Courage and Pride: Hanukkah's Enduring Lessons

Rabbi David Hartman
Although there may have been sufficient oil in the cruses of oil which had been ritually defiled, Jews insisted on using only pure oil, even though the quantity found appeared to be insufficient. The willingness to rely on one small but pure cruse of oil symbolized the reluctance to compromise their standards of excellence and moral ideals.

Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel; God In Search Of Man. pp. 282-283
A Heretic, the Talmud reports, chided the Jews for the rashness in which he claimed they persisted. "First you should have listened; in the commandments were within your power of fulfillment, you should have accepted them; if beyond your power, rejected them." Indeed, Israel's supreme acquiescence at Sinai was an inversion, turning upside down the order of attitudes as conceived by our abstract thinking Do we not always maintain that we must first explore a system before we decide to accept it? This order of inquiry is valid in regard to pure theory, to principles and rules but it has limitations when applied to realms where thought and fact , the abstract and the concrete , theory and experience are inseparable. It would be futile, for example , to explore the meaning of music and abstain from listening to music . It would be just as futile to explore the Jewish thought from a distance , in self-detachment. Jewish thought is disclosed in Jewish living . This, therefore, is the way of religious existence . We do not explore first and decide after wards whether to accept the Jewish way of living . We must accept in order to be able to explore.
A Jew is asked to take a leap of action rather than a leap of thought. He is asked to surpass his needs, to do more than he understands in order to understand more than he does.

The Hasmonean Model - Rabbi Yehuda Amital
Despite the many problems the State faces, we may not ignore the great miracles we experienced at the time of its establishment. Analogously, although the Hasmonean state was far from perfect, its establishment (and the return of Jewish sovereignty, albeit limited) was nevertheless a cause for celebration, as the Rambam emphasizes. The Rambam (Commentary to the Mishna, Yoma 1:3) knew very well the inauspicious character of the Hasmonean kings:
"But in the time of the Second Temple, things were imperfect, as is well known – the kings did not follow the correct tradition and they would appoint the High Priest by force, even though he was unworthy…"
Nevertheless, he felt that the establishment of the Hasmonean monarchy constitutes the main reason behind the celebration of Chanuka (Hilkhot Chanuka, 3:1-3):
"The High Priests of the Hasmonean family were victorious and killed [the Greeks], thus saving Israel from their hands. They established a king from among the priests, and monarchy returned to Israel for over two hundred years… Because of this, the scholars of that generation instituted that these eight days, starting from the twenty-fifth of Kislev, shall be days of joy and praise."
The Second Temple period thus serves as a legitimate model by which we may assess the contemporary Jewish State, a half-century after its establishment. However imperfect, one cannot overlook the many positive elements of our independent national existence. Our leaders today are no worse than the Hasmonean kings, and our country is no worse than theirs was. To the contrary, our leadership and society often exhibit moral qualities far superior to those of the Hasmonean dynasty.

Rabbi David Hartman on Universalism and Particularism
Like the spirit of the Maccabean revolt, lighting the Hanukkah lamp is a public demonstration of Jewish life in defiance of an ethos which seeks to neutralize individuality and cultural diversity.
Although Jewish law stipulates that one candle each night on behalf of an entire family is legally sufficient, we express exceptional devotion to Torah by following the practice of the mehadrin min ha’mehadrin (the exceptionally fervent among the fervent) by adding one candle each night, as Beit Hillel and by having each member of the family light his or her own menorah.
On Hanukkah, all of Israel voluntarily accepted to go beyond the minimum requirements of the law. The practice accepted by the community on Hanukkah demonstrates its passionate love of Torah and mitzvah.
Making hiddur mitzvah the accepted practice of Hanukkah is befitting a festival where Jews proudly affirm commitment to their particular way of life. Hanukkah symbolizes the Maccabean courage to defend Jewish particularity against the threat of cultural monism.
We stand firm against cultural totalitarianism, which ridicules the dream of spiritual pluralism and blurs cultural differences between peoples. Universalizability must remain an essential condition of ethics alone. Although our belief in the universal dignity of man created in the image of God must be firm and uncompromising, our attitude to cultural and spiritual ways of life must express the values of pluralism which safeguard diversity and individual integrity.

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks:
Is there a way forward? More than half a century ago the Oxford philosopher John Plamenatz noted that religious freedom was born in Europe in the seventeenth century after a devastating series of religious wars. All it took was a single shift, from the belief that “Faith is the most important thing; therefore everyone should honour the one true faith”, to the belief that “Faith is the most important thing; therefore everyone should be free to honour his or her own faith.”
This meant that people of all faiths were guaranteed that whichever religion was dominant, he or she would still be free to obey their own call of conscience. Plamenatz’s striking conclusion was that “Liberty of conscience was born, not of indifference, not of scepticism, not of mere open-mindedness, but of faith.” The very fact that my religion is important to me allows me to understand that your quite different religion is no less important to you.