This sheet on Leviticus 9 was written by Jeff Amshalem for 929 and can also be found here
I remember when I first came to Israel, I was so struck by the difference in the way Israelis celebrate holidays, both religious and civil. I think I've been to one Veterans Day event in America, but I've been to plenty of Veterans Day (and Memorial Day, and Labor Day) sales. If you know Israeli culture at all, you know how unimaginable it would be for a family to skip a memorial so they could save big at the mall (assuming there was a sale at the mall, which there wouldn't be). And after years of seeing the winter holiday season kicked off by Black Friday, followed by a blitz of commercialism, I was elated at the sweet and simple way Israelis celebrate Hanukkah -- passing out sufganiot to strangers on the street or coming to see the lights in our old neighborhood of Nachlaot (highly recommended, by the way). So it was with very mixed feelings that I saw that "Black Friday" has come to Israel. Nothing against sales, but we know where this leads.
Today’s chapter has what to say about it, too. As the Israelites celebrate the inauguration of the Tabernacle, all of their gifts are to God, and the chapter ends with God’s accepting those gifts – by burning them to ashes. God, apparently, is not a consumerist. The real stuff of holidays can’t be bought, it can only be given in selfless devotion.
In America, Hanukkah has often been understood in terms of winning the fight for religious freedom against an intolerant majority, and in Israel it’s been seen as a celebration of the Jews’ new military prowess against our enemies. I think in both places the message should become a celebration of the enduring power of the spirit and of selfless love for God and one another, against the common enemy of materialism and consumerism. So I’m asking myself this year, how do I celebrate Hanukkah – for myself, for my children, for my neighbors – in such a way?
If we can hold against what seems to be a relentless march towards consumerism, that really will be a miracle worth celebrating.
Jeff Amshalem is a Senior Educator at Ayeka, and is working on his PhD in Jewish Thought at Ben-Gurion University
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