Always Winter and Never Hanukkah? (Part 2)

In our previous post we discussed the Hanukkah parallels to the first theme of Christmas associated with Tumnus' statement that the White Witch has made it "Always winter and never Christmas." In this post we turn to the second Christmas theme highlighted by this description and demonstrate its parallels to Hanukkah. 

Our second theme centered on the connection between Christmas and the winter solstice. We already saw that the Talmud posits ancient holidays celebrated by Adam around the solstice, does Hanukkah in any way connect to these or does it independently connect to the winter solstice? The Maharal of Prague clearly states that the answer is yes. He quotes the midrashic idea that the Tabernacle in the desert was actually completed on the 25th of Kislev. The symbolism of that, he asserts, is because that is the time when light starts to increase in the world. Pre-solstice darkness overwhelms the light. It is on Hanukkah when the light begins to grow stronger. Thus, it is not a coincidence that the miracle of the menorah happened at this time. 

Not surprisingly there is a strong emphasis on the theme of light surrounding Hanukkah. The miracle of the Hasmoneans’ eventual victory over the Seleucidian army was undeniable but short lived from a global history perspective. Rome would soon conquer all. The miracle of the candles, however, is both timeless and universal. What was the message of the miracle to the Hasmoneans? The rededication of the Temple did not mark the end of the war. It took a few years and the death of Judah Macabee himself before Judea’s independence was sealed. The miracle of candles showed that things were improving, that the light was increasing. The Temple was now functioning and Jewish religion could be practiced. There was still plenty of darkness but the worst had passed. Rock bottom was now behind them and there was now only one direction to go. 

R’ Soloveitchik, quoted by R’ A. Frimer, asserts that bringing light into the darkness of the world is a fulfillment of the verse “And you shall walk in His ways,” (Deut. 28:9) which commands us to imitate G-d – imitatio Dei - and follow in his ways. At the start of creation God was surrounded by darkness and declared: “Let there be light.” On Hanukkah we are surrounded by the darkness of the solstice and we bring small little lights into the world. They are not the huge Christmas displays of our neighbors because they are not meant to signal victory. But they are put in our windows to remind the world that, when relying on God and fighting for His glory, there is a rock bottom, darkness will not remain forever, and that hope springs eternal.

Happy Hanukkah! 

Always Winter and Never Hanukkah?

Having identified several themes inherent in the holiday of Christmas we may wonder whether similar motifs are inherent in the holiday of Hanukkah. In the USA, the temporal juxtaposition of Christmas and Hanukkah make them part of the generic “Holiday Season.” However, timing alone does not mean the holidays share themes and motifs (of course, the date of Hanukkah depends not on the solar calendar, but on the Jewish calendar which is primarily lunar, and thus, the holiday may start as early as the end of November). Our goal in what follows is to explore whether any of the “Christmas themes” we identified earlier relate to Hanukkah as well. 

Our first theme was that of a break or respite from a hard winter. Of course, it does not snow much in Israel and there are very few days of sub-freezing temperatures. Nonetheless, Hanukkah does provide a break, not from ice and snow, but from the darkness of exile. 

The Hanukkah story occurs during the Second Temple period. Though the Temple stood, the hoped for return to the Golden Era of the time of King Solomon had not materialized. The lack was felt on two fronts. First, the Second Temple lacked the glory of the First Temple in both its spiritual stature (several of the primary articles of the Temple, including the Holy Ark) and physical beauty (at that point in time). Second, Judea lacked political independence. 

The Hasmonean dynasty temporarily ameliorated the second problem but not the first. In fact, even the political independence, according to the Sages, was incomplete since there was no return of the rule of the House of David. 

With this in mind we can understand why later Jewish authorities did not regard the Second temple period, even during Hasmonean rule, to be fully redemptive. Hence, the Sfat Emet states that the Hasmonean victory over the Seleucidian army was incomplete. In fact, the entire purpose of Hanukkah is to remind us that He is in our midst even at the darkest moments of exile. As is evidenced by the Hasmonean victory, but even more so by the miracle of the candles, He can and will operate above the natural laws to protect His Nation. 

