The Celebration of Light 

      As I am writing this it is mid-November and the signs of the Holidays are all around us. How do you feel about the “season”?  I am hearing more and more complaints about the holiday.

                 “ The economy is so bad that I have no money to provide gifts for my children. What am I going to do?” (deep depression)

                  “ I was at the mall and it was so crowded and there is such a push for retail buying- I hate the holidays”  (frustration)

                  “ I know that the holiday is about giving, but I only feel obligated to provide gifts no one wants with money I don’t have!”  (trapped)

                  “ This is supposed to be a religious holiday, but we can’t even put up a manger in the town square!” (religious oppression)

                   “I am so exhausted and drained financially that I wish Christmas was never even invented!!”  (annoyance)                

     Do you hear yourself saying any of these comments? Do you feel any of the feelings associated with them? You are not alone. 

      Part of the feelings come from the materialistic world we live in, which is at it’s peak on Dec. 25.Part of the frustration is from being manipulated into customs and celebrations we may not totally agree with, but feel OBLIGATED to perform. I believe that the final part of the puzzle is that we, on a deep level, realize that what we are celebrating is not what it appears to be.

      Did you know—

         ---That Jesus was Not born in December? Biblical scholars are not sure the exact date of His birth (most likely in the Fall), but it could not be in December.(Just one small example of proof--shepherds do not “abide in the fields” in December.)

        --- We are never told in the bible that we are to make a Holy-day out of the birth of Jesus.

       --- December 25th is the height of Winter Solstice- a so called “pagan” Holy day that celebrates the “death and re-birth” of the sun.

       --- That the Egyptian god Osirus was also born on December 25th?

       --- That the gods Jupiter, Plutus, and Nimrod were also born on Dec. 25th?     

       ---That most of these pagan gods were “immaculately conceived”?

      --- Winter solstice involves a belief that the sun ”died” for 3 days (starting Dec22, it actually does seem to rise and set at the exact same place instead of the usual rising and setting a slightly different spots) and after 3 days the sun is resurrected and is cause for celebration. (Dec 25th).

      ---In ancient Greece winter solstice is a celebration of their god of resurrection, Dionysus, and his death by a gang of wild women.

      ----Christmas was actually against the law during the years 1659 to 1681 in early America?

     I challenge you to research this for yourself. You won’t have to dig very deep, Check out a good encyclopedia, The History Channel.com, Wikipedia, ‘The Jesus Mysteries’ by Freke and Gandy, or simply do an online search for winter solstice or Christmas.

   Do I think that celebrating Christmas will send you to hell?  Absolutely not!  Do I think badly of people who celebrate Christmas?  Absolutely not! Does our family celebrate Christmas?  Absolutely not.

    We believe that in the perpetuating of lies about the season you depress your spirit and live in a state of hiding and untruths.  This is passed to our children and the OBLIGATION of tradition and the feelings of oppression begin in a new generation.

 

     We do not like being manipulated in our faith and forced to celebrate holidays as Holy days and not being taught the truth. If we choose to celebrate Dec 25th, it will be because we are celebrating winter solstice. When we brought this subject up with a Christian friend of ours, he contended that the pews are packed on Christmas eve and they can then teach the gospels to these people.  He then commented “If we tell them the truth, no one would come.”

      What good is a foundation of sand?  Is it OK to base a faith on a set of lies?  This may seem radical to you, but that is only in the perspective of the day and time we live in.  Consumers are bombarded by retail stores beginning in October, we live in a world of pure materialism.  As we already said, if the year were 1660 we would be considered mainstream, and if the year were 200 AD, you would be considered a pagan.

     So how do we, as a family, handle the holidays?  Well, we like to celebrate the beauty of winter and have a season of joy in the thankful attitude of worshiping God, the father.  We do this in the celebration of Hanukkah, the festival of lights.  We gave up the celebration of Christmas

 

several years ago.  We began celebrating Hanukkah the year we started learning Hebrew.  I won’t tell you it was easy.  Christmas is a sacred cow in this country and we were judged and persecuted.  Our older daughters were teen-agers and it was possibly the most difficult decision we ever made.  But it was also the most fruitful thing we ever did in our faith journey.  We felt liberated and set free---free indeed!  We longer feel handcuffed to the traditions of man, and we have taught our children to stand up for the truth and to be willing to stand alone for it.  And stand alone we have.  We are not Jews nor Jehovah’s witnesses and we gave up trying to explain to people why we don’t celebrate Christmas a long time ago.  Our 6 year old daughter puts it this way- “we don’t celebrate Christmas- we are Hanukkah people”.

