A New Holocaust Film Every Young Person Should See
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Hanukkah reveals the essence of true beauty.
I grew up in a very Jewish Miami suburb where Christmas was never something we envied. Christmas lights on palm trees just don’t cut it!
Now I live with my wife and three kids in Colorado which at this time of year resembles one of those TV Christmas specials with perfect, fresh, powdery snow. Everywhere homes and streets are beautifully decorated for the holiday season, glowing with brightly lit trees.
We were driving to a Hanukkah gathering several years ago when my then 4-year-old son asked me what the lights were for. I considered making up a story about the lights being special for Hanukkah when I stopped in my tracks and realized the irony.
Christmas decorations stand in contrast to menorahs flickering in the windows of Jewish homes.
Without a doubt, the popularity of Hanukkah among American Jews is based on its coinciding with the holiday season. But Hanukkah is not "the Jewish Christmas." In fact, Hanukkah represents the victory of spirituality over materialism, over the obsession with all that glitters. Those neighborhood decorations aren’t Hanukkah lights; they represent the opposite of the candles that flicker in our windows.
Those Christmas decorations represent the opposite of the Hanukkah candles that flicker in the window.
This year, as we see an increase in antisemitic incidents around the world, those menorahs feel like more than just candles—they’re symbols of resilience and pride, visible reminders of Jewish identity shining out from our homes into the world.
It is often said that every Jewish holiday can be summed up as, “They tried to kill us, we won, let’s eat!” Yet this is not true with Hanukkah. Unlike Pharaoh in Egypt or Haman of the Purim story—or even the antisemites spewing hate today on college campuses, in Amsterdam, and other places in Europe—the Syrian Greeks during the Second Temple period did not want to eradicate the Jews. They wanted to eradicate Judaism.
Why did Judaism pose such a threat to ancient Greece? Why could they tolerate us alive, but not our way of life?
The answer lies in a basic philosophical dispute. Greek values stem from an obsession with external beauty. Rabbi Yehuda HaLevi warned, "Beware of the wisdom of Greece, for it has no fruit, only flowers." Fruit gives sustenance, while flowers offer only aesthetic beauty. Fruit has nutritional purpose; flowers have temporal superficiality.
Greek society valued the external, the superficial. They believed that only sensual experiences are real, limited to what we can taste, touch, or intellectually grasp. This is the antithesis of Torah thought, which believes there is much more beneath the surface—a world of infinite depth beyond what the eye sees.
What, then, is real beauty? Beauty is harmony—the fusion of opposites in complement and coexistence. Symphonic beauty is when different instruments play different notes—all together. The striking beauty of a mountain range comes from the majestic heights of the peaks in relation to the valleys below. A chord in music is a harmony of varied notes.
Ultimate beauty, therefore, is defined as polar opposites uniting. And what two things are more distant than physicality and spirituality? When they coexist harmoniously, that is true beauty. By contrast, when the physical contradicts or overshadows the spiritual, the result is ugliness.
The Talmud says that 10 measures of beauty descended on the world, and Jerusalem took nine. Jerusalem is known as the city of connection, where Heaven and Earth meet. The Holy Temple in Jerusalem was a beautiful structure in the physical world that embodied the spiritual, and from it, all beauty emanated. That is why the Greeks stormed the Temple, defiled it, and offered pigs on its altar.
When the Maccabees reclaimed the Temple, they found no pure oil accessible, and many Temple vessels were ransacked, including the Menorah. When they finally found a small flask of oil, they made a makeshift menorah out of spears and lit the oil, which should have lasted only one day. God made an incredible miracle, and the oil burned for eight days.
Why did the miracle come through oil? Why not miraculously create a new Menorah? Hanukkah is about remembering the hidden essence, the beauty rooted in what’s inside, not in the external facade. Thus, the miracle happened with the oil, not the Menorah itself. There was plenty of oil around, but they were missing spiritually pure oil.
Every moment of life contains both physical and spiritual dimensions. Deciding which to emphasize is a lifelong challenge. The miracle of oil shows us that, while the physical is important, it is not the ultimate essence.
As we light the menorah this Hanukkah, it’s a reminder that our light, our values, and our spiritual legacy are what endure—far beyond the physical lights and displays of any season.
