Holiday Time

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Holiday Time

by Rev. Tony Ponticello

Jewish people celebrate Hanukkah in December. I was in the dark about this holiday of "light" for many years because, being raised Catholic, Christmas was always the thing. I was vaguely aware this "other" holiday existed but was not informed about its traditions and origin. There were very few Jewish people in my home town of Canastota, New York and it wasn't until I went to college that I really got to know any personally. Hanukkah is "The Festival of Lights" but I still wasn't enlightened about it in college because most of my Jewish friends were non-observant and many in my circle were anti-tradition in those days.

I knew that a Jewish person lit the candles of a menorah for eight consecutive days and I thought it a wonderful coincidence that both Christians and Jews had something to celebrate at the end of December. It was only after I became involved with A Course In Miracles, formed the Community Miracles Center and started teaching a more devout segment of Jewish raised people that the holiday was explained to me. I'll have to thank my student Jackie for that. ("Thank-you Jackie!") She was upset one year because our C.M.C. holiday observance was so "Christian!" The next year she again voiced her discontent. I decided that a good minister should be serving the entire congregation so I thought had better look into this Hanukkah thing. I was first very annoyed that nobody could seem to agree on how this darn holiday was spelled! Was it "Hanukkah," "Chanukah" or some other derivation? After all these years couldn't some prominent Jewish leader make a definitive statement about this? It's very confusing to us "goyim." Light, though, seemed clear enough. Hanukkah was all about the eternal light and that spoke to me profoundly and so the holiday felt appropriate to embrace. I asked the congregation if anyone had an extra menorah (managed to get two), bought my candles at the local hardware store and went about trying to figure out what Hanukkah was all about and how to observe it.

Potato pancakes, latkes, seemed to be in order so I made some, for about 15 people after one Sunday Service. They were very good for my first attempt! Yes, of course I had apple sauce and sour cream too! I'm nothing if not thorough! Eventually several Jewish members came forth to educate me and I became a Hanukkah celebrator!

This year Hanukkah begins at sundown, December 17th. That's when you should light the first candle. The central candle is lit every day first and then that one is used to light the remaining candles. Each evening, at sundown, if you do it traditionally, you add another candle to the menorah until all eight are placed and lit! Gifts can be exchanged on any of the days and there's special significance usually placed on the first and last day of the celebration.

Here's the history. Over 2,000 years ago the Jews of Judea (where Israel is today) lived under the oppression of the Greek empire and the local Syrian King, Antiochus Epiphanes. He attempted to Hellenize all of Judea and outlawed the religious practice of the Jewish people. The Jewish temple in Jerusalem was sacked and closed. However the Jews, under the leadership of Judah Maccabbee, struggled valiantly for religious liberty in armed battles with the Syrians. Ultimately the Maccabbees were successful and defeated Antiochus and his troops. On the 25th day of the Hebrew month of Kislev, the Jewish soldiers reclaimed the temple of Jerusalem that the Greeks and Syrians had ravaged. The first order of business was to light the sacred oil lamp that was to always be lit in the temple signifying the eternal light and presence of God. "The power of one mind can shine into another, because all the lamps of God were lit by the same spark. It is everywhere and it is eternal." (T 175/189) The temple flame is never supposed to go out. There was very little oil left in the temple, only enough for a days worth of flame and it would take eight days before new oil could be brought. The lamp was lit anyway, because the eternal light is always there and the Jews wanted to see the symbol of that light once again burning in their temple.

Then the miracle happened! (And it's always referred to as a "miracle.") The lamp burned steadily for eight days until the new oil arrived and the flame did not go out! Jews celebrate Hanukkah as a festival of light and religious freedom and we Miracles students can celebrate the holiday as the representation of the eternal, indistinguishable light of spirit that is always burning within. So, get into it. You can get a little menorah cheaply enough. Do what I did, ask some Jewish friends if they have an extra one. The candles are very inexpensive. Invite a Jewish friend over and have him or her say the traditional prayers. You can surprise them though and tell the story yourself! I have my menorah right along side my Christmas decorations. They look great together. Cook latkes and impress your Jewish friends with how much you know about "their" holiday! Isn't this a great way for us all to come together a little bit more? Many Jewish people still have trouble with the Christian terminology of A Course In Miracles. This little bit of ecumenicalism might be just what they need to let go of some of their hesitation. Even if they don't, the latkes are pretty good and we all need more light anyway! "God has lit your mind Himself, and keeps your mind lit by His Light because His Light is what your mind is." (T 108/117)

Happy Hanukkah! (Chanukah?)

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Happy Birthday to Us

Some say that Hanukkah itself was a relatively minor Jewish holiday until Christmas got so big and the Jewish parents needed something to give their children so they wouldn't feel left out. Somehow, this is supposed to appease Christians and allow them to think they have the "real" Holiday. People talk about the true meaning of Christmas being "lost" midst all the commercialism of gift giving and decorations. It is after all about the birth of Jesus the Christ into the world, isn't it? Actually the Course says very little about the birth of Jesus as having any important conceptual tie to Christmas. "The sign of Christmas is a star, a light in darkness. See it not outside yourself, but shining in the Heaven within, and accept it as the sign the time of Christ has come." (T 304/327) While celebrating Christmas, or the "mass" of "Christ," is obviously what this holiday is about, every good Course student knows that "Jesus" and "Christ" are not synonymous. The Christ is the perfected Child of God of which we are all a part. The Christ is born inside each one of us the instant we choose to listen to the Voice for joy and oneness instead of the voice for fear and separation. "Let no despair darken the joy of Christmas, for the time of Christ is meaningless apart from joy. Let us join in celebrating peace by demanding no sacrifice of anyone" (T 306/329)

The Course seems to be very clear that we've gotten Christmas a little screwed up. While it knows we think we're celebrating the birth of Jesus, in a very important passage of the text it lets us know just how in the dark we are, "This is the season when you would celebrate my birth into the world. Yet you know not how to do it. Let the Holy Spirit teach you, and let me celebrate your birth through Him." (T 301/324) It's our birth we're supposed to be celebrating, the birth of the Christ within us all. This is our birthday, not just Jesus' (though his is included too).

