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SHRINE CHURCH OF THE MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD

113 Baxter St., NYC

where our traditions all began in LITTLE ITALY!

JOIN US TOMORROW 12/11 AND NEXT SAT 12/18!

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BUON NATALE!

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The Shrine Church of the Most Precious Blood

113 Baxter Street off of Canal Street, North of Mulberry Street.

The Italian immigrants built this little gem of a church because they weren’t allowed in the big Cathedral! It is now the official shrine of San Gennaro. I have sung there many times to celebrate the Feast Day, September 19. Memories thru the years! Heartwarming traditions! Join us to make your own memories. Bring your family, your aunts/uncles/cousins and kids.

Carnegie Hall, NYC!

What a thrill to have had the kids with us onstage at Carnegie Hall in 2018 and 2019! It was sold-out! Wow! Maybe we will go back there next year!

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I love this line, which comes from a quote by Melodie Beattie, which reads in its entirety:

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.”

And I would add this thought — that without gratitude, you can turn any paradise into hell.

Without gratitude, you will always walk away from the table still starving — no matter what measure of abundance has been laid before you.

Without gratitude, every job is the worst job on earth, every spouse is deficient, every friend lets you down, every home is on the wrong street, every gift is the wrong size, every novel is full of typos, every mattress is uncomfortable, every cup of coffee is too weak.

Without gratitude, every choice you ever made will always feel like the wrong choice.

Without gratitude, summers will always be too hot; winters will always be too cold. The music will always be too loud, the movie will always suck, the teenagers will always be too rude.

Without gratitude, people who vote or worship differently from you will always be monsters in your eyes. Without gratitude, you will always feel you were born into the wrong family. Without gratitude, the waitress will always be too slow, and you will always get the worst seat on the bus. Without gratitude, every driver on the road except you is an idiot.

Without gratitude, life is The Misery.

These three things are so true…

1) There is no happiness without gratitude
2) There is no transformation without self-accountability
3) There is no peace without forgiveness

But first among those — the alchemy of all alchemies — is gratitude.

If we learn nothing else while we’re here, then, we must learn how to say THANK YOU.

#quote #Melodie #Beattie #Gratitude #life #denial #acceptance #confusion #clarity #meal #feast #stranger #friend #paradise #hell #starving #job #worst #deficient #friend #home #street #gift #novel #typos #mattress #comfortable #summers #hot #winters #cold #music #loud #movie #teenagers #rude

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Saint Patrick’s Day

Saint Patrick’s Day was made an official Christian feast day in the early seventeenth century and is observed by the Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion (especially the Church of Ireland),^[4] the Eastern Orthodox Church and Lutheran Church. The day commemorates Saint Patrick and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland,^[3] as well as celebrates the heritage and culture of the Irish in general.^[5] Celebrations generally involve public parades and festivals, céilithe, and the wearing of green attire or shamrocks.^[6]Christians also attend church services,^[5][7] and the Lenten restrictions on eating and drinking alcohol are lifted for the day, which has encouraged and propagated the holiday’s tradition of alcohol consumption.^[5][6][8][9]

Saint Patrick’s Day is a public holiday in the Republic of Ireland,^[10] Northern Ireland,^[11] Newfoundland and Labrador and Montserrat. It is also widely celebrated by the Irish diaspora around the world; especially in Britain, Canada, the United States, Argentina, Australia and New Zealand.

Saint Patrick

Little is known of Patrick’s early life, though it is known that he was born in Roman Britain in the fourth century, into a wealthyRomano-British family. His father was a deacon and his grandfather was a priest in the Christian church. At the age of sixteen, he was kidnapped by Irish raiders and taken captive to Ireland as a slave.^[12] It is believed he was held somewhere on the west coast of Ireland, possibly Mayo, but the exact location is unknown. According to his Confession, he was told by God in a dream to flee from captivity to the coast, where he would board a ship and return to Britain. Upon returning, he quickly joined the Church in Auxerre in Gaul and studied to be a priest.

In 432, he again said that he was called back to Ireland, though as a bishop, to Christianise the Irish from their native polytheism. Irish folklore tells that one of his teaching methods included using the shamrock to explain the Christian doctrine of the Trinity to the Irish people. After nearly thirty years of evangelism, he died on 17 March 461, and according to tradition, was buried at Downpatrick. Although there were other more successful missions to Ireland from Rome, Patrick endured as the principal champion of Irish Christianity and is held in esteem in the Irish church.

Celebration and traditions

Wearing of the green

Originally, the colour associated with Saint Patrick was blue. Over the years the colour green and its association with Saint Patrick’s Day grew.^[13] Green ribbons and shamrocks were worn in celebration of St Patrick’s Day as early as the 17th century.^[14] Saint Patrick is said to have used the shamrock, a three-leaved plant, to explain the Holy Trinity to the pagan Irish, and the ubiquitous wearing and display of shamrocks and shamrock-inspired designs has become a feature of the day.^[15][16] In the 1798 rebellion, to make a political statement, Irish soldiers wore full green uniforms on 17 March in hopes of catching public attention.^[13] The phrase “the wearing of the green”, meaning to wear a shamrock on one’s clothing, derives from a song of the same name.

Celebrations by region

Ireland

Saint Patrick’s feast day, as a kind of national day, was already being celebrated by the Irish in Europe in the ninth and tenth centuries. In later times he became more and more widely known as the patron of Ireland.^[17] Saint Patrick’s feast day was finally placed on the universal liturgical calendar in the Catholic Church due to the influence of Waterford-born Franciscan scholar Luke Wadding^[18] in the early 1600s. Saint Patrick’s Day thus became a holy day of obligation for Roman Catholics in Ireland. It is also a feast day in the Church of Ireland. The church calendar avoids the observance of saints’ feasts during certain solemnities, moving the saint’s day to a time outside those periods. Saint Patrick’s Day is occasionally affected by this requirement, when 17 March falls during Holy Week. This happened in 1940, when Saint Patrick’s Day was observed on 3 April in order to avoid it coinciding with Palm Sunday, and again in 2008, where it was officially observed on 14 March. Saint Patrick’s Day will not fall within Holy Week again until 2160.^[19][20] However, the secular celebration is always held on 17 March.

