The Christmas Talk

This year Selah and I celebrated Hanukkah all 8 days.  We lit candles each night, we discussed what Hanukkah means and why we celebrate it.  This year was the first year Selah was in public school.  All month, the teachers and students sang songs about Santa, talked about Christmas, had a Christmas play and exchanged gifts.  I have never taught my own daughter about Santa and yet she came home telling me all about him, his elves, where he lives and details she did not learn from me or from TV.   One day, she started crying and said "Mom, we are the only ones in the WHOLE SCHOOL (her emphasis), who don't celebrate Christmas".
Thankfully, the school is wonderful and invited me to teach the children about Hnaukkah.  Here are the lessons of what I taught Selah every night and what the children learned.  Hanukkah means dedication.  We then tell the true, historical, based on fact, story of the Macabees and King Antioch.  This King decided that people, namely the jews, could not worship the way they wanted to.  I asked the children how they would feel if the President of the United States made a law that no one could celebrate Christmas anymore or read the Bible.  They were shocked of course. I asked if they would disobey that law in their own homes and still read their holy book and celebrate the day they believe their god was born.  Many children said they would. This King forbid the Jews to read their holy books, to worship on their holy day or do anything they believed in.  Some rebelled and fled to the mountains.  The believed so strongly in their God that they refused to bow to the world system. And you know what?  They won!  The king got tired of fighting them and left the city.  But, they had defiled Gods temple.  So, the Jewish people re-dedicated the temple.  Hanukkah-dedication.

In the Bible, God asked that the oil be burning 24/7 in the temple.  There are many reasons for this, some say the eternal light is to remind us of Gods light among us, others say it is our way to continue burning our own light.  Either way, for that light to go out is tragic.  Oil was kept always to keep the light burning.  But it was all destroyed.  But the people found enough for one night of light.  The 8 night thing is myth, tradition.  We discussed it in class and lit the candles but even without the miracle of 8 nights of oil from only one night, reminding ourselves to light the candles, bringing Gods light to earth and rekindling the light within us, are amazing lessons.  Spiritual, loving, worthy lessons. 

But, Jesus Himself celebrated Hanukkah.  In John 10:22-26, he observes the Feast of Dedication.  It is also called Festival of Lights.  In Christianity, Jesus is the Light of the World, he refers to him as such.  So, it makes perfect sense that he would celebrate this feast.  It is a feast of fighting against the world system and its decrees against religious freedom.  It is a feast about dedicating oneself back to God.  It is a feast of rekindling our light, letting God light our hearts on fire again for Him.  How beautiful. 

In the Bible, someones birth is not nearly as valuable as the life they live.  To focus on a baby who has not yet done anything good or bad, like we do on Christmas, is not a Biblical concept and not something I teach.  I prefer to teach about the life of Yeshua. 

So, on Hanukkah, we talk about what it means to follow God even when everyone around us is doing other things.  We talk about the shamash candle, the middle candle, the helper candle that lights all the others, and we try to find ways to serve and help others.  These are the reasons we celebrate.

I get frustrated with Christmas.  It is not based on fact, history or truth.  Jesus was not born in December, the inns were full because people were celebrating the eternal Feast of the Lord, Tabernacles/Sukkot.  It s one of many examples where Christianity has missed deeper meanings because they chose to overlook the Jewish roots of their faith.  The macabees would not cave, they would not bow down to pagan ideas of false gods.  May we do the same.