So why all this hoopla around December 25th, Jesus' birthday p; or is it? Guess what? It's not. Scholars place his birthday closer to May, so why do we celebrate it in December? In truth, it's the Christians who manifested a holiday in order to not feel left out of a greater "pagan" celebration that had been denied to them. "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em!" In the first few centuries after Jesus was born, the official state religion of Rome was Mithraism, a worshiping of the sun god Mithras. It was known that at the end of December the days reached their shortest length and right around December 25th the sun started to be in the sky for longer periods of time. There was more light! The sun god would start to come back or be "reborn." A celebration was held then known as "Natalis Solis Invicti" or "The birth of the Invincible Sun God." This timed well with another celebration named Saturnalia where Romans rejoiced and gave thanks to the god of Agriculture, Saturn. These pagan celebrations took such hold on the imagination of the people that early Christians leaders knew they had to do something. They didn't want their faithful worshiping Mithras or Saturn whom they saw as false Gods. The Christian leaders, sensing the eminent loss of their faithful, made a decree, "We hold this day holy, not like the pagans because of the birth of the sun, but because of Him who made it." 320 AD. So originally Christmas was celebrated because of a Christian God who "created" the sun (actually He didn't, but that's another article).

In 337 A.D. Emperor Constantine was baptized a Christian and Christianity became the official state religion of Rome. However, it still wasn't until 354 A.D. that Bishop Liberius of Rome absolutely tied in the birth of Jesus to this day in December and stressed the importance of celebrating Jesus' birth. Early Christians didn't celebrate his birth at all! The resurrection was important, and Easter still is considered the most holy of holy days. Even today, certain Christian sects think it's a sin to celebrate Christmas and tell their members not to use various Biblical references to back up their claims. Their arguments can be very convincing.

It seems interesting that the Christmas holiday started originally as a celebration of light, the sun, and it's return to predominance in the sky. In truth, the Jewish people have the holiday in closer alignment with their celebration of Hanukkah. Theirs is, after all, a celebration of light! Since the Course states that the sign of Christmas is a star, or a source of light, and that we don't know how to celebrate this day anyway, what is it all about?

What does our spiritual discipline say? "In this season (Christmas) which celebrates the birth of holiness into this world, join with me who decided for holiness for you. It is our task together to restore the awareness of magnitude to the host whom God appointed for Himself. It is beyond all your littleness to give the gift of God, but not beyond you." (T 286/308) Holiness is born into the world. It is born through us when we so choose. Jesus chose. He chooses to align himself to Light and joy and we can follow his example and choose with him. This is what Christmas is about. It's about alignment with light, alignment with joy and about a celebration of the magnitude and abundance that is the birthright of all that God created. It's about giving the gift of God. Gift giving only seems commercial and dark when seen through the ego's eyes. It can be a great symbol of our abundance if seen with Holy Spirit's vision, Christ's vision. It can symbolize us giving the gift of God mentioned in the above quotation.

Isn't it littleness and not magnitude that many give way to over the Holidays? How often do we hear the following? "I can't afford this. I can't handle all the obligations. I'm so stressed out!" Let's let that go this year. Remember the Hanukkah miracle, they only thought there wasn't enough oil, there was actually plenty! How often do we only think we don't have enough: enough money, enough time, enough energy . Maybe we just need to light the lamp and watch it burn for as long as needed. Our lamp cannot go out because God keeps it lit. "God has lit your mind Himself, and keeps your mind lit by His Light because His Light is what your mind is." (T 109/117) How would the newborn Christ inside us see our interactions over this holiday season? How would that Energy see things? Surely not with eyes of lack!

The Christmas spirit is the spirit of light and abundance. This spirit has spoken to man at this time of year through so many different traditions and with so many different symbols that I just have to take notice! So be it Saturnalia, the celebration of the sun God Mithras, the Hanukkah celebration of light or the traditional Christian celebration of Jesus' birth p; let's all try to see there's something that really wants to get communicated here and it will use whatever means necessary to do it. "For a teaching assignment such as His, He (Holy Spirit) must use everything in this world for your release." (T 298/320) I really get a sense that Holy Spirit has used everything He can to get us all to celebrate joy, light, rebirth and abundance at this time of year. Why fight it?

This holiday season let us be truly ecumenical. Include everyone and every faith in your holiday symbolism. Learn a Jewish prayer and teach a Jewish friend a Christmas carol while the smell of fried latkes wafts through your warm cozy kitchen. Love is available and it's bursting through so many outlets. This holiday, you be one of them and let's make that true holiday spirit be with us for the entire year.

Have a very Happy Holiday! Merry Christ Mass to all, and now to all a good night.

©copyright 1995, Rev. Tony Ponticello.
All rights reserved.

This article has 2,365 words.

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This article appeared in the November 1995 (Vol.9, No.9) issue of Miracles Monthly. Miracles Monthly is published by the Community Miracles Center in San Francisco, CA. The CMC is supported solely by people just like you who give donations and purchase books and products through us.

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Last update: March 9, 2006 by Rev. Tony Ponticello. (syntax checked 3/06)