Hanukah Geography

During the period when the Land of Israel was ruled by the Seleucid dynasty of the Syrian-Greek Empire, Antiochus IV came to be the emperor in 174 BCE. He was known as called Epiphanes. He sought to unify his subjects by forcing upoon them a common religion and culture. For the Jews of Judea this meant a suppression of Jewish law. He also interfered in matters of the Holy Temple worship.

Eventually, a revolt broke out, sparked by the actions a priestly family, the Hasmoneans, in Modiin led at first by Mattityahu and then his sons. They became known as the Maccabees and were quite successful in their tactics of guerrilla warfare. The Syrian-Greek occupiers were defeated.  Returning to liberated Jerusalem and led by Judah, they entered the Temple courtyards, removed the idols placed there by the Syrians, built a new altar and dedicated it on the twenty-fifth of the month of Kislev, in the year 139 BCE.

Seeking oil to light the Menorah, they found only a small cruse of pure olive oil bearing the seal of the High Priest Yochanan. It was sufficient to create light for only one day. By a miracle of God, it continued to burn for eight days.

This is, in concise form, the Hanukah story.

But where did the story take place? Where were the battles? Where was the Temple?

What is the geography of Hanukah?

Here is a map of the major sites of the Hanukah story:

Here is another:

Here is a map of the entire period of the Hasmonean reign which continued until 63 BCE or so when the territory controlled expanded across the Jordan River as it was previously from Biblical times:

In other words, if we apply contemporary terms, the main site of the miracle we celebrate by lighting candles for eight days, Temple. is now in... "occupied East Jerusalem".

The major battles the Maccabees waged were:

Battle of Wadi Haramia (167 BCE)
Battle of Beth Horon (166 BCE)
Battle of Emmaus (166 BCE)
Battle of Beth Zur (164 BCE)
Battle of Beth Zechariah (162 BCE)
Battle of Adasa (161 BCE)

Battle of Elasa (160 BCE)

All in what is mistakenly called the "West Bank".

Of course, this would mean that we would might think that we are celebrating a holiday of occupation.

But that would be wrong. In fact, it is the language and rhetoric of "occupation" used today that is what is wrong and incorrect.

What we need is a linguistic revolt, especially among Jews.

Jewish control/administration over Judea and Samaria and all of Jerusalem is not wrong, not immoral but a return to the true geography of the Jewish national home, Judaism and Jewish history.

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Chanukah Archaeology at Tel Shiloh

New finds at Tel Shiloh (in Hebrew).  And now in English.

Remember Emek Shaveh's wars and campaigns against Israel's archaeology administration beyond the Green Line, but not only?  We have news for them (below, keep scrolling).

Remember this?

Mizrachi also cites the Tel Shiloh and Sussiya archeological sites in the West Bank as problematic because they are run by settlers instead of a neutral body of experts.
“These sites have been handled very badly by settlers who use them to justify their settlements there and have ignored many layers of archeological evidence to focus on the Bible regarding their finds,” he says.
“We regularly criticize the way their finds are being presented because it’s always linked to the settlement. Now, I’m not saying that there is no Jewish history at these sites – we do believe Jewish history is there – but we are saying you cannot only focus on this period and ignore the whole story.”

These things and also these unnerve them to insanity. 

And these events:

Searching for the Lost Oil Lamp

Chana's Prayer

Dance Festival

Well, now the news.

See that spot?

Well, that was formerly a Hellenistic period non-Jewish dwelling area.  It's preserved.  Tel Shiloh people don't destroy or hide things.  The pottery and other artifacts attest to its identity.

And in the 2nd century BCE, during the time of the rule of Antiochus IV, it was razed by a conquering force.  It was a violent act.  And it was done by the Hasmoneans during the revolt against an oppressive rule.

Yes.

The Chanukah story.

The archaeology excavation was supervised by the Civil Administration's Archaeology Unit headed by Hanina Hizami and conducted by Reut Livyatan Ben-Aryeh.

The Hebrew Yedioth Ahronot item with a lamp and a coin from the period of Antiochus III:

There is evidence of a fire, smashed jugs and ballista stones.  Other evidence included a fish bowl and handles of wine containers:

The site then became the residence of Jews. The proof for that are mikvaot, coins of the Hasmonean dynasty, the Herodian dynasty as well as from the period of the Great Revolt against Rome, 67-70CE.

Archaeology - from then to today.

And there's this at Susiya, too.

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Maybe Next Year We'll Get Closer?

We are in formed

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, this evening (Saturday, 15 December 2012), at the Western Wall, lit the eighth candle of Chanukah. 
"In recent days, I have heard that the Palestinians are saying that the Western Wall is occupied territory. I want to tell them from the closet possible place to the miracle of the jar of oil: The Western Wall has been ours for 3,000 years, and it and the State of Israel will be ours forever," the Prime Minister said.