This year, as in every year for millennia, Jews find themselves in exile very much at the whim of the natural world. Hanukkah is a break. True, it lacks the prohibition against work and the sanctification of the meals that we associate with typical Jewish holidays. After all, we are still in exile. Nonetheless, it is a time to re-experience the supernatural aspect of God’s presence even in the darkness of exile. 

Always Winter and Never Christmas (Part 2)

 Always Winter and Never Christmas

In our first installment on the above words of the Faun Tumnus we asked the question, why is winter without Christmas such a tragedy? The answer we provided was motivated by the words of Pastor Ray Fowler, Christmas provides a respite to the hard winter and makes worthwhile the work and stress that the winter brings. In Narnia, however, there was no Christmas. There was no vacation and there was no satisfaction in a job well done. 

In this post I would like to explore an alternate reading of Always Winter and Never Christmas as suggested by Pastor Robert Marsh:

Each year, beginning on June 22, the number of minutes of sunlight we enjoy each day begins to shrink. From 15 hours and 2 minutes on that day, the time we have in the sun shrinks until December 22, when we have only 9 hours and 20 minutes. But as we approach that shortest day, I find myself telling people around me, and reminding myself, that the days immediately start getting longer again – gradually building till that wonderful 15 hour day in June! We need that hope – that reminder that things will once again return to the warmth and light of summer! 

But imagine if there were no hope – imagine if on December 23, the minutes of daylight kept getting fewer – and scientists told us that it would never get better – no hope! Imagine the despair of being hope-less! Of feeling there is no end to the misery, no light at the end of the tunnel – no reason or purpose to go on. 

Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote, “If you lose hope, somehow you lose the vitality that keeps life moving, you lose that courage to be, that quality that helps you go on in spite of it all.” That’s how the world would be with no Christmas...

In this reading Christmas is not just a respite from difficult times, or even the reward or satisfaction achieved due to hard work. Rather, Christmas is a beacon of hope that things can improve. In a moment the world can be transformed for the better, things need not remain as they are now. 

While I appreciate Pastor Marsh’s insight and his entwinement of the darkness of winter due to the natural shortening of the day with the evil doings of the White Witch, I believe that some more depth can be provided to Christmas’ theme of hope. For that I would like to turn to perhaps an unlikely source: the Talmud. 

The incompatibility of Judaism with the pagan gods is such that Talmudic law forbids certain interaction with pagans lest they use items gained in such interactions as a means for worshipping their gods. Thus, a Jew must be especially careful around the time of pagan holidays when worshippers are more likely to make dedications to their temples. In order to facilitate this, the Mishna (Avoda Zara 1:3) provides a list of pagan holidays which includes Saturnalia and Kalenda. The Talmud (Avoda Zara 8a) explains that Kalenda is the celebration after the Winter Solstice (the kalends was the first day of the Roman month) and Saturnalia is the celebration before the Winter solstice. 

The Talmud then relates the origin of these holidays. After Adam’s sin and his exile from the Garden of Eden, he realized that the days were getting shorter and the nights longer. Perhaps, he thought, I have ruined the world and the darkness will continue to grow until the universe reverts to nothingness. He then spent 8 days in fasting and prayer. When the solstice came Adam realized that this was simply a natural cycle and he then spent the next 8 days in celebration. Starting the next year, he celebrated both sets of 8 days as holidays. Of course, Adam set aside these holidays to celebrate God’s command over nature, and the pagans came and misused them for idol-worship. 

The connections between Saturnalia and Christmas have been noted time and again. Unfortunately, these similarities are used as an attack on Christianity. The thought process appears to be that if a religious holiday grew out of a pagan ritual (though the religion now utterly rejects paganism) this somehow is a point of ridicule. I must admit, I fail to see why this should be so. The Christian faith (perhaps Pope Julius I) understood the importance of a celebration around the Winter Solstice as symbolic to the birth of the Christian Messiah. 

The (Christain) theology perhaps goes something like this: the time before said messiah came into the world was one of great troubles: God’s people had splintered into numerous, warring sects. The Pharisees who were teachers of law, were hypocritical and corrupt. They put minutiae before ethics and did not truly love God. This was a time of great spiritual darkness. At this time, when the world was at its bleakest, the messiah was born. He did not immediately engender change, but the moment before he was born was rock bottom, the nadir. After that the situation started to improve until such time that it will come to full day. 

