An Ol' Broad's Ramblings
A Miracle
I missed sundown. Was off doing something I’d rather not have been, but that’s neither here nor there.
A little history:
Chanukah — the eight-day festival of light that begins on the eve of Kislev 25 — celebrates the triumph of light over darkness, of purity over adulteration, of spirituality over materiality.
More than twenty-one centuries ago, the Holy Land was ruled by the Seleucids (Syrian-Greeks), who sought to forcefully Hellenize the people of Israel. Against all odds, a small band of faithful Jews defeated one of the mightiest armies on earth, drove the Greeks from the land, reclaimed the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and rededicated it to the service of G-d.
When they sought to light the Temple’s menorah, they found only a single cruse of olive oil that had escaped contamination by the Greeks; miraculously, the one-day supply burned for eight days, until new oil could be prepared under conditions of ritual purity.
To commemorate and publicize these miracles, the sages instituted the festival of Chanukah. At the heart of the festival is the nightly menorah lighting: a single flame on the first night, two on the second evening, and so on till the eighth night of Chanukah, when all eight lights are kindled.
While, in the large scheme of things, Christians aren’t considered Jewish, in our history, we are. Jesus was brought up in the Jewish faith. The first followers were Jewish. These Jewish apostles went out into the known world, and shared the Word.
Now, I realize there are some people who have major issues with their Christian roots being in the Jewish faith, but I’m not one of them. So, to my Jewish “cousins”…..
And a happy Chaka Khan to you too!