Cyberdov

Inspired by Ari Weiss, YCT student - read the whole thing here.

The lights of Chanuka have a dual significance. On the one hand, it represents the battle of two opposites - light vs. darkness. This is reminiscent of the creation narrative - God separates light from darkness. Viewed this way, the Maccabees represented the good, fighting the evil of the Greeks/Hellenists. On the other hand, a candle illuminates the darkness. Seen this way, the conflict is not so black and white - the light is designed to be mixed with the darkness, not to negate it so much as to improve it.

Certainly there is conflict between the Torah view and that of other ideologies. The Gemara asks the question, “Is it ever okay to learn Greek wisdom?” The famous answer is that one can learn Greek and can study in Athens when it is neither day nor night. Emanuel Levinas understands this piece of Gemara as saying that only in a time of uncertainty, when we are unsure if it is day or if it is night, can one study Greek thought. In this telling, Athens translated back into a Jewish context becomes the light and removes darkness. It becomes the guide out of our perplexity!

The question which we have to ask ourselves as Chanukah approaches is what symbol of Chanukah do we see as primary and which symbol do we see as secondary? Do we speak a language of war of a clash of civilization, or of light of enlightenment?

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