In 1903, Saint Patrick’s Day became an official public holiday in Ireland. This was thanks to the Bank Holiday (Ireland) Act 1903, an act of the United Kingdom Parliament introduced by Irish Member of Parliament James O’Mara.^[21] O’Mara later introduced the law that required that pubs and bars be closed on 17 March after drinking got out of hand, a provision that was repealed in the 1970s. The first Saint Patrick’s Day parade held in the Irish Free Statewas held in Dublin in 1931 and was reviewed by the then Minister of Defence Desmond Fitzgerald.

In the mid-1990s the government of the Republic of Ireland began a campaign to use Saint Patrick’s Day to showcase Ireland and its culture.^[22] The government set up a group called St Patrick’s Festival, with the aims:

• To offer a national festival that ranks amongst all of the greatest celebration in the world
• To create energy and excitement throughout Ireland via innovation, creativity, grassroots involvement, and marketing activity
• To provide the opportunity and motivation for people of Irish descent (and those who sometimes wish they were Irish) to attend and join in the imaginative and expressive celebrations
• To project, internationally, an accurate image of Ireland as a creative, professional and sophisticated country with wide appeal.^[23]

The first Saint Patrick’s Festival was held on 17 March 1996. In 1997, it became a three-day event, and by 2000 it was a four-day event. By 2006, the festival was five days long; more than 675,000 people attended the 2009 parade. Overall 2009’s five-day festival saw close to 1 million visitors, who took part in festivities that included concerts, outdoor theatre performances, and fireworks.^[24] Skyfest forms the centrepiece of the festival.

The topic of the 2004 Saint Patrick’s Symposium was “Talking Irish”, during which the nature of Irish identity, economic success, and the future were discussed. Since 1996, there has been a greater emphasis on celebrating and projecting a fluid and inclusive notion of “Irishness” rather than an identity based around traditional religious or ethnic allegiance. The week around Saint Patrick’s Day usually involves Irish language speakers using more Irish during Seachtain na Gaeilge (“Irish Language Week”).^{[citation needed]}

As well as Dublin, many other cities, towns, and villages in Ireland hold their own parades and festivals, including Cork, Belfast, Derry,Galway, Kilkenny, Limerick, and Waterford.

The biggest celebrations outside Dublin are in Downpatrick, County Down, where Saint Patrick is rumoured to be buried. In 2004, according to Down District Council, the week-long Saint Patrick’s Festival had more than 2,000 participants and 82 floats, bands, and performers and was watched by more than 30,000 people.^{[citation needed]}

The shortest St Patrick’s Day parade in the world takes place in Dripsey, Cork. The parade lasts just 100 yards and travels between the village’s two pubs.^[25]

Christian leaders in Ireland have expressed concern about the secularisation of St Patrick’s Day. In The Word magazine’s March 2007 issue, Fr. Vincent Twomey wrote, “It is time to reclaim St Patrick’s Day as a church festival.” He questioned the need for “mindless alcohol-fuelled revelry” and concluded that “it is time to bring the piety and the fun together.”^[26]

Argentina

In Buenos Aires, a party is held in the downtown street of Reconquista, where there are several Irish pubs;^[27][28] in 2006, there were 50,000 people in this street and the pubs nearby.^[29] Neither the Catholic Church nor the Irish community, the fifth largest in the world outside Ireland,^[30] take part in the organisation of the parties.

Canada

One of the longest-running and largest Saint Patrick’s Day parades in North America occurs each year in Montreal, whose city flag includes a shamrock in its lower-right quadrant. The annual celebration has been organized by the United Irish Societies of Montreal since 1929. The parade has been held annually without interruption since 1824, However, St. Patrick’s Day itself has been celebrated in Montreal as far back as 1759 by Irish soldiers in the Montreal Garrison following the British conquest of New France.

In Manitoba, the Irish Association of Manitoba runs an annual three-day festival of music and culture based around Saint Patrick’s Day.^[31]

In 2013, the CelticFest Vancouver Society organised an annual festival in downtown Vancouver to celebrate the Celtic Nations and their culture. This event, which includes a parade, occurs the weekend closest to Saint Patrick’s Day.^[32]

In Quebec City, there was a parade from 1837 to 1926. The Quebec City St-Patrick Parade returned in 2010 after an absence of more than 84 years. For the occasion, a portion of the New York Police Department Pipes and Drums were present as special guests.

There has been a parade held in Toronto since at least 1863.^[33] The Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team was known as the Toronto St. Patricks from 1919 to 1927, and wore green jerseys. In 1999, when the Maple Leafs played on Saint Patrick’s Day, they wore green Saint Patrick’s retro uniforms. There is a large parade in the city’s downtown core on the Sunday prior to 17 March which attracts over 100,000 spectators.^{[citation needed]}

Some groups, notably Guinness, have lobbied to make Saint Patrick’s Day a national holiday.^[34]

In March 2009, the Calgary Tower changed its top exterior lights to new green CFL bulbs just in time for Saint Patrick’s Day. Part of an environmental non-profit organisation’s campaign (Project Porchlight), the green represented environmental concerns. Approximately 210 lights were changed in time for Saint Patrick’s Day, and resembled a Leprechaun‘s hat. After a week, white CFLs took their place. The change was estimated to save the Calgary Tower some $12,000 and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 104 tonnes.^[35]

