THE HANUKKAH-THANKSGIVING CONNECTION!

Volume 20 • 2

ISSN 0741-0352 PRINTED IN THE U.S.A. ©2013EDITOR IN CHIEF: SUSAN PERLMAN EDITOR: MATT SIEGERDESIGN AND ILLUSTRATION: PAIGE SAUNDERSJOIN US AT FACEBOOK.COM/ISSUESMAG

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Picture this. You and your extended family—aunts,

uncles, cousins, parents and grandparents—are

gathered for a meal. The table is beautifully set, and

a huge feast has been prepared. Many wonderful

smells mix in the air. Everyone is eager to eat. The

dining room has been decorated with bright, fall-

colored leaves and painted dreidels. There are

pumpkins, gourds and a nine-branched menorah

creating a centerpiece on the buffet. On the table is a

large, steaming turkey next to a dish heaped with

golden-brown latkes. Beside the corn bread is a loaf

of warm challah. There is both cranberry sauce and

applesauce in abundance. For dessert everyone will

enjoy homemade pumpkin pie and sufganiyot (jelly-

filled donuts). Does this sound like your typical

Hanukkah celebration? Probably not. What about a

classic Thanksgiving meal? Nope. But this may be

how some Jewish families choose to celebrate

Hanukkah this year!

This year Hanukkah and Thanksgiving will overlap.

But this event will not take place again until the year

79,811! [See back cover.]

Thanksgiving has already become united with

American Jewish culture. Perhaps the most poignant

depiction of this appears in director Barry Levinson’s

memorable scene

in his movie

Avalon. As the

Polish-Jewish

Krichinsky family

awaits the arrival

of the notoriously

late Gabriel and

his wife, Gabriel’s

brother Sam

decides to start the meal without them. When Gabriel

arrives he bellows, “You cut the toikey without me?!”

and storms out of the house.

And here’s some Jewish-Thanksgiving trivia: Luis

de Torres, a Jewish physician who accompanied

Columbus in 1492, gave the holiday bird its name.

Upon seeing the large wild fowl for the first time, de

Torres exclaimed “Tukki!” which is the Hebrew word

for peacock.

Hanukkah and Thanksgiving actually fit together

like a hand in a glove.

Like that beloved U.S. holiday when families

gather for fellowship, delicious dishes and grateful

recollections, Hanukkah celebrates a similar (perhaps

even more dramatic) story of victory, freedom and

THE HANUKKAH-THANKSGIVING CONNECTION: WHO KNEW? by Hannah Fenn

Luis de Torres

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thankfulness.

The Hanukkah story began in 167 B.C. when a

group of Judean freedom fighters led by Judah

Maccabee rebelled against the Seleucid Empire.

Though few in numbers, they rose up against the

tyrannical ruler, Antiochus IV, who wanted to

eradicate Judaism. The bold rebellion was successful.

The Maccabees won independence from the Seleucid

Empire and founded the Hasmonean dynasty.

Hanukkah celebrates the rededication of the Temple

in Jerusalem as a place to worship God.

The first Hanukkah was actually a late Sukkot.

The Book of Maccabees says that upon reclaiming the

Temple, the Jewish people celebrated Sukkot (the

Feast of Booths) two months late: “And they

celebrated it for eight days with rejoicing, in the

manner of the feast of booths, remembering how not

long before, during the feast of booths, they had been

wandering in the mountains and caves like wild

animals” (2 Maccabees 10:6).

And the first Thanksgiving was probably

modeled on Sukkot as well. When the Separatists

(those wanting to separate from the Church of

England) fled England in the early 1600s to escape

religious persecution, they settled in Holland,

known for its religious tolerance. A small group of

Jews had settled there after being exiled from

Spain in 1492. While in Holland, the Separatists

(who later became known as the Pilgrims) had

contact with this Sephardic Jewish community and

most likely witnessed the harvest festival of

Sukkot. After arriving in America, the Pilgrims

thanked God for their first successful harvest with

a three-day, Sukkot-like feast of celebration. Ninety

Native Americans joined in the feast.