This is symbolized by the natural cycle of light and darkness during the year. At the autumnal equinox, the amount of light and darkness are equal. After that, there is more darkness than light until the solstice, the day of greatest darkness. However, after the solstice the situation begins to improve. It is still dark for most of the day but the amount of light increases. The solstice may be rock bottom, but only because there is a rock bottom, can light start to increase.  

Christmas represents the turnaround from the darkest day of the year. It’s still dark and cold, and will be for quite a while, but at least it is getting lighter. But what if there was no Christmas? What if there was no rock bottom, but it always remained dark as it is on the day of the solstice? What if there could not be a turnaround because everything is (and always will be) static? That was the situation in Narnia. It was not just that there was no hope, but that there was no worst, and therefore no chance or possibility for improvement. It was just always winter, the White Witch would always be queen, and evil would always be triumphant. 

Therefore, the first step in the redemption of Narnia must be Christmas. The arrival of Santa Claus brings joy in hot drinks and a good breakfast, but that is only temporary. It is still cold, the White Witch is still queen, and she can (and does) still cause much harm. What Santa Claus permanently brings is the realization that the worst has past, and that the situation can be improved. It hasn’t improved yet, but he provides the tools that are needed induce change. Those tools, with determination and faith, will bring about the Narnian redemption.

Sefirot (Part 5)

The final Sefirah is that of Malchut or Kingship. Malchut is the ultimate synthesis of all of the Sefirot and the link which connects God to the finite world. The Kabbalists further identify Malchut with the Shechinah, the feminine mode in which humanity experiences God. It is the Shechinah that accompanies Israel throughout its long exile just like a mother who would never abandon her children. Indeed, while Kingship is inextricably tied to the House of David, it is our mother Rachel whose tears, midrashically, convince God to ultimately redeem her children, who is a Shechinah-like human manifestation.

The concept of God’s accompaniment of those in exile clearly demonstrated in The Horse and His Boy in Aslan’s accompaniment of Shasta: as a lion forcing him to join with Aravis, as a cat by the Tombs of the Ancient Kings outside of Tashbaan, and as the spirit who comforts Shasta as wanders into Narnia. God is close, personal, and a fellow wanderer, the One on whom we can unburden ourselves and will always be there to listen.       

Exile, however, is not merely a punishment for not following God’s word, despite trials and tribulations exile is yet another stage for our ultimate quest: to be a Nation of Priests bringing true enlightenment to humanity. From this perspective God is not only a fellow wanderer but a Comrade-at-Arms. R’ J. B. Soloveitchik makes this point explicitly in “Emergence of Ethical Man.” God is our leader, the leader of a small band of rebels attempting to revolutionize humanity and bring about knowledge and fidelity to the true God. As a mark of our appreciation for His Leadership we crown him our King. 

Of course, that is only one aspect of the King-subject relationship we have with God. God is very much the universal, cosmic King, creator of the universe and all it encompasses. Humanity, Israel, or any particular human, is simply one subject in His vast kingdom. From the first aspect we follow God’s commands because of our trust in His leadership and out of gratitude for His Friendship. From the second aspect we follow God’s commands for He is the ultimate ruler of all and we are mere subjects. Either way we must follow God’s commands irrespective of our understanding. 

This thought is clearly demonstrated in the Chronicles by Puddleglum the Marshwiggle. In the Silver Chair, the final sign given to Jill is that she will know the lost prince as he will be the first on her travels to ask you to do something in the name of Aslan. When that person actually appears to be a madman, Jill hesitates. But Puddleglum makes the following point, “Aslan didn't tell Pole what would happen. He only told her what to do. That fellow will be the death of us once he's up, I shouldn't wonder. But that doesn't let us off following the sign.” 

God as King suggests that the final installation of the Jewish Narnia explore this duality perhaps as follows. On the one hand our main characters understand that God is on their side. He has a stake in their quest and encourages them to succeed. On the other hand, God’s Will is not to be challenged. What happens when these two ideas clash is the theme of the final book.   

  

The final book in the Chronicles of Narnia ends with the death of every main character, the destruction of Narnia, and the curtain fall on the physical world. Of course, the story continues in the spiritual world which, in line with Lewis’ concept of transposition, of which the physical world is simply a shadow. A Jewish Narnia should not share the same fate. While martyrdom all too often found its place in Jewish history, and even appears to be an aspiration of R’ Akiva, there is ample evidence that the Jewish ideal is to live a meaningful life rather than to die an (even meaningful) death. Redemption, and the victory of good over evil, occurs in this world, not only the spiritual world. 