Great Britain

In Great Britain, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother used to present bowls of shamrock flown over from Ireland to members of the Irish Guards, a regiment in the British Army consisting primarily of soldiers from both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Guards still wear shamrock on this day, flown in from Ireland.^[36]

Christian denominations in Great Britain observing his feast day include The Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church.^[37]

Horse racing at the Cheltenham Festival attracts large numbers of Irish people, both residents of Britain and many who travel from Ireland, and usually coincides with Saint Patrick’s Day.^[38]

Birmingham holds the largest Saint Patrick’s Day parade in Britain with a city centre parade^[39] over a two-mile (3 km) route through the city centre. The organisers describe it as the third biggest parade in the world after Dublin and New York.^[40]

London, since 2002, has had an annual Saint Patrick’s Day parade which takes place on weekends around the 17th, usually in Trafalgar Square. In 2008 the water in the Trafalgar Square fountains was dyed green.

Liverpool has the highest proportion of residents with Irish ancestry of any English city.^[41] This has led to a long-standing celebration on St Patrick’s Day in terms of music, cultural events and the parade.

Manchester hosts a two-week Irish festival in the weeks prior to St Patrick’s Day. The festival includes an Irish Market based at the city’s town hall which flies the Irish tricolour opposite the Union Flag, a large parade as well as a large number of cultural and learning events throughout the two-week period.^[42]

The Scottish town of Coatbridge, where the majority of the town’s population are of Irish descent,^{[citation needed]} also has a Saint Patrick’s Day Festival which includes celebrations and parades in the town centre.^{[citation needed]}

Glasgow has a considerably large Irish population; due, for the most part, to the Irish immigration during the 19th century. This immigration was the main cause in raising the population of Glasgow by over 100,000 people.^[43] Due to this large Irish population, there is a considerable Irish presence in Glasgow with many Irish theme pubs and Irish interest groups who run annual celebrations on St Patrick’s day in Glasgow. Glasgow began an annual Saint Patrick’s Day parade and festival in 2007.^{[citation needed]}

International Space Station

Astronauts on board the International Space Station have celebrated the festival in different ways. Irish-American Catherine Colemanplayed a hundred-year-old flute belonging to Matt Molloy and a tin whistle belonging to Paddy Maloney, both members of the Irish music group The Chieftains, while floating weightless in the space station on Saint Patrick’s Day in 2011.^[44][45][46] Her performance was later included in a track called “The Chieftains In Orbit” on the group’s album, Voice of Ages.^[47]

Chris Hadfield took photographs of Ireland from earth orbit, and a picture of himself wearing green clothing in the space station, and posted them online on Saint Patrick’s Day in 2013. He also posted online a recording of himself singing Danny Boy in space.^[48][49]

Japan

Saint Patrick’s Parades are now held in many locations across Japan.^[50] The first parade, in Tokyo, was organised by The Irish Network Japan (INJ) in 1992. Nowadays parades and other events related to Saint Patrick’s Day spread across almost the entire month of March.

Malaysia

The St. Patrick’s Society of Selangor, which has been in existence since 1925, organises the annual St. Patrick’s Ball, the biggest St Patrick’s Day celebration in Asia. Guinness Anchor Berhad also organises 36 parties across the country in places like the Klang Valley,Penang, Johor Bahru, Malacca, Ipoh, Kuantan, Kota Kinabalu, Miri and Kuching.

Montserrat

The tiny island of Montserrat is known as “Emerald Island of the Caribbean” because of its founding by Irish refugees from Saint Kitts and Nevis. Along with Ireland and the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, St Patrick’s Day is a public holiday. The holiday also commemorates a failed slave uprising that occurred on 17 March 1768.^[51]

Russia

The first Saint Patrick’s Day parade took place in Russia in 1992.^[52] Since 1999, there is an annual international “Saint Patrick’s Day” festival in Moscow and other Russian cities. The Moscow parade has both official and unofficial parts.^{[citation needed]} The first seems like a military parade and is performed in collaboration with the Moscow government and the Irish embassy in Moscow. The unofficial parade is performed by volunteers and seems more like a carnival and show with juggling, stilts, jolly-jumpers and Celtic music.

South Korea

The Irish Association of Korea has celebrated Saint Patrick’s Day since 1976 in Seoul (the capital city of South Korea). The place of parade and festival has been moved fromItaewon and Daehangno to Cheonggyecheon.^[53]

Switzerland

While Saint Patrick’s Day in Switzerland is commonly celebrated on 17 March with festivities similar to those in neighbouring central European countries, it is not unusual for Swiss students to organise celebrations in their own living spaces on Saint Patrick’s Eve. Most popular are usually those in Zurich’s Kreis 4. Traditionally, guests also contribute with beverages and dress accordingly in green.^[54]

United States

Saint Patrick’s Day, while not a legal holiday in most of the United States, is nonetheless widely recognised and celebrated throughout the country. 17 March is officially recognised as Evacuation Day in parts of Massachusetts, and St. Patrick’s Day is an official holiday in Chatham County, Georgia. The day is observed as a celebration of Irish and Irish American culture. Celebrations include prominent displays of the colour green, eating and drinking, religious observances, and numerous parades. The holiday has been celebrated on the North American continent since the late eighteenth century.

