a sweet beverage known as "Chanukah wine" that was drunk at their nightly parties. In the "old yishuv" of Israel, Sepharadic yeshiva children circulated through the neighborhood asking for contributions of food for their festive Chanukah feast. The little "Maccabees" in Hebron would reinforce their demands with toy rifles. In Jerusalem, the teachers made their own tour of the Jewish Quarter, serenading the householders with Ladino songs. The custom was believed to be linked to the week's Torah portion in which Jacob urges his sons to "go again and procure some food for us." Needless to say, an immense gulf separates the customs described here from the shopping frenzy that is associated with the North American Chanukah..... Chanukah, December 25, Gift-Giving and American Jews In this section, we feature an essay written by KCT s own Dr. Charles Mann, about a rare phenomenon, the coincidence of both winter holidays starting on the same day in the secular calendar. In addition, we thank Larry Padwa for some of the very specialized data referred to in the article. At the same time, the editors invite all from the KCT Universe to share their thoughts on a whole host of issues in upcoming editions of Preparations. This year we have the rather infrequent concurrence of the first day of Hanukkah with Christmas Day. Frequently some day of Hanukkah will overlap with Christmas Day; however, it is relatively unusual for erev Hanukkah to be on Christmas Eve and for the first day of Hanukkah to coincide with Christmas Day. The last time that these holidays coincided was in 1978, and the next time will be in In the interval between 1903 and 2050, there are just four years of co-incidence: 1940, 1978, 2016 and It is also interesting to note that in each of these each of these secular years (such as this year, 2016) there are only seven days of Hanukkah, and in the years following them (2017), there are nine. I confess that I have a long schizophrenic relationship with Christmas. On one hand I am fascinated with the pomp and ceremony of the Christmas mass and I usually watch the midnight mass from St. Peters in Rome with the Pope dressed like the Kohen Hagadol (high priest) as described in the Torah. Then I like to compare their liturgy to ours and marvel at the similarities and note the core differences in belief. On the other hand I experience great anxiety as I think about how Jews were murdered on Christmas in small villages throughout Eastern Europe. Afraid of being attacked on the street, Jews in Eastern Europe stayed home on Christmas. It became the one day of the year that a Jew did not study Torah and so the tradition developed to stay at home and to play cards with their family. Indeed I remember playing cards with my maternal grandmother on Christmas Eve and her telling me that this is what Jews do on Christmas (and my grandmother was born in New York City!). It would seem that Jews in the United States have adopted three approaches to Christmas: (1) adopt it (2) use Hanukkah as a surrogate (3) totally reject it. Many Jews today do not consider Christmas to be a religious holiday. Others see observance of Christmas as a sign of successful assimilation into secular society. Actually, Jewish observance of Christmas can be traced back to Germany in the late 1800s where affluent German Jews often posed for portraits with their extended families in front of elaborately decorated Christmas trees. After Theodor Herzl completed his book on Zionism in 1895, Vienna's Chief Rabbi visited him at his home during the month of December. This historically significant meeting took place with a Christmas tree in view. Many Jews today find nothing wrong with their children being in nativity plays, singing Christmas carols that celebrate the birth of the son of God (a concept that is a total anathema to Judaism), or sitting on Santa s lap and asking for presents.

