HANUKKAH

PARTY

Nafshenu holiday celebration Friday, Dec. 27, 6:00-9:00pm

The year is almost gone, and only one Jewish holiday stands between us and New Year’s Eve.* Hanukkah starts very late this year – Dec. 26, with the first candle lighting on Christmas night. 

*Known as Sylvester in Israel, New Year’s Eve is controversial in the Holy Land because some Orthodox authorities consider it a Christian or pagan Roman celebration. Sylvester was a 4^th century pope who was buried on Dec. 31. Before that, followers of the Roman pantheon celebrated the sun’s birthday on Dec. 25.

**Sufganiyot (singular sufganiyah) are a fried dish, like latkes. They look suspiciously like jelly doughnuts from Dunkin. 

Please Register below.

Karen and Steve are generously and graciously providing Latkes and a salad. Please register to bring other items below,

We are asking everyone to please contribute at least $18 for the party. This money will be collected and presented on our congregation's behalf to Prince of Peace for their food bank as a way to hank them for all they do for us throughout the year. 

A Hanukkah message from Rabbi David

What American holiday has most in common with Hanukkah? Thanksgiving? Labor Day? Martin Luther King Day? Perhaps the answer should be the Fourth of July. 

Independence Day marks the formal start of the American struggle for independence from the British empire and King George III. Hanukkah marks the victorious struggle of the Jews for freedom from the Seleucid Greek empire and King Antiochus IV. 

There are several close parallels between them:

• Both the American colonists and the Jews at first had close and warm ties with their imperial governors. American colonists came to the New World to settle on lands granted by the British crown and were protected by British arms. The Jews welcomed the Macedonian Greek conquer Alexander the Great, who granted them autonomy and religious freedom.
• Both the Jews and the American colonists came to resent their imperial overlords. In the case of Judea, it grew out of the imposition of Greek religious rites on the Jews and the Temple. In the case of America, it grew out of taxation and lack of representation in the government.
• Both the American and the ancient Jewish communities were divided between rebels and loyalists, with a significant minority opposing revolutionary change.
• Both freedom struggles saw the victory of a small but highly motivated community over a powerful but less-motivated imperial state.

So, maybe we can make the link explicit at the Nafshenu Hanukkah party. I’m pretty sure we can sing “Ma’oz Tzur” to the tune of “Yankee Doodle!”