COMMENTARY
Affirming our identity Rabbi Mark Wm. Gross
C
Federation Star
December 2021
hanukah, Chag ha-Urim “The Feast of Lights,” is a bright and luminous spot in the dead of winter. The kindling of the m’norah — increasing one additional lamp each night, from one to all eight, because our sages of antiquity taught that “one should never decrease in matters of holiness” — represents the defiant affirmation of our faith in a dark and troubled world. The origins of the holiday lie in an even darker and more troubled time, nearly 2,200 years ago, when the Seleucid Emperor, Antiochus Epiphanes, summarily criminalized the faith legacy of his Judean subjects. He erected a statue of Olympian Zeus in the Jerusalem Temple, mandated that the Jews were to sacrifice only to the gods of the Greek pantheon and forbade circumcision, kosher slaughtering and Torah study on pain of death. Now, there are many in our South Florida community who witnessed far worse during the Nazi era. The difference is that the Germans sought to obliterate the physical presence of the Jewish people first from Europe, then from the rest of the world. The decree of Antiochus was, in its own way, far harsher, because it expressed an indifference to the Jewish body and sought instead to obliterate the Jewish soul. This was, frankly, just fine with some Jews. Then, as now, there were many of our people who viewed circumcision as arcane and barbaric; who didn’t keep kosher (and, in modern terms, were first in line when stone crabs came into season); who didn’t study Torah; and who were indifferent to annual pilgrimage to the national shrine in Jerusalem, let alone to attending the synagogue daily. They couldn’t read Hebrew, but were fluent in Greek; they gave their children Greek
names that would “pass” in polite society; and they went modern rhinoplasty one better by subjecting themselves to epispasm, a plastic reconstruction of the foreskin so they wouldn’t stand out at the gymnasium. The underlying tragedy of Chanukah is that it was precisely the effort of these assimilated Jews to fit in that drew the attention of Antiochus to his Judean subjects in the first place. The First Book of Maccabees records that a Jewish delegation came seeking permission to open a gymnasium in Jerusalem, a request which so pleased the emperor that he decided on the spot that all Jews should relinquish their culture, language, practices and beliefs in favor of his own. His Draconian enforcement of that legislation included bloodshed so savage and so indiscriminate that it polarized the Jewish world. The frank detail we have to be honest enough to confront, is that the story of Chanukah has little to do with the reconsecration of the Altar in the Temple (and nothing to do with the little flask of oil, which only came up four centuries later in the Talmud). The story of Chanukah is bound up not with the war our people fought against an oppressor over the idea of religious freedom, but with a civil war fought among our own people over our corporate integrity. Thinking in those terms, kindling the m’norah constitutes our ongoing affirmation of that integrity. Lighting these lights is our declaration that we are not modern Hellenizers, but rather proud and true children of Israel who affirm our identity, our legacy and our commitment to each other. This sacred holiday may recall the long-ago rededication of the Altar in Jerusalem, but today it marks our own personal rededication as, to paraphrase poet Karl Shapiro, we “sink deep in a Western chair and rest our soul, and say our name aloud for the first time unconsciously.” Rabbi Mark Wm. Gross serves at Jewish Congregation of Marco Island.
What do you think? The Federation Star wants to know!
13A
Jewish Congregation of Marco Island in cooperation with
present
THE 21 ST SEASON OF THE SIDNEY R. HOFFMAN MEMORIAL
PRESENTING THE NEWEST AND BEST AWARD-WINNING FILMS ON THE JEWISH CIRCUIT
Opening Day JACKIE MASON – THE ULTIMATE JEW (THE FINAL PERFORMANCE) Sunday afternoon, December 12, 2021
Film 2:00 PM
Jackie Mason, didn’t always set out to be a comedian. In fact, it wasn’t until he was 30 that he left behind the Orthodox rabbinate for irreverent open-mic nights. Born Yacov Moshe Maza to Orthodox parents, was one of the last survivors of the Borscht Belt comedy circuit that propelled a host of Jewish funnymen, including Jerry Stiller and Rodney Dangerfield, from the Catskills resorts that catered to Jewish vacationers into the American popular imagination. 78 Minutes
LATTER DAY JEW Sunday afternoon, January 9, 2022
Film 2:00 PM
LATTER DAY JEW is a documentary feature film following H. Alan Scott, a gay, former Mormon / converted Jew / cancer survivor / writer-comedian, as he finds his spiritual path and prepares for his Bar Mitz-vah. But before he can become a man in the eyes of Jewish law, he wants to figure out what it means to be the best Jew he can be and even figure out what that means. 85 Minutes
TIGER WITHIN Sunday afternoon, February 13, 2022
Film 2:00 PM
A story featuring an unlikely friendship between a homeless teen and a Holocaust survivor, sparking larger questions of fear, forgiveness, healing and world peace, starring multiple Emmy Award-winning actor, Ed Asner. 98 Minutes
NEIGHBOURS Sunday afternoon, March 20, 2022
Film 2:00 PM
In a Syrian border village in the early 80’s, little Sero attends school for the first time. A new teacher has arrived with the goal of making strapping Panarabic comrades out of the Kurdish children. To enable paradise to come to earth, he uses the rod to forbid the Kurdish language, orders the veneration of Assad and preaches hate of the Zionist enemy- the Jews. With a fine sense of humor and satire, the film depicts a childhood which manages to find light moments between dictatorship and dark drama. WINNER! SF Film Critics Jury Prize - San Francisco Jewish Film Festival 2021 124 Minutes Subtitles All films will be shown at the Jewish Congregation, 991 Winterberry Drive ~ Marco Island
And will also be available via Live Stream from our website: www.marcojcmi.com
Clip and Mail Sidney R. Hoffman Memorial Jewish Film Fes�val Patron Series $85/person ~ Regular Series $75/person ~ Single Tickets $25/person Name ________________________________________________________________ Phone ________________________________________________________________ Email ________________________________________________________________
Send your letters and comments to sharon@marketcrank.com
I would like _____ Patron Series �ckets I would like _____ Regular Series �ckets
I am interested in Live Streaming the films. Please Call me for Credit Card Informa�on _______
I would like �ckets for the following films:
Letters Policy Include your name, full address and daytime phone. Letters should be no longer than 300 words. We reserve the right to edit for length and/or accuracy. Letters do not necessarily reflect the viewpoint of the Jewish Federation of Greater Naples, the Federation Star or its advertisers. We cannot acknowledge or publish every letter received.
Jackie Mason #______ Tiger Within #______ La�er Day Jew #______
Neighbours #______
Check #____ Mail �ckets to ____________________________________________ or Credit Card Informa�on __________________________________