14 To some extent, most of us use Hanukkah as a surrogate for Christmas. According to Jonathan Sarna, professor of American Jewish history at Brandeis University, until the late 1800s, Jews exchanged gifts only on Purim. As Christmas became a much more publicized holiday in the late 19 th century and when it became a national holiday in America, the Jewish custom shifted in imitation of Christmas, and Jews began to give Hanukkah presents. There was a tradition in Eastern Europe to give yeshiva students gelt (coins) on Hanukkah, but the giving of Hanukkah presents clearly arose to imitate the giving of Christmas presents. Of course the mixture of Hanukkah and Christmas observance can be taken to different levels: the Hanukkah Bush, Hanukkah lights and decorations outside of houses, Judah Claus, and now we have the Hanukkah Helper APP!! This mishmash of Hanukkah and Christmas can also be traced back to the late 19 th century. For example, the December 27, 1878 issue of Chicago's Jewish Advance reported on the celebration of Hanukkah at Chicago s Sinai Congregation: The fine Temple was crowded with grown people and children. The Hanukkah Tree was brilliantly illuminated with wax candles If you happen to be in the new city of Jerusalem it is impossible to know that it is Christmas. There are no decorations, no Christmas trees, absolutely no signs of Christmas; it is simply a normal day. Christmas is observed in the churches of the old city and in Bethlehem and Nazareth, as is shown on Israeli TV. Jewish law is clear: Christmas may not be observed in any way. Barbara and I have adopted this approach Hanukkah not Christmas Hanukkah as a holiday with its own meaning and traditions never to be confused with Christmas observance. We do give our grandchildren Hanukkah presents even as we are well aware that this arose from the Christmas tradition. However, this has become an acceptable minhag of the Jewish community for more than 40 years and to our way of thinking now stands as a Jewish and not a Christian tradition, although admittedly the line does indeed blur. We certainly wish our non-jewish friends and neighbors well on this their major holiday, as we hope they in turn wish us well when we observe our major holidays each fall and spring. My thanks to Larry Padwa for providing the information about the calendar cited above. Larry also pointed out the following calendar extremes: There are a few years when Hanukkah begins on December 26 th which will result in only six days of Hanukkah in those Gregorian years; and there are three years when Hanukkah has its latest possible starting date of December 27 th giving us only five days of Hanukkah in those years (1967, 1986, and 2043) and eleven days of Chanukah in the succeeding years. At the other extreme, the earliest Hanukkah date in the interval under discussion is November 28 th. This occurs three times: 1994, 2013, and You might remember that in 2013, the first day of Chanukah fell on Thanksgiving..... The Hole Truth About Sufganiyot Whimsical, yet historically factual, this essay is excerpted from a fuller presentation by Carol Green Ungar, who is a freelance writer living in Israel, and is the author of Jewish Soul Food: Traditional Fare and What It Means. She is a prize-winning writer who blogs about traditional Jewish food. There is an Israeli folk tale about how the sufganiya, the ubiquitous Chanukah doughnut, got its name. After Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden, they were despondent. God Himself cheered them up by feeding them sufganiyot. This rather whimsical exegesis is based on a parsing of sufganiya as sof-gan-yud-hey (the end of the Garden of the Lord, aka the Garden of Eden), the last two letters spelling out the Divine name. While no known commentator supports this interpretation, the story indicates the high esteem in which the hole-less Chanukah doughnut is held. In the US, latkes still reign supreme, but in the Jewish State sufganiyot are the quintessential Chanukah food. Though there are no accurate statistics, a recent survey conducted by Teleseker revealed that 80 percent of Israelis consume at

15 least one doughnut during the eight-day holiday. That s more than the number who fast on Yom Kippur! How did this situation come to be? In some ways, the sufganiya is emblematic of modern Israel. It s an amalgam of West European and Middle Eastern influences leavened by mesorah, the classical Jewish tradition. Of course the rationale behind eating sufganiyot on Chanukah is the same as for latkes: oily foods recall the miracle of the oil, the lone, ritually pure flask the Maccabees discovered when they entered the defiled Temple. That oil, which should have burned out after one day, kept the menorah lit for eight, enough time for a new supply to be pressed. Like much of modern Hebrew, the word sufganiya is a Zionist neologism, but the word s roots go far back. Sfog, the root word of sufganiya, means sponge in ancient as well as in contemporary Hebrew. Though in the doughnut s context, the sponging up refers not to cleaning but to the process by which the oil is soaked into the dough. Though latter-day foodies scorn the technique, deep frying was a common practice in pre-modern times when most home cooks made do without ovens. In Glaze of Sufagniyot... The earliest reference to fried pastry eaten on Chanukah is found in the writings of Rabbi Maimon ben Yosef, the father of the Rambam, who lived during the twelfth century. Apparently even in his day, there were those who scorned the traditional Chanukah treat. One must not make light of the custom of eating sofganim [fried fritters] on Chanukah. It is a custom of the Kadmonim [the ancient ones], he wrote. The fritters he referred to were most likely a sweet, syrup-coated pancake known in Arabic as svingous, in Ladino as bimuelos and in Persia, Iraq and other Middle Eastern countries as zalabia. In a way, this dish can be seen as a precursor to the contemporary sufganiya. But the plump, jelly-filled doughnut that we know today is a Western innovation. Food historian Gil Marks dates the first modern sufganiya to 1485, when a recipe for gefullte krapfen appeared in Kuckenmeisterei (Mastery in the kitchen), possibly the first published cookbook, printed on Johannes Gutenberg s original printing press. That doughnut was made from two rounds of lard-fried dough glued together with jam and was a popular Xmas treat. Jews substituted goose fat and served their version on Chanukah. Eventually the doughnut traveled eastward to Poland where it was renamed ponchiks or ponchkes. Though we commonly associate latkes with Polish Jewry, Marks says that in some Polish towns ponchiks were the preferred Chanukah treat. Nobody knows who brought the sufganiya to Israel. In his book Eat and Be Satisfied: A Social History of Jewish Food, historian John Cooper surmises that the doughnut recipe came with the wave of German Jews who arrived in Israel after fleeing Hitler s Germany. The Germans built the konditori culture here, says Buki Ne eman, the CEO of the venerable Ne eman Bakery chain. Before them, there was nothing. Ne eman says that his grandfather, Rabbi Yaacov Ne eman, who himself was of Persian roots, learned how to make sufganiyot when he worked at a German-Jewish-owned bakery in Jerusalem s Meah She arim. Marks suggests that the sufganiya may predate the Fifth Aliyah ( ). During the late 1920s, the Histadrut Labor Federation purposely championed the doughnut in place of the latke in order to create jobs for its members. While anyone with a grater and frying pan could easily make latkes at home, sufganiyot required manpower to prepare, transport and sell the doughnuts. In earlier years, sufganiya baking was very labor intensive. Ne eman says that the early sufganiyot were kneaded, rolled and cut by hand and then fried in small batches on a kerosene heater known as a primus. The More Doughnuts, the Batter... Today s sufganiyot are assembly-line products, and there s even a machine to squirt the fillings inside. Sufganiyot have become big business. It is rumored that last C h a n u k a h, Angel s, Israel s largest bakery chain, produced 25,000 sufganiyot a day during the holiday, though a company spokesperson declined to confirm this number. With prices ranging from a dollar for the simplest jam-filled doughnuts up to almost four dollars for gourmet sufganiyot, the profits add up. [... ]