The parallels between these two holidays

continue. Both the Maccabees and the Pilgrims

suffered from their refusal to assimilate. While

under the authority of the

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ISSUES is a forum of several Messianic Jewish viewpoints. The author alone, where the author’s name is given, is responsible for the statements expressed. Those wishing to take exception orthose wishing to enter into dialogue with one of these authors may write the publishers and letters will be forwarded. Email: editor@issuesmag.org • Web: jewsforjesus.org

(continued on page 6)

HANUKKAH AND THANKSGIVING ACTUALLY FIT

TOGETHER LIKE A HAND IN A GLOVE.

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Iknow that most people don’t

think of Thanksgiving as a

Jewish holiday. But I always

will. That’s because during

Thanksgiving weekend 1973, I

experienced the most

wonderful, most mind-

boggling—and most Jewish—

moment of my entire life. It made me truly thankful on that

Thanksgiving and every day since.

Believe me, what happened that weekend was as big

a shock to me as it probably will be to you when you read

about it. But, as they say, let me start at the beginning . . .

Born in Chicago in 1951 into a Jewish home, I am the

oldest of five—four girls and a boy. My mother was a

stay-at-home mom. My dad was part owner of Joseph

Electronics with his brothers and father. Later he sold his

portion of the business and became a stamp dealer.

Being Jewish was important to me but didn’t have

much to do with God. It was mainly about holidays we

kept as opposed to holidays our gentile friends kept. I did

like getting out of school on the High Holidays, and we

attended temple once in a while on those occasions. The

services didn’t mean anything to me, though, and at times

I had an irreverent attitude at temple. The most

memorable holiday was Passover at Grandma’s house.

She made all the traditional foods from scratch and I loved

seeing cousins at that time. We did light candles at

Hanukkah and sang the blessing over the candles, but

again, God wasn’t a part of it.

In my early childhood I was plagued with fear. Although

my parents were always there, they weren’t “there for me”

emotionally, so I dealt with my fears alone. When I was

fifteen, I started experimenting with alcohol, and my fear

slowly gave way to rebellion. I began lying to my parents

and going places they didn’t want me to go. I became a

thief (stealing from my employer) and a shoplifter. By the

time I was eighteen I couldn’t wait to leave home.

When my sister Judy’s Jewish friend Joanna told her

that Joanna’s brother was at a communal farm, we

decided to check it out. We knew the farm was near

Freeport, just a couple of hours west of Chicago, but we

never got directions. We tried to hitchhike to the farm,

couldn’t find it, kept on going and ended up in Berkeley,

California! There we tried LSD, and Judy nearly died.

Fortunately, the LSD had no effect on me. We had to call

our dad, and he wired us money to fly back home.

Nevertheless, I continued my rebellious lifestyle,

which spiraled out of control. I became promiscuous, a

drug abuser and an alcoholic. I should have died a number

of times because of how I was living. My adolescence and

young adulthood were so filled with confusion and

rebellion that I don’t remember even thinking about my

Jewish identity. I do remember that I did not believe in an

afterlife but believed, “When you’re dead, you’re dead.”

In the meantime, Judy had found her way to the farm. It

turns out that the farm was a kibbutz-like community of

believers who used the name Y’shua to worship Messiah,

kept Shabbat and celebrated the Hebrew feasts. Judy learned

about Y’shua (Jesus) and came to believe in him as the

Jewish Messiah. When the pastor and his wife prayed for

Robin and Steve’s wedding day

Robin

DELIVERED FROM FEAR: A JEWISH THANKSGIVING STORY by Robin Joseph Blaha

her, all of the bad effects from her LSD trip came to an end.

I was living in Ohio in 1973 and went home for

Thanksgiving. Judy and my sister Lynne started telling me

about Jesus and how he had changed their lives. Although

I thought they were crazy, when they invited me to a local

meeting that weekend, I went. The preacher was talking

about the return of Christ and that we all needed to have

our hearts right with him before he returned. I really didn’t

understand what he was talking about because I had

never heard of Jesus Christ before, except as a swear

word. I had no idea that “Christ” was the Greek word for

Messiah. But I knew I was not right with God.

When we got home, my sisters kept telling me I

needed to be “saved.” Because they were new believers,

they couldn’t really explain to me how. Finally Lynne

quoted John 3:16 to me with my name in it: “For God so

loved Robin, that he gave his only Son, that if she would

believe in him she would not perish but have everlasting

life.” In that moment I experienced a miracle. God himself

revealed to me that this was true. God loved ME! He

gave his son to die for ME! I began weeping and thanking

him for loving me. Intellectually I didn’t understand yet,

but I believed. I was “born again,” a new creature, as the

New Testament describes it in that same chapter, three,

of the Gospel of John [see link at http://j.mp/16DbIr5].