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Hanukkah

The festival is observed by the kindling of the lights of a unique candelabrum, the nine-branched Menorah or Hanukiah, one additional light on each night of the holiday, progressing to eight on the final night. The typical Menorah consists of eight branches with an additional raised branch. The extra light is called a shamash (Hebrew: שמש‎, “attendant”)^[1] and is given a distinct location, usually above or below the rest. The purpose of the shamash is to have a light available for practical use, as using the Hanukkah lights themselves for purposes other than publicizing and meditating on the Hanukkah is forbidden.^[2]

Etymology

The name “Hanukkah” derives from the Hebrew verb “חנך”, meaning “to dedicate”. On Hanukkah, the Jews regained control of Jerusalem and rededicated the Temple.^[3]

Many homiletical explanations have been given for the name:^[4]

• The name can be broken down into חנו כ”ה, “[they] rested [on the] twenty-fifth”, referring to the fact that the Jews ceased fighting on the 25th day of Kislev, the day on which the holiday begins.^[5]
• חנוכה (Hanukkah) is also the Hebrew acronym for ח נרות והלכה כבית הלל — “Eight candles, and the halakha is like the House of Hillel”. This is a reference to the disagreement between two rabbinical schools of thought — the House of Hillel and the House of Shammai — on the proper order in which to light the Hanukkah flames. Shammai opined that eight candles should be lit on the first night, seven on the second night, and so on down to one on the last night (because the miracle was greatest on the first day). Hillel argued in favor of starting with one candle and lighting an additional one every night, up to eight on the eighth night (because the miracle grew in greatness each day). Jewish law adopted the position of Hillel.^{[citation needed]}

Historical sources

Maccabees, Mishna and Talmud

The story of Hanukkah, along with its laws and customs, is entirely missing in the Mishna apart from several passing references (Bikkurim 1:6, Rosh HaShanah 1:3, Taanit 2:10, Megillah 3:4 and 3:6, Moed Katan 3:9, and Bava Kama 6:6).

Rav Nissim Gaon postulates in his Hakdamah Le’mafteach Hatalmud that information on the holiday was so commonplace that the Mishna felt no need to explain it. A modern-day scholar Reuvein Margolies^[6] suggests that as the Mishnah was redacted after the Bar Kochba revolt, its editors were reluctant to include explicit discussion of a holiday celebrating another relatively recent revolt against a foreign ruler, for fear of antagonizing the Romans.

The story of Hanukkah is preserved in the books of the First and Second Maccabees. These books are not part of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible); they are Jewish apocryphal books instead. The miracle of the one-day supply of oil miraculously lasting eight days is first described in the Talmud, committed to writing about 600 years after the events described in the books of Maccabees. ^[7]

The Gemara (Talmud), in tractate Shabbat, page 21b, focuses on Shabbat candles and moves to Hanukkah candles and says that after the forces of Antiochus IV had been driven from the Temple, the Maccabees discovered that almost all of the ritual olive oil had been profaned. They found only a single container that was still sealed by the High Priest, with enough oil to keep the menorah in the Temple lit for a single day. They used this, yet it burned for eight days (the time it took to have new oil pressed and made ready).^[8]

The Talmud presents three options:

1. The law requires only one light each night per household,
2. A better practice is to light one light each night for each member of the household
3. The most preferred practice is to vary the number of lights each night.

In Sephardic families, the head of the household lights the candles, while in Ashkenazic families, all family members light.

Except in times of danger, the lights were to be placed outside one’s door, on the opposite side of the Mezuza, or in the window closest to the street. Rashi, in a note to Shabbat 21b, says their purpose is to publicize the miracle. The blessings for Hanukkah lights are discussed in tractate Succah, p. 46a.

Narrative of Josephus

The ancient Jewish historian Flavius Josephus narrates in his book Jewish Antiquities XII, how the victorious Judas Maccabeus ordered lavish yearly eight-day festivities after rededicating the Temple in Jerusalem that had been profaned by Antiochus IV Epiphanes. Josephus does not say the festival was called Hannukkah but rather the “Festival of Lights”:

“Now Judas celebrated the festival of the restoration of the sacrifices of the temple for eight days, and omitted no sort of pleasures thereon; but he feasted them upon very rich and splendid sacrifices; and he honored God, and delighted them by hymns and psalms. Nay, they were so very glad at the revival of their customs, when, after a long time of intermission, they unexpectedly had regained the freedom of their worship, that they made it a law for their posterity, that they should keep a festival, on account of the restoration of their temple worship, for eight days. And from that time to this we celebrate this festival, and call it Lights. I suppose the reason was, because this liberty beyond our hopes appeared to us; and that thence was the name given to that festival. Judas also rebuilt the walls round about the city, and reared towers of great height against the incursions of enemies, and set guards therein. He also fortified the cityBethsura, that it might serve as a citadel against any distresses that might come from our enemies.”^[9]

Other ancient sources

The story of Hanukkah is alluded to in the book of 1 Maccabees and 2 Maccabees. The eight-day rededication of the temple is described in 1 Maccabees 4:36 et seq, though the name of the festival and the miracle of the lights do not appear here. A story similar in character, and obviously older in date, is the one alluded to in 2 Maccabees 1:18 et seq according to which the relighting of the altar fire byNehemiah was due to a miracle which occurred on the 25th of Kislev, and which appears to be given as the reason for the selection of the same date for the rededication of the altar by Judah Maccabee.

Another source is the Megillat Antiochus. This work (also known as “Megillat HaHasmonaim”, “Megillat Hanukkah” or “Megillat Yevanit”) is in both Aramaic and Hebrew; the Hebrew version is a literal translation from the Aramaic original. Recent scholarship dates it to somewhere between the 2nd and 5th Centuries, probably in the 2nd century,^[10] with the Hebrew dating to the 7th century.^[11] It was published for the first time in Mantua in 1557. Saadia Gaon, who translated it into Arabic in the 9th century, ascribed it to the Maccabees themselves, disputed by some, since it gives dates as so many years before the destruction of the second temple in 70 CE.^[12] The Hebrew text with an English translation can be found in the Siddur of Philip Birnbaum.