16 Whichever doughnut you choose, remember that the sufganiya is a lot like life itself: it s cyclical, sometimes up and sometimes down; its real sweetness is hidden deep inside, and it needs to be savored in the moment..... I Have A Dreidle, I Made It Out Of Clay Enjoy your sufganiya while it s fresh. Happy Chanukah and B tayavon!.... Chanukah or Hanukah or...? Hanukka? Chanukah? Hanaka?... There seems to be some confusion surrounding the actual spelling of Chanukah. Part of the reason for this confusion may be due to the fact there is no exact English transliteration from the Hebrew that is universally accepted. Some are concerned about making pronunciation(s) easiest for non-jews while less painful to the Jewish ear. Among the many published spellings are these... Chanuka Chanukah Chanukkah Channukah Hanukah Hannukah Hanukkah Hanuka Hanukka Hanaka Haneka Hanika Khanukkah What s your favorite? Like reading the study materials in the cycle of holiday mailings? Visit the KCT Library year-round! Photo courtesy of Aharon s Judaica in Denver, CO. The Dreidel Song I have a little dreidel. I made it out of clay. And when it's dry and ready, Then dreidel I shall play. Chorus: Oh Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel I made it out of clay Oh Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel Then Dreidel I shall play. It has a lovely body, With legs so short and thin. And when it gets all tired, It drops and then I win Repeat the Chorus... My dreidel's always playful, It loves to dance and spin. A happy game of dreidel, Come play, now let's begin! Repeat the Chorus one last time...!! Other songs for Chanukah? You can find the lyrics, or even the sheet music, for many of these songs on-line or at specialty Judaic shops... Chanukah Gelt Mi Yimalel Al Hanisim Lights Light One Candle Chanukah 'O Chanukah Ocho Kandelikas (Eight Candles, in Ladino) Ale Brider (We Are All Brothers, in Yiddish) Hope Hiney Ma Tov Chanukah's Flame Maoz Tzur... and so many more!

17 KCT in And We End With Some Jewish Humor NOTE: If you have no sense of humor, or at the moment your sense of humor is not functioning, or if you feel that Jews cannot make fun of themselves, especially in December of each year at the time of someone else s holiday, then you should NOT watch this YouTube video! /... Comedian Elon Gold NOTES A community made complete by your participation and passion Chag Chanukah Sameach!!

18 KCT Annual Chanukah Luncheon Shabbat December 24 in the KCT Kiddush Room following Shabbat services 9:00 AM All are invited as guests of the Kehillah. Bring family, friends and neighbors! RSVP s will allow us to plan appropriately! Social@KCT.org no later than December 19