German original: https://www.wienerzeitung.at/meinung/blogs/juedisch-leben/2130064-Im-Kerzenschein.html
Tonight, the sixth candle is already burning on the Hanukkah candelabra. The more flames flicker before them, the brighter the light shines - but the closer we also come to the end of this eight-day festival, which is my favorite in the Jewish cycle of the year.
Carrying the light outward as well: one of the many beautiful aspects of the eight-day Hanukkah festival.
Why? Because light is always a benefit for the soul in the gloomy months of November and December. But also because Hanukkah not only commemorates a miracle - after the devastation of the Temple in Jerusalem, a small amount of oil was enough to keep the menorah lit for eight days, rededicating the Temple in 3597 (164 BCE) until new consecrated oil could be made - but tells of resistance. The Maccabees, by their rebellion, ensured that the Temple could be rededicated and Temple service resumed. And the Festival of Lights is a Jewish celebration that also has an outward effect: when the Hanukkah is placed on the window sill, the lights are visible to passers-by on the street.
How one celebrates festivals has a lot to do with tradition. And yet, there is no one tradition that is followed identically by all. How families celebrate festivals varies. In some, there is sufganjot on each of the eight evenings. In others, latkes every night. Or both are served, or something a little different each night. In any case, something is served that has been baked out in oil. But what the Hanukkah doughnuts are filled with, whether one prefers to serve applesauce or sour cream with the latkes, these are individual preferences.
About traditions
Another part of Hanukkah for me: preparing a package for my daughter for each of the evenings. Yes, I don't think they did it that way 200 years ago. There was the Hanukkah gelt. But this custom, too, dates back only to the 17th century. The chocolate coins that are so popular today have been produced since the 20th century. There's nothing rigid about traditions, either.
For the November issue of WINA - Das jüdisches Stadtmagazin, I interviewed Barbara Staudinger, who will take over as director of the Jewish Museum Vienna in the summer of 2022. She formulated a few interesting thoughts on the subject of tradition: The term conveys that something is carried on unchanged. But that is not the case. "Of course it has changed. In reality, tradition means permanent change. In Jewish history, there is the very big break caused by the Shoah. But not only did the Shoah change traditions, they continue to change." For museum work, he says, that means "you have to show that, because otherwise you're exhibiting a museumized Judaism to which you also can't relate."
Keyword Shoa: what the Viennese Jewish community is proud of today is that - despite the Nazi terror and the attempt to eradicate Judaism in Vienna - Jewish life continues to exist in Vienna. For something to be alive, however, it must also be lived authentically. Authentic in this context, however, does not mean for me to do things exactly the way they have been done for generations, but to celebrate festivals with joy and a positive spirit. What is Hanukkah about? Remembering the victory of the Maccabees and standing up for the right to freely practice one's religion. This encourages not to be subjugated, this encourages not to give up one's identity without a fight.
Of course, the focus should not be on consumption. But linking the eight-day lighting of the lights, the saying of the blessings and the serving of the hearty Hanukkah food with small acts of kindness for one's loved ones does not devalue the festival itself, but it does contribute to linking it with positive emotions. For me personally, it's not about the material value of the gifts. I'm happy when I manage to find little things that surprise the other person and really bring him or her joy. Last night, for example, my daughter peeled a T-shirt with a heart on it out of the wrapping paper. And no, not what you're probably thinking of now, not a kitschy red heart, but the anatomically correct image of a heart. The fact that she has already put on the T-shirt today shows me that I have succeeded in making her happy with it. You could also say that a light was lit in a figurative sense, a small light of joy.
Does this form of giving remind you a bit of Christmas? Yes, perhaps. But culture is never something detached. Some families now give gifts on the first day of Hanukkah. Others - like us - delight the children with a small package every evening. Jewish supermarkets now also sell wrapping paper printed with Hanukkah motifs, as well as decorative items ranging from printed paper napkins to mini-chanukkiot glitter confetti. If there were no demand for them, these items would neither be produced nor sold.
Live as you like
And so I'm already excited to see if the surprise prepared for tonight will bring as much joy as the heart shirt did yesterday. But most of all I am looking forward to the flickering flames of my so fragrant colorful beeswax candles, which probably didn't exist 100 years ago any more than Chanukkiot with tea lights, as we have also set up one this year. Those who try to keep traditions unchanged just for the sake of tradition are, in my personal opinion, so concerned with maintaining a façade that the joy of doing things cannot fully unfold freely.
Joy, however, seems to me to be the essential ingredient to keep something alive. Enjoy life and live as you like: in this sense - have fun lighting the candles today. And how nice that in Vienna today it is possible to profess Judaism and to live it openly and self-confidently. We should be grateful for this, but we should also always fight for it. This is what the Maccabees once stood up for, and this was often at stake in history.