In the Christian Greek Scriptures, it is stated that Jesus was at the Jerusalem Temple during “the Feast of Dedication and it was winter”, in John 10:22–23. The Greek term that is used is “the renewals” (Greek ta engkainia τὰ ἐγκαίνια).^[13] Josephus refers to the festival as “lights.”^[14]

Story of Hanukkah

Background

Judea was part of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt until 200 BCE when King Antiochus III the Great of Syria defeated King Ptolemy V Epiphanes of Egypt at the Battle of Panium. Judea became at that moment part of the Seleucid Empire of Syria. King Antiochus III the Great wanting to conciliate his new Jewish subjects guaranteed their right to “live according to their ancestral customs” and to continue to practice their religion in the Temple of Jerusalem. However in 175 BCE, Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the son of Antiochus III invaded Judea, ostensibly at the request of the sons of Tobias.^[15] The Tobiads, who led theHellenizing Jewish faction in Jerusalem, were expelled to Syria around 170 BCE when the high priest Onias and his pro-Egyptian faction wrested control from them. The exiled Tobiads lobbied Antiochus IV Epiphanes to recapture Jerusalem. As the ancient Jewish historian Flavius Josephus tells us:

“The king being thereto disposed beforehand, complied with them, and came upon the Jews with a great army, and took their city by force, and slew a great multitude of those that favored Ptolemy, and sent out his soldiers to plunder them without mercy. He also spoiled the temple, and put a stop to the constant practice of offering a daily sacrifice of expiation for three years and six months.”^[16]

Traditional view

When the Second Temple in Jerusalem was looted and services stopped, Judaism was outlawed. In 167 BCE Antiochus ordered an altar to Zeus erected in the Temple. He banned brit milah (circumcision) and ordered pigs to be sacrificed at the altar of the temple (the sacrifice of pigs to the Greek gods was standard ritual practice in the Ancient Greek religion).^[17]

Antiochus’s actions provoked a large-scale revolt. Mattityahu, a Jewish priest, and his five sons Jochanan, Simeon, Eleazar, Jonathan, and Judah led a rebellion against Antiochus. Judah became known as Yehuda HaMakabi (“Judah the Hammer”). By 166 BCE Mattathias had died, and Judah took his place as leader. By 165 BCE the Jewish revolt against the Seleucid monarchy was successful. The Temple was liberated and rededicated. The festival of Hanukkah was instituted to celebrate this event.^[18] Judah ordered the Temple to be cleansed, a new altar to be built in place of the polluted one and new holy vessels to be made. According to the Talmud, unadulterated and undefiled pure olive oil with the seal of the kohen gadol (high priest) was needed for the menorah in the Temple, which was required to burn throughout the night every night. The story goes that one flask was found with only enough oil to burn for one day, yet it burned for eight days, the time needed to prepare a fresh supply of kosher oil for the menorah. An eight-day festival was declared by the Jewish sages to commemorate this miracle.

The version of the story in 1 Maccabees states that an eight-day celebration of songs and sacrifices was proclaimed upon re-dedication of the altar, and makes no mention of the miracle of the oil.^[19]

Modern scholarship

Some modern scholars argue that the king was intervening in an internal civil war between the traditionalist Jews (Pharisees) and theHellenized Jews (Sadducees) in Jerusalem.^{[20][21][22][23]}

These competed violently over who would be the High Priest, with traditionalists with Hebrew/Aramaic names like Onias contesting with Hellenizing High Priests with Greek names like Jason and Menelaus.^[24] In particular Jason’s Hellenistic reforms would prove to be a decisive factor leading to eventual conflict within the ranks of Judaism.^[25] Other authors point to possible socioeconomic reasons in addition to the religious reasons behind the civil war.^[26]

What began in many respects as a civil war escalated when the Hellenistic kingdom of Syria sided with the Hellenizing Jews in their conflict with the traditionalists.^[27] As the conflict escalated, Antiochus took the side of the Hellenizers by prohibiting the religious practices the traditionalists had rallied around. This may explain why the king, in a total departure from Seleucid practice in all other places and times, banned a traditional religion.^[28]

Hanukkah rituals

Hanukkah is celebrated with a series of rituals that are performed every day throughout the 8-day holiday, some are family-based and others communal. There are special additions to the daily prayer service, and a section is added to the blessing after meals.

Hanukkah is not a “Sabbath-like” holiday, and there is no obligation to refrain from activities that are forbidden on the Sabbath, as specified in theShulkhan Arukh.^[29] Adherents go to work as usual, but may leave early in order to be home to kindle the lights at nightfall. There is no religious reason for schools to be closed, although, in Israel, schools close from the second day for the whole week of Hanukkah. Many families exchange small gifts each night, such as books or games. Fried foods (such as latke potato pancakes, jelly doughnut sufganiyot) are eaten to commemorate the importance of oil during the celebration of Hanukkah.

Kindling the Hanukkah lights

Each night, throughout the 8 day holiday, a candle or oil-based light, is lit. As a universally practiced “beautification” (hiddur mitzvah) of the mitzvah, the number of lights lit is increased by one each night.^[30] An extra light called a shamash, meaning “attendant” or “sexton,”^[1] is also lit each night, and is given a distinct location, usually higher, lower, or to the side of the others. The purpose of the extra light is to adhere to the prohibition, specified in the Talmud (Tracate Shabbat 21b–23a), against using the Hanukkah lights for anything other than publicizing and meditating on the Hanukkah miracle. This differs from Sabbath candles which are meant to be used for illumination and lighting. Hence, if one were to need extra illumination on Hanukkah, the shamash candle would be available and one would avoid using the prohibited lights. Some light theshamash candle first and then use it to light the others.^[31] So all together, including the shamash, two lights are lit on the first night, three on the second and so on, ending with nine on the last night, for a total of 44 (36, excluding the shamash).

