My Maccabees

This year

My Maccabees

Wrote postcards

Made phone calls

Texted

Knocked on doors (safely)

 

This year

My Maccabees

Taught their children at home

Channeled their anger

Watched a lot of TV

Learned to use Zoom

 

This year

My Maccabees

Reported to work at hospitals

Saw thousands die

Helped many people live

Counseled survivors 

 

This year

My Maccabees

Embraced their righteous anger

Held signs

Organized protests

Marched in the streets

 

This year

My Maccabees

Voted

Made sure everyone else could vote

Danced in the streets

Defended the outcome

This year

My Maccabees

Mourned

Lost their jobs

Stood on lines

Worried

This year

My Maccabees

Wore masks

Washed their hands

Kept their distance

Stayed home

 

Blessed Holy Wholeness — 

I give thanks for these Maccabees,

My heroes.

May they have sustenance in place of anxiety,

Health in place of sickness,

Joy in place of grief,

Justice in place of evil.

Amen

No Hanukkah Party This Year, 2020

So anyway, God,

Here I am. 

Alone

On Hanukkah. 

No party at shul,

No table covered in aluminum foil,

Adorned with menorahs

The families bring from home. 

No cantor leading the blessing,

No tedious contest between latkes and hamentaschen

(Fried potatoes vs. dry prune pastry?  

Don’t waste my time.)

Speaking of, no latkes in the social hall basement,

Or at the party at my neighbors’, no parties at all. 

No presents, from anyone, why should there be?

I’m too old for getting presents 

And there are no children to buy for. 

So why bother lighting the menorah?  

Who for, me?

All alone on a jewishly insignificant minor holiday?

Feh. 

Fire hazard. 

But in a year of lonely death and negligence,

In a year of right wing thugs and fascists,

In a year of proud racists and anti-semites,

I buy an electric hanukiah for the window. 

It has small tasteful blue LED bulbs 

That are hard to see before the fifth night,

Faint light in the winter darkness

But there they are. 

And I imagine all the Jews

All over the world,

Waiting for the sickness and the evil to pass,

Doing the same. 

Amen. 

I'M OVER THE MACCABEES, A Hanukkah Prayer

Baruch Atah Adonai,

Brucha At Shechina,

Ruach HaOlam:

I'm over the Maccabees.

I'm done with fanatics.

I'm done with extremists who demand purity.

I'm done with fundamentalists who shut women up.

I'm done with religions that kill. 

I'm over the Seleucids.

I'm done with invaders stealing land. 

I'm done with fascists and supremacists and antisemites and islamaphobes.

I'm done with people telling me or anyone how I’m allowed to understand my God.

I'm done with liars and rapists and war criminals and powerful men.

I'm over the Hellenists.

I'm done with apologizing for my culture. 

I'm done with rich suck-ups to power.

I'm done with living in comfy bubbles.

I'm done with pretending we're them.

I'm over Hanukkah.

I'm done with Hanukkah bushes.

 I'm done with one good present and then socks.

 I'm done with light in the darkness (I like the dark).

 I'm done with needing miracles. 

I'm okay with rebellion and truth. 

And realistic hope

And potato latkes.

Oh, and donuts,

Let's start there.

Amen

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Trisha

Adam and Eve Invent Hanukah

.וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים יְהִי אוֹר וַיְהִי אוֹר





We can't avoid it.

The days are shorter,

The nights are longer,

And it's cold:

The sun is disappearing!

Damn.

Isn't it enough to get kicked out of Eden?

Isn't it enough that 
We work in the dirt for a living,

And give birth to screaming moist creatures with giant heads,

Now God is killing the sun?!

What did we do to God this time?
Sheesh.

What's next, a flood?

Start thinking fast, kids!

Invent fire, clothing, houses, fried food

And rituals to bring back the sun.

Light the candles! More every day!

And cook up something comforting.

Will potato pancakes bring back the warmth?

We don't know but

They couldn't hurt.

So let us eat
By the glow of the hanukiah
And look into the flames
while we dream of overthrowing oppressors
with miracles of light,
As we spin the dreydl

And place our bets
And say our prayers
And our thanks
For the return of the sun.

Bless Elohim, the ancient God of our ancestors, creating light, making miracles and sustaining us through the winter.

Giving Light

Baruch Atah Adonai

Blessed Yah

Giving Light in the Darkness:

About ten years ago,

I was home alone.

I didn't have a menorah

I wasn't gonna light any candles

But it's no big deal.
I didn't do Hanukah.

Why make a fuss?
It's a minor holiday,

Just some Maccabees

With a boring miracle,
Eight days of oil:
What the hell is that?

But I still gave out presents

I used to think

A present wasn't a present

Unless the gift I gave

Was something I wanted to keep for myself.

Oh well.
I guess I was a little lost in the darkness.

And then that December,

A week before Hanukah
A friend came by to drop off a Hanukah gift:

She gave me a menorah!

And some candles and some matches, too!

And there it was, that year,

On the first night of Hanukah,
And I thought, why not?
And for the first time in a long time
I lit the candles on a menorah,
My new menorah,
And I said the blessings
And I remembered the Maccabees:
When times were hard
They did not disappear,
They fought so hard for their community.
And I thought of all the Jews lighting candles
All over the world.
And I was not alone.

Which brings me to

The storms and the wind and the floods and the wars

When so so many people

Are lost in real darkness.

Nothing poetic about that.

So for eight nights this year
As I light the candles on my now old menorah
I will say the blessings

And pray for those who have been injured or killed or raped.

And pray for those who are worried and homeless and hungry.
And pray for those who are lost to themselves.
And thank God for all of us who are still here.

And thank God for our loved ones.
And thank God for the Maccabees,
Of all places and religions and races,
Who, when times are hard,
Refuse to disappear.
They are still fighting so hard for their communities
With food and shelter and work and love.
Not a miracle exactly,
It's what good people do,
They give when giving is needed. 
They are the best and

It is a blessing.

We are so grateful.

We are not alone.

Blessed is the Source of Light

We are made holy with the obligation to do good.

And so tonight we kindle the Hanukah candles.
Amen