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2022-08-26
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CHANUKAH BLESSING
by Dale Ward & Kenneth Barsky
[DAVE'S PREFACE:]
All they wanted to do was live in
the land God gave them and worship at
their Temple in Jerusalem. But then
Alexander the Great came a-conquering,
and spreading his marvelous Greek
culture across the known world.
After Alexander's untimely death,
the Empire was divided between his
generals. Judah was under the rule (at
various times) of the Ptolmy Dynasty
of Egypt and the Seleucidic Empire of
Syria. The pressure to give up their
strange, invisible, One God -- and the
customs and commandments that marked
the covenant -- became intolerable.
The low point occured when
Antiochus Epiphanius decreed that
idols of Zeus, in his own esteemed
likeness, would be raised in every
place of worship in his domain. For
polytheists, this was no big deal. But
when a graven image of a god/ruler was
placed in the Holy of Holies of the
Temple, it was called the "desecrating
sacrilege."
A devout family rose up to lead
the rebellion. The Maccabees (which
means "Hammer") threw off the evil
empire and the Temple was finally
cleansed and restored.
This great event of regaining
their national sovereignty and
religious wholeness would forever be
remembered by the feast of Chanukah.
(The Maccabean rule lasted until
Herod the Great sold out to Rome.
During the last year of his reign, he
is said to have been surprised to hear
about a newborn "King of the Jews."
But that's another story and another
tradition.)
[KEN'S TECH NOTES]
I have made several improvements
on this program which first appeared
in Gazette in December '96. Now you
can light Chanukah lights and the
program plays Chanukah melodies. These
are the blessings (prayers) that are
said when lighting the candles.
Another change - on the suggestion
of Bernard Sussman - the lights now
light left to right (instead of normal
Hebrew reading right to left) so that
the most recent addition is lighted
first. Also I've added another melody
- Light One Candle, performed by
Peter, Paul and Mary.
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