Rosh HaShana (the Jewish New Year) is the day when we assemble to coronate God as King and accept His judgment for the coming year. The utopian future, as captured in the prayers of the day, provides the universal vision I would expect from the end of a Jewish Narnia, 

“And all of creation will worship You, and they will bound all together as one to carry out Your will with an undivided heart.” 

Thanksgiving Lessons from the Pandemic

Happy Thanksgiving! 

While I usually restrict my posts to Narnia and C.S. Lewis related thoughts, I wanted to share with everyone the main text of the class I gave this morning. Here is a link to the sermon given by Rev. de Sola of the (Spanish and Portuguese) Bevis Marks Synagogue in London on November 15, 1849. That was the day of Thanksgiving declared by Queen Victoria to thank God for abatement of the cholera epidemic which ravaged England in 1848-1849.

I found this sermon particularly profound and urge everyone to study it this Thanksgiving.  

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash

Always Winter and Never Christmas (Part 1)

Always Winter and Never Christmas

Lucy’s first visit to Narnia almost ends in tragedy. Unbeknownst to her, the Faun Tumnus, whom she had befriended and whose house she was visiting, was covertly planning to lull her to sleep and hand her over to the queen of Narnia, the White Witch. The nefarious plan would have succeeded had Tumnus not been overcome by guilt. He repents, asks Lucy for forgiveness and explains that, though he was in the pay of the White Witch, he now understands the error of his ways. 

In the course of his confession, Tumnus attempts to convey to Lucy that his being in the pay of White Witch is indeed evil. He demonstrates her wickedness by explaining: 

Why, it is she that has got all Narnia under her thumb. It’s she that makes it always winter. Always winter and never Christmas; think of that!

As a child, this made a lot of sense to me. I knew, of course, that Christmas was a very important holiday because that was when non-Jewish children got presents (our parents told us that Santa Claus was not real, but we would never ruin the surprise for any non-Jewish children we might speak to). Due to the White Witch, the children in Narnia never got presents, and certainty it takes a singularly evil person to want to take away an opportunity to receive presents. 

Rereading The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe as an adult, I came to realize that Lewis probably had more in mind than presents and the like. But what is it? Why is winter without Christmas such a tragedy? Furthermore (as I am not Christian), is there a parallel to be drawn to the Jewish winter holiday, Hanukkah? 

Not surprisingly, there have been Christian pastors who have used this statement of Tumnus to demonstrate the importance of the Christmas holiday. Pastor Ray Fowler emphasized the importance of the holiday as follows:

Can you imagine what it would be like if it were always winter, never Christmas? First of all, just imagine if it were always winter. Now maybe some of you happen to love the winter, but how would you like to deal with ice and snow, sub-freezing temperatures, and having to clean and scrape your car every morning, every day? ...

So, this “always winter” thing would be bad enough. But what if it were always winter, never Christmas? That would be even worse! You know, we may not always like the ice and snow and cold, but at least when it gets cold around here, it’s a sign that Christmas is coming. And for many people, Christmas is that bright spot in the middle of winter that somehow makes it all worth it. But what if there were no Christmas? What if the Christmas season never came? Think about it – no holiday decorations, no family gatherings, no Bright Nights at Forest Park, no Christmas carols or concerts, no Christmas trees, no Christmas presents, no Christmas vacation (!), (kids, that means you would be in school all December long), no Charlie Brown Christmas specials, no Jimmy Stewart and “It’s a Wonderful Life.” It would be all winter, all the time, but never any Christmas.

The pastor notes that Winter is difficult. It is cold and icy. But at least there is Christmas to look forward to, and that makes the troubles worthwhile. 

Transitioning this thought back to Narnia, we would then understand Tumnus’ statement as follows. The White Witch has made the lives of Narnians really difficult. It is always cold and icy, but it is worse than the winters we are used to, because there is no redeeming factor. Life in Narnia is all work and no reward, no validation, and no purpose. 

