Although Kabbalah does not ordinarily "talk to me," I like the drash on oil not mingling with other liquids, and rising to the top.

Taken in conjunction with David Brooks' take on the holiday in the Times this morning, I've had two new Chanukah insights in one day -- who said an old dog can't learn new tricks?

i think this is a better "go over" of what i learned in my classes. im a rabbi's kid and i think this is a good summary of the story.

If you had the misfortune of reading David Brook's narrow, cynical Op-Ed "The Hanukkah Story" published inappropriately and offensively on the First Night of the Festival in Friday's (12/11/09) New York Times ( http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/11/opinion/11brooks.html?_r=1 ), you can imagine that it will invoke a firestorm of comment and opinion. Here's mine, expanded from the required abbreviated version I sent as a letter to the editor of the Times...]

David Brooks' Op-Ed, "The Hanukkah Story," is disturbing on many levels- beyond the scrooge-like pall it seems determined to cast on the celebration of a beloved holiday. One would hope that Mr. Brook's academic and journalistic credentials would encompass an understanding of the complexities and nuance of history - which is never the literal, objective, factual account of actual events, but rather the way human experience has been interpreted - reflecting the political or philosophical agenda of both the original chronicle and the evolving national, cultural or religious traditions that emerge from those transforming developments. The Maccabean revolt of 165 BCE reflected the debates and passions of every revolution - the tensions between noble ideals and pragmatic action, as well as the timeless conflict of "traditionalists" and "reformers." These dynamics have been at work in the history of Christianity ( especially at the time of the split between Rome and Eastern Orthodoxy in the 10th century and later, in the violent Protestant-Catholic conflicts of the Reformation); certainly in Islam ( the endless Sunni-Shiite battles); and in the history of America ( especially in the passionate partisan controversies among the Founding Fathers and later, in the Civil War)... no less than they were in Hanukkah's story of an oppressed people's revolt against tyranny. One might ask whether Mr. Brooks would have written such an attack on our Nation's founders for publication on July 4, charging that Independence Day's meaning is diminished because patriots tarred, feathered and hanged Tory "traitors" who did not share their Revolutionary zeal.

The major point is that Hanukkah, like all religious holidays and traditions, has evolved over the centuries. It came to be understood - and celebrated - and loved - by subsequent generations of Jews, far more as an affirmation of faith in the face of oppression, and courage in the struggle for justice and freedom. It is the later legend of the miracle of the oil that is remembered in popular perception -more than the military victory and the political complexities of the original events - emphasizing the spiritual themes of the festival, and reflecting Hanukkah's even more ancient roots in winter solstice celebrations of light. In our time, Hanukkah has become a very universalistic affirmation of diversity - embodying in contemporary America a meaning that is arguably very different from the narrow interpretation Brook's focuses upon. Today, the menorah shines as a symbol of Judaism's confident engagement in our broader culture, rather than what may have been the Maccabee's rejection of a tyrannically enforced imposition of alien religious values. I would invite David Brooks to shed his critical cynicism and embrace Hanukkah's creative power as a vehicle for the celebration of Jewish identity and ideals, that also shares in the broader celebration of this season's most universal and inclusive themes.

Rabbi Howard A. Berman

Here is what Brooks wrote: "There is no erasing the complex ironies of the events, the way progress, heroism and brutality weave through all sides. The Maccabees heroically preserved the Jewish faith. But there is no honest way to tell their story as a self-congratulatory morality tale."

If you read the 'historian's Hanukkah' in the wonderful Big Book of Hanukkah (HaggadahsRus), you will see that this is not so far off.

I do object to his calling the Macabees 'moderate fanatics', as they were faced with an aggressive power, not of their own making, who wanted to wipe out Judaism.

I also have problems with his not recognizing that while the Hasmonean Kings by and large had a sorry record, and it was during that time when the Pharisees laid the foundations for not only Judaism, but what would later become Christianity and Islam.

The successful rebellion led by the Mattathias and his sons is a triumph of the few over the many, as the blessing says, and for the sake of preserving the Torah. This is certainly a time to rejoice that Judaism was saved.

But Brooks' warning against 'self-congratulation' is appropriate, it seems to me, given that the divisions among Jews also eventually led to the fall of the Second Temple. After all the blessing is to God for saving us, and is not self-congratulation.

As to the idea that Hanukkah celebrates "diversity." Rabbi Berman, I don't see how you get that out of either history or legend, given that the rebellion was a refusal to assimilate to Greek culture. It celebrates the survival of Judaism, not diversity.