Actually, the "closest place" would be above, on the Temple Mount. 

Mr. Netanyahu, maybe next year?

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If We Could...

If permission were granted, where would one light the Menorah on the Temple Mount?

Right about there:-

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Fight (and Sing) for Chanukah Rights

Here:

via Jewish Humor

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Yesha Pre-Military Academy Does Chanukah - In Music

The Ein-Prat Fountainheads:-

Enjoy the holiday!

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Gibson to be a Maccabee? Is That A Chanukah Joke?

Mel the Maccabee?

Or a Greek-Syrian oppressor?

What do we make of this publicist item that Gibson will produce and star in a Channukah story film?

(k/t = ZO)


More:-

Having put some painful personal issues behind him, Gibson is determined to get back to making movies. He has long wanted to make this film about heroic Jews, and it was discussed even when he was under fire after his drunken anti-Semitic rant during a 2006 Malibu arrest.

Maccabee’s triumph and struggle against tyranny and oppression where people gave their lives so that others would be free to worship is celebrated by Jews all over the world through Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights. This subject matter is a decided departure for the filmmaker famous for directing The Passion of the Christ. But in a way the subject matter is in his wheelhouse: Maccabee is a close cousin to William Wallace, leader of the Scottish rebellion against the British in Braveheart, the film that brought Gibson two Oscars...

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UPDARE

From Jeffrey Goldberg:-

...the obvious question, why would he seek to make a film about one of the great Jewish heroes of history? Money, he said, was not a motivator.

"If you're looking to make money out of this, forget it," he said, citing the costs of staging period spectaculars. "Even Braveheart didn't make much money."

His interest stemmed, he said, from the simple fact that the Book of Maccabees (I and II, he said) are "ripping good reads."

"I just read it when I was teenager, and it's amazing. It's almost like" -- here, he grabbed my digital recorder, held it to his mouth, and spoke in a portentous movie-announcer voice -- "They profaned his Temple. They killed his father. They... all kinds of stuff. In the face of great odds for something he believed in" -- here he switched out of movie-announcer voice -- "Oh, my God, the odds they faced. The armies they faced had elephants! How cinematic is this! Even Judah's dad -- what's his name? Mattathias? -- you kind of get this guy who more or less is trying to avoid the whole thing, but he just gets to a place where had enough, and he just snapped!"

In other words, Judah Maccabee, his father, and his brothers, are like the heroes of every Mel Gibson movie.

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Matisyahu's "Miracle" for Chanukah

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Happy Chanukah from me, too.

P.S. Anyone have the lyrics?
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Yes, It's A Mud Hut Structure Building Activity

At Jericho (well, close to), on Chanukah

They're calling it Botznukah (botz is Hebrew for mud) and it will take place on Monday next week, 5th day of Chanukah between 11:00 - 16:00 on the outskirts of Jericho.  Call the number if interested.

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Chanukah Happened in Judea and Samaria

A map displaying the sites of the campaigns and victories of the Maccabim.
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The Amazing-Folding-Metal & Glass-Chanukiah Box

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A Post-Modern Reading of the Maccabean Revolt

The Maccabees are best understood as moderate fanatics. They were not in total revolt against Greek culture...On the other hand, they were fighting heroically for their traditions and the survival of their faith...They had no interest in religious liberty within the Jewish community and believed religion was a collective regimen, not an individual choice.

They were not the last bunch of angry, bearded religious guys to win an insurgency campaign against a great power in the Middle East, but they may have been among the first...The Maccabees became religious oppressors themselves, fatefully inviting the Romans into Jerusalem...Settlers in the West Bank tell it as a story of how the Jewish hard-core defeated the corrupt, assimilated Jewish masses...But there is no erasing the complex ironies of the events, the way progress, heroism and brutality weave through all sides. The Maccabees heroically preserved the Jewish faith. But there is no honest way to tell their story as a self-congratulatory morality tale. The lesson of Hanukkah is that even the struggles that saved a people are dappled with tragic irony, complexity and unattractive choices.

That was brought to you by David Brooks via Jeffrey Golodberg at the NYTimes.

It drew a few letters:

...That the casting off of the Seleucid yoke involved violence by the oppressed Jews is a truism. But bloodshed has attended many rightly venerated stands against oppression, including the one at the birth of our own country. Ideals are not always easily defended.

Reducing the defense of the essential Jewish ideal to an “insurgency campaign,” where “the good guys did horrible things,” is the sort of simplistic revisionism that is, in these deconstructive days, as misleading as it is common.

