I finally got to meet Temple Sinai’s new rabbi, Teri
Appleby, at the Intro to Judaism class at the synagogue on Sunday. I
guess it should have occurred to me that every synagogue has regular
Intro to Judaism classes, but when I saw the offering on the website,
it seemed intriguing and exotic. I’m sure it’s old hat for
Rabbi Appleby, but she didn’t teach by rote, so the session was
able to go where it would, based on questions from the students and the
students’ reasons for attending. It’s aimed at interfaith
couples, non-Jews considering conversion, and Jews looking for
adult-level introduction to the basics of Jewish thought and practice.
It’s safe to say each of those groups was represented in the
eight people who attended.
The class is fairly informal, and even though it’s a 12-week
class, I got the impression it could get pretty in-depth. I think the
class will focus on the Jewish lifestyle, as opposed to doctrine.
Sunday’s class focused on the upcoming Chanukah, which begins
Friday. In the hour-and-a-half class, I learned more about Chanukah
than I’d learned in the 47 years prior.
Chanukah began as a celebration of the military victory of the
Maccabees over the Syrians back in 165 BC. In about 168 BC, the Greek
king of Syria, Antiochus, outlawed Judaism and ordered the Jews to
worship Greek gods. In a village, the Greek soldiers ordered some Jews
to perform some foreign acts of worship. One Jew stepped forward to
comply, and another killed him and the soldiers. The family of the man
who fought back and others, including the Maccabees led by Judah, fled
to the hills and fought the Greeks, eventually winning.
During the occupation, the Syrians had defiled the Temple in
Jerusalem. After the military victory, the Jewish leaders wished to
re-sanctify the temple. They looked all over but could only find enough
lamp oil to light the lamp for one day. I believe the lamp they were
lighting was the ner tamid, a lamp that burns 24/7 in Jewish
sanctuaries. Ner tamid means “eternal flame.”
Anyway, that one day’s worth of oil burned for eight days,
thus the eight days of the religious holiday of Chanukah. Rabbi Appleby
said that Chanukah in most countries is a relatively minor holiday, but
in the United States—because of the Christmas holiday—it
has taken on a much greater role in religious and secular society.
We talked about the holiday traditions. The dreidle, for example, is
a four-sided top. When it’s spun, depending on which side comes
up, either nothing happens; the spinner wins the pot; the spinner gets
half the pot; or the spinner antes up. Its basis is that during the
Greek occupation, if Jews gathered to worship and soldiers came along,
they could claim to be gambling.
Another thing I hadn’t known is that the branched candelabrum
we commonly call a “menorah” is more accurately, during
Chanukah, called a Chanukia. It holds nine candles. Eight candles
represent of the miracle of the re-sanctification of the Temple, and
the helper candle is used to light the eight. There’s even a
tradition on the order with which to light them.
Now, while I dwelled on the Chanukah traditions, the class discussed
many topics aside from the seasonal holiday. I can’t imagine that
many people outside the class’ target groups would have a great
deal of interest in the instruction, but I found it fascinating, and I
was made totally welcome.
The rabbi emphasized that Judaism is a religion about action:
“Judaism is living a Jewish life. It’s not about how we do
things or why we do things—it’s doing things. [The first
time may seem odd] but once you get past three or four times doing it,
it feels awkward not doing it.”
MUSIC
none
mellow
traditional
rockin’
SERMON
none
thought-provoking
informative
inspirational
FELLOWSHIP
cordial
friendly
welcoming