     Hanukkah is a primarily Jewish holiday that is many thousand of years old.  Jesus himself celebrated the “Dedication of the Temple”, as it was known in biblical times. (John 10:22)  As the name suggests it is a remembrance of the historical time when an army of common people fought tooth and nail to regain The Holy Temple from the Greeks.  The sacred temple was being used as a temple to the Greek gods and Judaism was all but outlawed.  A group of rag-tag Jews used gorilla war fare and regained control of the temple.  After cleansing the temple they found that they only had enough oil to burn for 1 day in the sacred lamps which were to be lit at all times.

 

NIV Leviticus 24:2 "Command the Israelites to bring you clear oil of pressed olives for the light so that the lamps may be kept burning continually.

     They lit the lamps and miracoulsly they stayed lit for the full 8 days needed to refine the olive oil.  Thus, the celebration of light, dedication and miracles.  Sounds like a pretty good foundation for a joyous, thankful holiday that is dedicated to God, doesn’t it?  Light, Miracles, and the taking back of the holy temple from idol worship.  It has all of the ingredients needed for a family celebration.

     Don’t you need to be a Jew to celebrate Hanukkah?  No.  There is nothing in the celebration of Hanukkah that is strictly Jewish vs. Christian. You are not asked to give up any beliefs and you are not asked to accept any new doctrines.  It is a celebration of the God of light, the God of Abraham, Moses and David. It is your God .

 

    I do ask that those who do not believe in God as father, to refrain from celebrating Hanukkah.  I have great respect for the Jews, and I would not like to see their holiday destroyed by atheists. (How many atheists do you know that celebrate Christmas?- plenty!)  I would like to see us someday united by the celebration of our God, in respect and peace.  I truly seek “Peace on Earth”. 

 

     So how do you celebrate Hanukkah?  I am working on a book for those who choose to do so.  Until that comes to full fruition - here’s a few hints and experiences that we have had.

 

      Instead of a tree (pagan) being the center of the celebration, in Hanukkah the Menorah or candle stand is the center of celebration.  It has 9 candle holders – one being the servant candle that lights the other candles.  The first night the servant candle is lit as well as the first candle.  One additional candle is lit every night. ( Hanukkah lasts 8 nights)

 

       The night’s festivities are started with a family dinner.  After dinner we have a prayer and a time of bible study, story telling or singing.  Then we have another prayer while standing in a circle holding hands.  At this time we take turns lighting the menorah candles.  The evening ends with a gift exchange (one gift per night) and spinning of the dreidle.

     Here are some of the different topics we have used as story time:

 

          Biblical references to “light”

 

          Other stories about those who fought back against religious domination- such as some of the stories of the holocaust.

           Biblical stories of such fighting back, such as Queen Esther

           Studies of the Hebrew “aleph-bet” and the meaning behind some of the letters and words.

            One year we took one night for each of the girls and found a character in the bible that most reflected their strengths and personality and told the stories of that person.  That child got the whole night dedicated to her and received a special gift.

             Studies and examples of words such as “servant”, “miracle”, “cleanse”, “dedication”, “temple”, “freedom”, “righteous anger”.

             One night we even let the girls sing their favorite Christmas carols, just to help sooth the transition.

             Telling of the story of Hanukkah from the book of Macabees.

             There are many, many other ways to personalize the holiday for your family.

          The entire celebration last about 30 mins to 1 hour each night. It is so much more relaxed and “God” centered than Christmas.  You only need 1 gift per child every night, so you have the whole next day to pick up another gift  if you need to.  How many times are you shopping like a mad man on Christmas eve for that last minute gift, and the next morning it’s not what they wanted?  Well, with Hanukkah you get a second chance to get what they really wanted later in the week.  The stress level is so much lower, you teach your children to think and act freely without “peer pressure” from the world, and you teach them so many more lessons from the kingdom of God than the other holiday does.

 

      But most of all, you teach them to live in the pursuit of truth, and you give them the strength to stand in that pursuit, and live what they believe, not just what they have been told.

 

    “If we told the truth—no one would come.”      

 

   What do YOU think?