(Rabbi) Avi Shafran
Director of Public Affairs
Agudath Israel of America

Dreidel Spinning

It's all in the game:

One of the leaders of this Dreidel renaissance is Jennie Rivlin Roberts, 38, an industrial psychologist turned entrepreneur from Atlanta, Ga.

"Regular Dreidel is a pretty boring game, says Roberts. "And it's got to the point where not only do Jewish people know that Dreidel is a boring game, but everyone knows Dreidel is a boring game."

Roberts is the inventor of No Limit Texas Dreidel, a game that combines regular Dreidel with no limit Texas Hold'em poker.

In the Hold'em version of Dreidel, players are given two Dreidel "spins" in their shaker, which only they can see. The Hebrew letters on those Dreidels are combined with three "community spins" to form the best poker hand. Players bet in rounds using poker betting rules. The game is usually played with chocolate coins, or gelt, as is the traditional wager for the Dreidel game.

In traditional Dreidel, players simply make a wager and spin the Dreidel. Gelt is then distributed based on what Hebrew letter the Dreidel lands on.

and

On Dec. 12, Pavony will host the third annual Major League Dreidel Tournament. He's expecting over 120 spinners, from as far away as Hawaii, at the spin-off in Brooklyn, N.Y.

In 2007, the Major League Dreidel world record for longest spin was recorded by Pamela "Pamskee" Goldman at 17.88 seconds.

Obama's Hot Latke Potato

As I blogged before, the White House has a hot potato on its hands.

Will you be joining this potato-on-his-way-to-becoming-a-latke:



to a 500+ person Chanukah Holiday party at the White House?

Light Up for Chanukah

LIGHT UP

FOR

CHANUKAH

"Something Different" Latkes

Chanukah is coming. First candle next Friday evening at sunset - (it's Shabbat so you have to light just a bit earlier).

Melissa Clark suggests:-

Apple-Gruyère French Toast with Red Onion

Time: 30 minutes

2 1 3/4 -inch thick slices challah bread from middle of loaf

3 ounces grated Gruyère cheese (about 3/4 cup)

1/4 small red onion, very thinly sliced

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

3/4 cup whole milk

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 small apples, cored, quartered and very thinly sliced

Fried eggs, for serving, optional.

1. Place one slice of bread on kitchen counter, the bottom crust nearest you. Cut into bottom crust, parallel to counter, to make a pocket. Do not cut all the way to top of slice; bread should remain attached there. Tuck some cheese and a few onion slices in pocket. Repeat with other slice of bread.

2. In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, salt and pepper. Pour custard into a wide, shallow dish. Soak stuffed bread in custard, turning once halfway through, until most of the liquid has been absorbed, about 5 minutes.

3. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add half the apple slices in a single layer and cook for 1 minute. Place bread slices in pan, covering apples. Arrange remaining apple slices on top of bread; cook 1 minute more.

4. Reduce heat to medium low, cover and cook for 5 minutes. Uncover and increase heat to medium; cook until bottoms are golden, about 2 minutes. Carefully turn bread and cook until bread is golden and cheese is melted, 3 to 5 minutes. Serve topped with fried eggs if desired.

Yield: 2 servings.

Scenes from This Morning's Stroll

I was walking along Jaffa Road this morning, on my way to the JCS studios where I was to be interviewed by France24 on the issue of the construction suspension. I was coming from the Machaneh Yehuda - South direction and just past Shaare Zedek I spied this:

Know what it is?

Let's take a closer look:

Yep, it's part of the private/pirate Hareidi eruv system, the Halachic artificial-designed "boundary" for carrying on the Shabbat.

So, I looked to my right and there was the pole:-

and I looked to my left:-

Ah, there it is, the other pole:-

And while we're on the subject of religion in the street, can you figure out what's wrong with this poster announcing a Saturday night gig by the great Dondurma Ensemble?

Yes, the number of candles to be lit!

Many secular Israelis still can't grasp that although the Hebrew date of the Shabbat is 25 Kislev, the first day of Chanukah, the first candle was lit on the previous Friday evening and two candles will be lit on the Saturday night.

Last Day of Chanukah Pic - Zebra Chanukiyah

Source

46 Latkes Sets a Record

Hanukkah began Sunday and along with the holiday: A latke eating contest. Latkes are crispy, golden-colored potato pancakes often topped with applesauce and sour cream. Pete Czerwinski ate them with more latkes on top. The young man gorged on 7 pounds of latkes to win the contest in Lake Grove, N.Y. — that's 46 pancakes. He calls himself a "power eater" and says his brain never signals that he's full.

Here at NPR where you can even hear it as well as read it and you better believe it!

Watch it here.

Chanukah - 25 More Days

But you can start laughing now:



Captain Smartypants, a Seattle Men's Chorus Ensemble.

(Thanks: RA)