This reading of Tumnus’ statement is a straightforward or grown-up extension of the naive understanding I had as a child. A child might say, were things as they should be, children who are “good” would be rewarded with presents on Christmas. The White Witch is mean because, due to her, no Narnian children receive presents. The adult version of this is that winter is “hard,” and Christmas is a reward for the toil and a purpose of the hard work. The hours of hard work, celebrated with great joy surrounded by friends and family, become worthwhile. In Narnia such reward and purpose do not exist. 

Such a situation was in fact what the Israelites of old experienced in Egypt. Our sages tell us that the Jews were forced to work meaningless, non-constructive jobs with no ultimate purpose. They were thus lacking even the ability to even take pride in their work, to congratulate themselves on a job well-done. A similar cruelty was applied by the White Witch. There was work to be done but no ultimate satisfaction. 

(Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash)

The Sefirot (Part 4)

In our last post we discussed the Sefirot of Netzach and Hod. We noted that while God’s ultimate goal is to perform Chesed and Gevurah, Kindness and Judgment, humanity does always properly perceive His actions as such. Netzach and Hod are, as it were, the channels for Chesed and Gevurah. Similarly, the Sefirah of Yesod (Foundation) is the channel for Tiferet. Just as Tiferet is the synthesis of Chesed and Gevrah, so too Yesod is the synthesis between Netzach and Hod. It is thus not surprising that Yesod, as the synthesis between the channel of Kindness and the channel of Judgment, is the foundation upon which God constructed the world. The world cannot be purely of one or the other!

Yesod is also referred to as Tzedek, Righteousness, as in the verse, (Proverbs 19:25), “And the righteous is the foundation of the world. Thus, the biblical character identified with Yesod/ Tzedek is Yosef (the Righteous), who sustained Egypt, and the known world, during the great famine. 

Several other concepts, such as the covenant, the commandments, peace, and Mount Zion, are identified with Yesod. These are all acclaimed by our Sages to be foundations of Creation. The Torah, the commandments, and circumcision are foundational as expressed by the verse in Jeremiah (33:25), “Thus said God: As surely as I have established My covenant with day and night, the laws of heaven and earth (nature), so I will never reject the children of Jacob and My servant David…” The rabbinic reinterpretation of the verse reads: If not for my covenant day and night, I would not have put in place the laws of Heaven and Earth. Thus the Talmud (Avoda Zara 3a) relates that, “The Holy One, Blessed be He, made Creation conditional saying: If the Jewish People accept My Torah at the revelation at Sinai, good, but if they do not accept it, I will return you to nothingness.” The mishna in Nedarim (3:11), however, reads the term ‘covenant’ as referring to circumcision. 

The midrash (Yalkut Shimoni 670) views the same verse in Jeremiah from a slightly different perspective. The commandments were the inscription (or blueprint) that God used to create the ‘carve’ the world (building off of the same root [ch,k,k] for inscription and carve). Nonetheless, we see the commandments as foundational to Creation. 

The centrality of the Temple worship is also highlighted as foundational to creation in the Talmud (Ta’anit 27b), “If not for the watch (the weekly rotating posts or stands of Jews involved in the Temple service) the heaven and earth would not continue to exist. 

Finally, peace is identified in Ethics of our Fathers (1:18) as one of the pillars of the world. 

All of the above are inherent to Creation. All are active, fidelity to the Torah, its commandments, and the covenant between God and the Jewish people, ensuring peace between individuals and nations, and the continued service and devotion to God in His Temple. All require synthesis between Kindness and Strength, between Netzach and Hod: the Torah provides paths of pleasantness but in its actualization strength is needed to remain steadfast at difficult times. Peace is an act of kindness but its realization requires Strength to act when boundaries have been crossed. The Temple is dedicated by Solomon as a place for communion and repentance, but is also the seat of the High Court. All are thus properly identified with the Sefirah of Yesod. 

At this point, of course, we are getting towards the end of our series of books. There is only one volume left after this (the Sefirah of Malchut, Kingship). If we are to end our series with some sort of redemption or messianic-type era, we should have by now identified our main protagonist(s). That person or group is set up to be the seat for a new world order. However, doing so is not straightforward. Understanding, flexibility, and compromise may be required. Most importantly our protagonists must realize what is truly foundational and what is overreach. Learning that lesson would be a good theme for the book of Yesod.