Jesus had died to pay the penalty for my sin and I was

forgiven.

Looking back, I realize that God had been drawing me

to himself. I had some idols, and God had been tearing

them down one by one. One of them was Neil Young.

When I went to see him in concert, as the fans were

calling out requests, he told them to shut up. I also

idolized my friend’s boyfriend—until I saw him scared and

running for his life. God even used the movie Soylent

Green to show me how bad the world was.

But that same weekend, immediately my parents took

me to the rabbi’s office

(as they had with Judy)

so he could talk me out

of my new faith. After he

was done talking, I went

out into the hallway of

the temple and declared,

“I believe Y’shua is the

Messiah!” I don’t know if anyone heard me, but I knew it

was true. After the weekend, I drove Judy back to the

farm. The people there more fully explained to me all

that Jesus had done. One week later I moved in.

God instantly delivered me from destructive habits

such as drinking, smoking, drugs, promiscuity and

swearing. The farm was a wonderful place for a broken

person to mend. We learned to worship God, to love one

another and to work together. A young man named Steve

had already been there three years, and in 1980 we were

married. We have two children, Dan and Sharon, both

now adults, and four beautiful grandchildren.

Through the years God has continually been working

on me in other areas such as fear and anxiety. In every

situation I have learned to trust that he truly loves me

and is taking care of me. I have known him for 40 years

and he is still changing me. When I do wrong, he makes

me aware of it; I want to repent and stay right with him.

Steve and I own a reading clinic, which we operate

from our home. My workday involves one-on-one teaching

of students who are either struggling with reading in

school or who want to get a good start before going to

school. My faith plays a very important role in what I do. I

pray for my students, especially those with special needs.

God has brought me through many difficulties and has

caused me to grow with each one. He is a most faithful

loving Father. Slowly but surely he has delivered me from

all my fears.�

Robin, daughter Sharon, son Dan andhusband Steve

5

Seleucid Empire, the Jews were violently pressured

to adopt Greek culture and killed if they did not.

Antiochus IV made circumcision, possessing a Torah

scroll and observing the Sabbath punishable by

death. The Pilgrims’ first Thanksgiving came after a

year of extreme hardship. Out of the 102 that had

traveled on the Mayflower, around half died during

the first winter.

For those of us who acknowledge God, both

Hanukkah and Thanksgiving celebrate his

faithfulness. In the United States, we celebrate God’s

providence in guiding the Pilgrims safely to these

shores where they laid the foundation for the

religious freedom we enjoy today. During Hanukkah,

we thank God that throughout the centuries he has

preserved the Jewish people.

But the religious freedom for which the

Maccabees fought did not last. About 160 years after

the first Hanukkah, Judea was under the control of

Herod the Great and the Roman Empire. It was at this

time in history that Y’shua (Jesus) lived. He grew up

under oppressive Roman rule. (As a child, he had

escaped Herod’s mad slaughter of many young

Jewish males in Bethlehem.) And it was during one

Hanukkah as he walked in the Temple, that he was

surrounded by a crowd of Jewish religious leaders.

They asked him to make it clear whether or not he

was the Messiah.

The Gospel of John records:

Then came the Festival of Dedication

[Hanukkah] at Jerusalem. It was winter, and

Jesus was in the temple courts walking in

Solomon’s Colonnade. The [Jewish religious

leaders] who were there gathered around him,

saying, “How long will you keep us in

suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us

plainly.” (John 10:22-24)

Y’shua responded clearly to this demand. He told

them, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The

works I do in my Father’s name testify about me . . .”

(John 10:25).

The “works” Y’shua was referencing were his

miracles. He had performed many, and yet most

would not believe what he said about himself.

Miracles were what Hanukkah was all about.

According to tradition, when the Maccabees

purged and rededicated the Temple, only a day’s

worth of oil for the menorah was found. It would

take eight days to prepare more. Miraculously, the

meager supply of oil burned for eight days! Just as

the miracle of the oil symbolized God’s protection

of his people, Y’shua’s miracles testified as to who

he was.