The lights can be candles or oil lamps.^[31] Electric lights are sometimes used and are acceptable in places where open flame is not permitted, such as a hospital room, or for the very elderly and infirm. Most Jewish homes have a special candelabrum referred to as either a chanukkiah (the modern Israeli term), or a menorah (the traditional classical name), or oil lamp holder for Hanukkah, which holds eight lights plus the additional shamash light. Since the 1970s the worldwide Chabad Hasidic movement has initiated public menorah lightnings in open public places in many countries.^[32]

The reason for the Hanukkah lights is not for the “lighting of the house within”, but rather for the “illumination of the house without,” so that passersby should see it and be reminded of the holiday’s miracle (i.e. the triumph of the few over the many and of the pure over the impure). Accordingly, lamps are set up at a prominent window or near the door leading to the street. It is customary amongst some Ashkenazi Jews to have a separate menorah for each family member (customs vary), whereas most Sephardi Jews light one for the whole household. Only when there was danger of antisemitic persecution were lamps supposed to be hidden from public view, as was the case in Persia under the rule of the Zoroastrians, or in parts of Europe before and during World War II. However, most Hasidic groups light lamps near an inside doorway, not necessarily in public view. According to this tradition, the lamps are placed on the opposite side from the mezuzah, so that when one passes through the door he is surrounded by the holiness of mitzvot (the commandments).

Generally women are exempt in Jewish law from time-bound positive commandments, however the Talmud requires that women engage in the mitzvah of lighting Hanukkah candles “for they too were involved in the miracle.”^[33] In practice in Orthodox households]] only the males in the household are obligated to light the menorah.

Candle-lighting time

Hanukkah lights should burn for at least one half hour after it gets dark. The custom of the Vilna Gaon (Elijah ben Shlomo Zalman Kremer 1720 – 1797) observed by many residents of Jerusalem as the custom of the city, is to light at sundown, although most Hasidim light later, even in Jerusalem. Many Hasidic Rebbes light much later, because they fulfill the obligation of publicizing the miracle by the presence of their Hasidim when they kindle the lights.

Inexpensive small wax candles sold for Hanukkah burn for approximately half an hour, so on most days this requirement can be safely ignored.

Friday night presents a problem, however. Since candles may not be lit on the Shabbat itself, the candles must be lit before sunset. However, they must remain lit until the regular it is time for you to use longer candles, or the traditional oil lamps. In keeping with the above-stated prohibition, the Hanukkah menorah is lit first, followed by the Shabbat candles which signify its onset.

Blessings over the candles

Typically three blessings (brachot; singular: brachah) are recited during this eight-day festival when lighting the candles:

On the first night of Hanukkah, Jews recite all three blessings; on all subsequent nights, they recite only the first two.^[34]

The blessings are said before or after the candles are lit depending on tradition. On the first night of Hanukkah one light (candle or oil) is lit on the right side of the Menorah, on the following night a second light is placed to the left of the first, and so on, proceeding from right to left over the eight nights. On each night, the leftmost candle is lit first, and lighting proceeds from left to right.

For the full text of the blessings, see List of Jewish prayers and blessings: Hanukkah.

Hanerot Halalu

During or after the lights are kindled the hymn Hanerot Halalu is recited. There are several differing versions; the version presented here is recited in many Ashkenazic communities:^[35]

Maoz Tzur

Each night after the lighting of the candles, the hymn Ma’oz Tzur is sung. The song contains six stanzas. The first and last deal with general themes of divine salvation, and the middle four deal with events of persecution in Jewish history, and praises God for survival despite these tragedies (the exodus from Egypt, the Babylonian captivity, the miracle of the holiday of Purim, the Hasmonean victory), and a longing for the days when Judea will finally triumph over Rome.

Other customs

After lighting the candles and Ma’oz Tzur, singing other Hanukkah songs is customary in many Jewish homes. Some Hasidic and SephardiJews recite Psalms, such as Psalms 30, Psalms 67, and Psalms 91. In North America and in Israel it is common to exchange presents or give children presents at this time. In addition, many families encourage their children to give tzedakah (charity) in lieu of presents for themselves.

Special additions to daily prayers

An addition is made to the “hoda’ah” (thanksgiving) benediction in the Amidah (thrice-daily prayers), called Al ha-Nissim (“On/about the Miracles”).^[36] This addition refers to the victory achieved over the Syrians by the Hasmonean Mattathias and his sons.

The same prayer is added to the grace after meals. In addition, the Hallel (praise) Psalms 113 – Psalms 118) are sung during each morning service and the Tachanun penitential prayers are omitted.

The Torah is read every day in the shacharit morning services in synagogue, on the first day beginning from Numbers 6:22 (according to some customs, Numbers 7:1), and the last day ending with Numbers 8:4. Since Hanukkah lasts eight days it includes at least one, and sometimes two, Jewish Sabbaths (Saturdays). The weekly Torah portion for the first Sabbath is almost always Miketz, telling of Joseph‘s dream and his enslavement in Egypt. The Haftarah reading for the first Sabbath Hanukkah is Zechariah 2:14 – Zechariah 4:7. When there is a second Sabbath on Hanukkah, the Haftarah reading is from 1Kings 7:40 – 1Kings 7:50.

The Hanukkah menorah is also kindled daily in the synagogue, at night with the blessings and in the morning without the blessings.