In today's world, the timeless message of Hanukkah—celebrating the victory of spiritual resilience over superficiality—takes on renewed significance as antisemitic attitudes re-emerge and Jewish communities stand together with pride. Hanukkah calls us to see past the superficial and into the core of who we are as Jews.
The persistence of Jewish pride and resilience, despite these challenges, has become an inspiring modern-day miracle. The sight of menorahs displayed in windows across Jewish homes around the globe now carries added weight. They shine not just as symbols of Hanukkah but as beacons of unity, faith, and the timeless commitment to Jewish identity.
For many, lighting the menorah this year feels more than a ritual; it’s a statement that reaffirms their heritage, their values, and their enduring connection to the Jewish people.
As we light the menorah, we remember the story of the small, pure flask of oil that kept the flame alive for eight days, mirroring the way Jewish communities, despite facing external pressures, continue to uphold their unique spiritual essence, undiluted and strong.
It’s a reminder that true beauty, in the Jewish understanding, emerges not from external facades but from the integrity and purity within—a message as relevant now as ever.
In celebrating Hanukkah this year, hold onto the strength that comes from unity and the faith that continues to shine brightly. As antisemitism and opposition rise, the glow of the menorah reminds us that, just as it has for thousands of years, the spirit of Judaism remains indomitable, a light that refuses to be extinguished.
The song is about still standing so Jews are standing up for Judaism and surviving against all odds for a very long and also Elton John will go to a Paaover program in NY it was advertised so that is interesting I was just listening to songs about Chanukah with is melodies and the bottom line is " Am Yisrael Chai" and whoever started up with Jews get defeated in the end
In parsha Noah the two sons that covered their father after he get drunk was Shem and Yafat one son became the ancestors of the Jews and one the Greeks one stood for outer beauty only the other one stood for both inner and outer beauty, also that is why Jacob ended up with another name of Yisrael, and when the Chanukah story occurred the Greeks mistaken thought only outer beauty is important but in Judaism and in realty of life you need both outer and inner beauty in the world, that is how Jews and Judaism survived forever because the Torah teaches us in need both to survive in the world, that is why other empires collapsed but Jews and Judaism endured like the Elton John's song I think it is " I am still standing" I was listening to Chanukah songs with songs from Elton John's
JPS Tanakh Micah 6:8
I have read that the Greeks developed and kept the body healthy BECAUSE it was the house of the Soul. Do modern professors neglect this idea? It seems to me they do. Also beauty is spiritual as in the good, the beautiful, and the true. Without Israel we would not have a western civilization. The Greeks are as the second column to our great western world. Let us hope as days go on more will awake to our western roots and realize there is a reason we put camels underneath the Christmas tree: the west begins in Israel.
Good article, but we should not forget another great relevancy from the history of Chanukah: those Jews who became Hellenized (e.g., worshipped Greek culture and were disdainful of observant Jews) are forever lost to their people, which happens today as well when Jews intermarry or otherwise assimilate.
And the tragedy is that these Jews usually don't know (even if they think they do) what it is that they've given up!
We keep hearing that there has been a Jewish awakening after Oct. 7, but unless we actively seek out our brethren to bring them into the fold, don't we risk losing them?
Hopefully, a forum like Aish will address this specific issue as well as it presents related ones.
where is the quote of reb yehuda halevy?
I have a recent observation. Those rioting against us, particularly the more "sophisticated" among them and those that claim Judaism can survive without Israel want to destroy Judaism itself. If Israel is erased in siddurim and the Torah, those are no longer Jewish. We don't say the Shema as "Hear O Cambodia". No shuls are names B'nai Paraguay.
I love how you write Menachem! So proud to be your Aunt Deb! Chanukah sameach.
When in Germany the siddurs that changed Jerusalem with a place in Germany then Hitler( may his name be erased) came and the Holocaust happened Israel and Jews go together it is our homeland and went into exile because of hating each other for no reason all through history Jews that left Judaism got lost to assimilation and intermarriage sadly
You are right, our enemies want to steal our identity and claim Israel as their inheritance instead of the Jews, Yishmael is not the one to inherit the land but Isaac and his descendants also in the prophets it says this will happen before Moshiach comes