Hanukkah is the perfect time to assert our presence, the celebration of difference, in the public square. Neo-Nazi rallies in cities across the country intimidate Jews, Blacks, Muslims, and others from showing themselves in public.
Aggressive deportations by the federal government intimidate many immigrants from appearing in public. Who gets to be visible in the public square is more important than ever. This approach worked for a long time, but now we must go back outside. We now publicized the miracle to ourselves to cultivate the inner strength needed to remain Jewish in a harsh world. Lighting inside, just for the family, also had symbolic purpose. Our Eastern Europe ancestors were frequent targets of Christian violence, so these vulnerable communities moved the menorah inside. If publicizing this miracle is so important, why did my family always light in the privacy of our kitchen? The answer probably has to do with exemption in the Talmud from publicizing the miracle in times of hostility towards Jews.
According to Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, Jewish success in maintaining our particular culture throughout the millennia is a witness for all people to the “dignity of difference.” In this era of homogenizing forces of secular globalization, on the one hand, and ethno-nationalism on the other, valuing difference and the ability to live with people from different cultures is more important than ever. The miracle was that God gave strength to a small, minority group to maintain its religious and cultural heritage without assimilating into the powerful, dominant culture of the time. If we combine the military and spiritual miracles we get something particularly relevant to our era. It could be the military victory of a small army against the world power, or, as the Talmud prefers, the spiritual miracle of the one flask of pure oil lasting eight days. What exactly is the miracle we’re publicizing? Only in a time of genuine danger does the Talmud instruct us to light inside, hidden from public view. The Talmud explains that the ideal place to light is outside, or in a window facing the street when people are most likely to see it. The Talmud and Rashi explain that we light the Hanukkah candles for “pirsumei nisah” or to “publicize the miracle.” The public aspect of the candles is so important that if no one else sees them, it is as if you haven’t fulfilled the mitzvah.
It was only many years later, during my first Hanukkah in Jerusalem, where many people light their menorahs outside by the street, that I finally understood the menorah’s design: The glass box protects the fire from blowing out. Indeed, he was spectacularly unsuccessful in marketing these “Israeli menorahs” to the Jewish community in the tri-state area. Since we always lit candles inside, around the kitchen table, we all thought, “Why would anyone ever want a menorah like this?!” It was a glass rectangular box with candle holders inside. One Hanukkah, when I was a child, an Israeli relative showed up at our home in the New York City suburbs with a type of menorah we had never seen before.
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