The New Testament is replete with stories of

(continued from page 3)

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YET THE JEWISH PEOPLE OF THE FIRST CENTURY WERE EXPECTING THE MESSIAH TO BE

A POLITICAL HERO LIKE JUDAH MACCABEE AND TODELIVER THEM FROM ROMAN CONTROL.

7

how Y’shua healed the sick, gave sight to the blind,

and even raised the dead. But when he uttered the

words, “I and the Father are one,” to those gathered

around him on Hanukkah in Solomon’s Colonnade

(John 10:30), he elevated his claim from miracle

worker to God himself! Not surprisingly, his

declaration was met with outrage by some and

curiosity by others.

The false claim of deity had been made 200

years earlier by Antiochus IV, who believed he was

a manifestation of the Greek god Zeus and took the

title Epiphanes, which means “God Manifest.” He

plundered the Temple and sacrificed a pig on God’s

altar. Now Y’shua was also claiming divinity. And

for those who believed the prophecies of a coming

Messiah, they would recognize the title,

Emmanuel, which

means “God with us”

as coming straight

from the teachings of

the prophet Isaiah

(Isaiah 7:14). Jesus,

like Antiochus, claimed

to be God. But unlike

the pagan ruler,

Y’shua’s miracles gave

credence to his claims.

Yet the Jewish

people of

the first

century

were

expecting

the

Messiah

to be a

political hero like Judah Maccabee and to deliver

them from Roman control. Y’shua claimed to set

people free from their sins. He said of himself, “If the

Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John

8:36). Judah Maccabee gained a great victory for the

nation from religious oppression; Y’shua offered the

individual a greater victory—one over sin and death!

For those who believed, Y’shua was the hero who had

come to bring everlasting life. But most did not

recognize this, and that’s true today as well!

When we sit down to our Thanksgiving meal on

the first day of Hanukkah this year, it’s a good thing

to remember the great deliverance that God gave to

those who were under the thumb of tyranny, and also

to remember that in many parts of the world, people

still suffer under oppressive rule. It’s also a good

time to rejoice and reflect on the greater

deliverance—from death to eternal life—that the

Messiah Y’shua offers each one of us. Have a Happy

Hanukkah/Thanksgiving! �

JUDAH MACCABEE GAINED A GREAT VICTORY FOR THENATION FROM RELIGIOUS OPPRESSION; Y’SHUA OFFERED THEINDIVIDUAL A GREATER VICTORY—ONE OVER SIN ANDDEATH—FOR THOSE WHO BELIEVE.

Antiochus IV

Judah Maccebee before the Army of Nicanor(from an etching by Gustave Doré)

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Hanukkah 2013 will be quite literally a once-in-a-lifetime event. That’s because the first night

of Hanukkah, November 27, will fall the nightbefore Thanksgiving. So the first day of Hanukkahwill fall on Thanksgiving Day. And it won’t happenagain until the year 79,811!1

Thanksgiving was formally established byPresident Lincoln in 1863 as the last Thursday inNovember. This happy Hanukkah-Thanksgivingcollision occurred once before, in 1888. In 1942Thanksgiving was declared to be the fourthThursday in November.

The Jewish calendar, which is lunar, is slowlygoing out of sync with the Gregorian calendar,which is solar. Because Thanksgiving is the fourthThursday in November, the latest it can be isNovember 28. Hanukkah, which falls on November28 this year, will progressively “shift” forward atthe rate of four days every 1,000 years.

Assuming the Jewish calendar is neverchanged, Hanukkah will move slowly forwardthrough the Gregorian calendar and loop back towhere it is now. So we will have this uniqueholiday collision again . . . in 79,811.

Check your calendar for 79,811. If you have noplans that night, we’d like to invite you over for dinner.

1. https://sites.google.com/site/mizrahijonathan/home/ThanksgivingAndHanukkah

Learn more about why Hanukkah is more than the“Jewish alternative” to Christmas. Watch anexciting episode of our animated feature, “KosherJoe: Do you Believe in Chrismukkah?” And find agreat recipe for latkes (to serve with yourThanksgiving turkey!). All athttp://www.jewsforjesus.org/judaica/hanukkah

What do a devout Orthodox Jew, a drug dealer,and a female cantor all have in common? Go toShout Out for the answer. Jewish journeys offaith, streaming now at jewsforjesus.org/shoutout