Ezzes by Estis – Hanukkah: Oil and Fire

Hanukkah is the festival of lights and the festival of joy and praise and thanksgiving – and in general it almost coincides with Christmas, both in terms of time and date. That’s why they say “Christmasukkah”, although I would actually prefer “Chanakhten”, firstly because it sounds as if it were about a Channah, and that too at night, which could be quite pleasant to imagine, even if that Of course, it doesn’t seem particularly consecrated, while secondly, Hanukkah in itself means “consecration”, which is why “Christmas Ukkah” would actually mean the same as “consecration”, which, thirdly, means a lot more sounds uglier than “Chanachten”. That’s why I would prefer “Chanachten”, but nobody listens to me, just like the H at the end of Hanukkah, which nobody listens to because it can’t be heard. Hanukkah also has this in common with Christmas: you don’t hear the H.

That’s why I would prefer “Chanakhten”, but then again no one listens to me, just like the H at the end of Hanukkah, which no one listens to because it can’t be heard, even if it’s written down – and especially if it is omitted. Hanukkah also has this in common with Christmas: you don’t hear the H.

Ezzes von Was

Magnus Terhorst

Alexander Estis, a freelance Jew without a permanent address, writes so much schmontz in this column that it will make you sick to your stomach.

And that’s why it’s no wonder if Hanukkah almost coincides with Christmas, especially this year. So now they don’t even want to grant us our own appointment. But I don’t want to add fuel to the fire; There is already enough fire, but not oil. And that was the problem with the Hanukkah story.

Yes, back then, at the time of the Seleucids, that was exactly the problem. Well, initially the problem was exactly the Seleucids, and that is still the problem, firstly because that is a complicated word that no one knows – and even those who know it don’t really know whether the Seleucids were Greeks, Macedonians, They were Syrians or Hellenes or, in the end, even Diadochi. At least we know that they were a problem, which is why the Maccabees fought them, and with success. From then on the problem lay with the Maccabees.

But in between, and this is the story of Hanukkah, the problem was that after the Maccabees’ victory, there wasn’t enough oil to light the menorah, even if you left out the H because you don’t hear it, and would only have lit the menorah. Because the oil was only enough for one day. But a great miracle happened there – and the oil for one day was suddenly enough for eight. Then our forefathers (i.e. those of them who weren’t during the uprising and who didn’t fall on their heads) thought to themselves: If things with the oil go like clockwork, if we have a miracle like that, then we can do it instead of one With seven arms you can also take an eight-armed candlestick or, who knows, maybe even a nine-armed one. A few more lights, a few less lights – that shouldn’t make a big difference for a reasonable miracle. That’s why a nine-branched candlestick has been used on Hanukkah ever since, and it’s called Hanukkiah.

After a few millennia have passed since then (I would like to visit the country where all these years go), the question now naturally arises: What oil should you use to light Hanukkah today? The Talmud gives an answer to this that is no more and no less clear than to anything else: You can burn any oil in Hanukkiah, “except burning oil.”

And when do you light the candle on Hanukkah? The Talmud gives an even clearer answer: “One must light it neither too early nor too late.”

nd.DieWoche – our weekly newsletter

With our weekly newsletter nd.DailyWords look at the most important topics of the week and read them Highlights our Saturday edition on Friday. Get your free subscription here.

And what system is used to light the candle on Hanukkiah? The Talmud gives an almost clear answer to this: “It was taught: Rabh says that one should not light one candle after another during Hanukkiah; Shemuel says you are allowed to light.” That is as clear as the light of the naphtha oil, which unfortunately it is unclear to me whether it is allowed to burn in Hanukkah or not.

But one thing is clear to me: The lesson of Hanukkah is that you shouldn’t add fuel to the fire – because there might still be enough for eight days anyway. But no one wants to listen to me, just like the P in Hanukkah.