The menorah is not lit on the Sabbath, but rather prior to the beginning of the Sabbath at night and not at all during the day. During the Middle Ages “Megillat Antiochus” was read in the Italian synagogues on Hanukkah just as the Book of Esther is read on Purim. It still forms part of the liturgy of the Yemenite Jews.^[11]

Zot Hanukkah

The last day of Hanukkah is known as Zot Hanukkah, from the verse read on this day in the synagogue Numbers 7:84, Zot Chanukat Hamizbe’ach: “This was the dedication of the altar”). According to the teachings of Kabbalah andHasidism, this day is the final “seal” of the High Holiday season of Yom Kippur, and is considered a time to repent out of love for God. In this spirit, many Hasidic Jews wish each other Gmar chatimah tovah (“may you be sealed totally for good”), a traditional greeting for the Yom Kippur season. It is taught in Hasidic and Kabbalistic literature that this day is particularly auspicious for the fulfillment of prayers.

Symbolic importance

Many people define major Jewish holidays as those that feature traditional holiday meals, kiddush, holiday candle-lighting, etc., and when all forms of work are forbidden. Only biblical holidays fit this criteria, and Hanukah was instituted some two centuries after the Bible was completed and canonized. Nevertheless, though Hanukah is of rabbinic origin, it is traditionally celebrated in a major and very public fashion. The requirement to position the menorah, or Hanukiah, at the door or window symbolizes the desire to give the Hanukah miracle a high profile.^[37]

The classical rabbis downplayed the military and nationalistic dimensions of Hanukkah, and some even interpreted the emphasis upon the story of the miracle oil as a diversion away from the struggle with empires that had led to the disastrous downfall of Jerusalem to the Romans.

Some Jewish historians suggest a different explanation for the rabbinic reluctance to laud the militarism. First, the rabbis wrote after Hasmonean leaders had led Judea into Rome’s grip and so may not have wanted to offer the family much praise. Second, they clearly wanted to promote a sense of dependence on God, urging Jews to look toward the divine for protection. They likely feared inciting Jews to another revolt that might end in disaster, like the 135 C.E. experience.^[38]

With the advent of Zionism and the state of Israel, however, these themes were reconsidered. In modern Israel, the national and military aspects of Hanukkah became, once again, more dominant.

In North America especially, Hanukkah gained increased importance with many Jewish families in the final decades of the 20th century, including large numbers of secular Jews, who wanted a Jewish alternative to the Christmas celebrations that often overlap with Hanukkah. Though it was traditional among Ashkenazi Jews to give “gelt” or money coins to children during Hanukkah, in many families this has changed into gifts in order to prevent Jewish children from feeling left out of the Christmas gift giving.

While Hanukkah is a relatively minor Jewish holiday, as indicated by the lack of religious restrictions on work other than a few minutes after lighting the candles, in North America, Hanukkah in the 21st century has taken a place equal to Passover as a symbol of Jewish identity. Both the Israeli and North American versions of Hanukkah emphasize resistance, focusing on some combination of national liberation and religious freedom as the defining meaning of the holiday.

Hanukkah music

A large number of songs have been written on Hanukkah themes, perhaps more so than for any other Jewish holiday. Some of the best known are “Hanukkiah Li Yesh” (“I Have a Hanukkah Menorah”), “Ocho Kandelikas” (“Eight Little Candles”), “Kad Katan” (“A Small Jug”), “S’vivon Sov Sov Sov” (“Dreidel, Spin and Spin”), Haneirot Halolu” (“These Candles which we light”), “Mi Yimalel” (“Who can Retell”) and “Ner Li, Ner Li” (“I have a Candle”). The most well known in English-speaking countries include “Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel” and “Chanukah, Oh Chanukah”.

Hanukkah foods

There is a custom of eating foods fried or baked in oil (preferably olive oil) to commemorate the miracle of a small flask of oil keeping the flame in the Temple alight for eight days. Traditional foods include potato pancakes, known as latkes in Yiddish, especially amongAshkenazi families. Sephardi, Polish and Israeli families eat jam-filled doughnuts (Yiddish: פאנטשקעס pontshkes), bimuelos (fritters) and sufganiyot which are deep-fried in oil.

Bakeries in Israel have popularized many new types of fillings for sufganiyot besides the traditional strawberry jelly filling, including chocolate cream, vanilla cream, caramel, cappuccino and others.^[39] In recent years, downsized, “mini” sufganiyot containing half the calories of the regular, 400-to-600-calorie version have become popular.^[40]

There is also a tradition of eating cheese products on Hanukkah recorded in rabbinic literature. This custom is seen as a commemoration of the involvement of Judith and women in the events of Hanukkah.

Dreidel

The dreidel, or sevivon in Hebrew, is a four-sided spinning top that children play with on Hanukkah. Each side is imprinted with a Hebrew letter. These letters are an acronym for the Hebrew words נס גדול היה שם (Nes Gadol Haya Sham, “A great miracle happened there”), referring to the miracle of the oil that took place in the Beit Hamikdash.

• נ (Nun)
• ג (Gimel)
• ה (Hey)
• ש (Shin)

On dreidels sold in Israel, the fourth side is inscribed with the letter פ (Pe), rendering the acronym נס גדול היה פה (Nes Gadol Haya Po, “A great miracle happened here”), referring to the fact that the miracle occurred in the land of Israel. Stores in Haredi neighborhoods sell the traditional Shin dreidels as well.

Some Jewish commentators ascribe symbolic significance to the markings on the dreidel. One commentary, for example, connects the four letters with the four exiles to which the nation of Israel was historically subject: Babylonia, Persia, Greece, and Rome.^[41]

After lighting the Hanukkah menorah, it is customary in many homes to play the dreidel game: Each player starts out with 10 or 15 coins (real or of chocolate), nuts, raisins, candies or other markers, and places one marker in the “pot.” The first player spins the dreidel, and depending on which side the dreidel falls on, either wins a marker from the pot or gives up part of his stash. The code (based on a Yiddish version of the game) is as follows:

• Nun–nisht, “nothing”–nothing happens and the next player spins
• Gimel–gants, “all”–the player takes the entire pot
• Hey–halb, “half”–the player takes half of the pot, rounding up if there is an odd number
• Shin–shtel ayn, “put in”–the player puts one marker in the pot

Another version differs:

• Nun–nim, “take”–the player takes one from the pot
• Gimel–gib, “give”–the player puts one in the pot
• Hey–halb, “half”–the player takes half of the pot, rounding up if there is an odd number
• Shin–shtil, “still” (as in “stillness”)–nothing happens and the next player spins

The game may last until one person has won everything.

The dreidel is believed to commemorate a game devised by the Jews to camouflage the fact that they were studying Torah, which was outlawed by Greeks. The Jews would gather in caves to study, posting a lookout to alert the group to the presence of Greek soldiers. If soldiers were spotted, the Jews would hide their scrolls and spin tops, so the Greeks thought they were gambling, not learning.^[42]

The historical context may be from the time of the Bar-Kohba war, 132-135 C.E. when the penalty for teaching Torah was death, so decreed by Rome. Others trace the dreidel itself to the children’s top game Teetotum.^[43]

• Dreidel gelt (dreidel money): The Eastern European game of dreidel (including the letters nun, gimmel, hey, shin) is like the German equivalent of the totum game: N = Nichts = nothing; G = Ganz = all; H = Halb = half; and S = Stell ein = put in. In German, the spinning top was called a “torrel” or “trundl,” and in Yiddish it was called a “dreidel,” a “fargl,” a “varfl” [= something thrown], “shtel ein” [= put in], and “gor, gorin” [= all]. When Hebrew was revived as a spoken language, the dreidel was called, among other names, a sevivon, which is the one that caught on.

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ST. PATRICK’S DAY

Celebrate an “Irish True” St. Patrick’s Day

Tim Herlihy, Tullamore D.E.W., Irish Whiskey Expert

As far as whiskey experts go, they don’t come more Irish True than Tullamore D.E.W. Brand Ambassador Tim Herlihy. From his humble beginnings in the small farming town of Termonfeckin in Ireland’s County Louth, to his work as the North American representative for one of Ireland’s most beloved and storied products, Tim’s life and career have been marked by the kind of passion, warmth and love of whiskey that typifies the Irish True character. His current role as Tullamore D.E.W. Brand Ambassador sees him bringing his career to a new level, as he travels the country, educating, entertaining and sharing his passion for the most Irish True of Whiskeys.

Myths and legends about St. Patrick’s Day
Saint Patrick started the tradition of drinking on St. Patrick’s Day
False. St. Patrick’s Day is a Christian feast day, marked by celebration, to commemorate martyrs on the dates of their deaths.

Irish whiskey got involved in this celebration from an old legend. So the story goes, an innkeeper served Saint Patrick a skimpy glass of whiskey and Saint Patrick decided to use the occasion to teach the innkeeper a lesson in generosity. He is said to have told the man a monstrous devil lived in his cellar that was feeding on his dishonesty and would only leave if the innkeeper changed his ways. On his return some time later, he found the innkeeper filling all the patrons’ glasses until they overflowed. Saint Patrick is said to have banished the demon and proclaimed everyone should have a drop of the hard stuff on his feast day, March 17. Fact or fiction, it’s a fine tale to tell your friends and makes Irish whiskey the most authentic drink to enjoy on St. Patrick’s Day.

The color of St. Patrick’s Day is green

False. The color associated with Saint Patrick was blue, not green. The importance of green can be attributed to Saint Patrick using the shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity to the pagan Irish. The green shamrock was also used from the 18th century as a symbol of Irish rebellion, patriotism and sympathy with Irish independence. In Ireland, whether you wear green or blue on St. Patrick’s Day, it’s the Irish True spirit that matters. Put simply, that means embracing the present and living life, facing its challenges with a courageous and lyrical heart, and a drop of the pure good stuff with friends you really want to drink with … but without the novelty hat!

Leprechauns are a traditional symbol of St. Patrick’s Day
False. In 1959, Walt Disney released a film called ‘Darby O’Gill & the Little People,’ which introduced America to a cheerful, friendly leprechaun, very different from the cranky little man of Irish folklore. But Disney’s imagined version stuck, and the leprechaun is now a symbol of St. Patrick’s Day and Ireland in general.

Ways to celebrate an “Irish True” St. Patrick’s Day

There’s something in the Irish character that puts others at ease – welcoming you on the one hand, while challenging you on the other, agreeing with you but questioning you at the same time. We call it ‘Irish True’. You don’t have to be Irish or go to Ireland to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in a way that is ‘Irish True’. Here are some easy and authentic ideas to honor the man.

Take the day off

Start by taking the day off to celebrate with your friends and family. Even the tiny Caribbean Island of Montserrat celebrates St. Patrick’s Day in honor of the proud mutineers of Irish slaves who fought a failed rebellion against their colonial masters on 17 March 1768. Ever since, in true Irish spirit, St. Patrick’s Day has been a public holiday on Montserrat – the Emerald Isle of the Caribbean. There are only two countries in the world where St. Patrick’s Day is a public holiday: Ireland and Montserrat.

‘Have the craic’

Craic pronounced ‘Crack’ is a Gaelic word, with no exact English translation. Put simply, having the craic is having a good time or a laugh. You don’t have to participate in a St. Patrick’s Day parade to enjoy the craic. One way is to visit your favorite bar, screaming with character and soul, to share great memories.

Share a Toast

Saint Patrick and his monks began complementing oral storytelling with writing. This tradition now remains in the blood of the Irish and many practice storytelling and other verbal arts in pubs. Toasting is a big part of Irish culture, it should speak from the heart and is meant to be shared with those most important to you.

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