An Underground Comic for the Hanukka Season

And David Kelsey is partially responsible. Read (and see) it all on Jewcy.

Comments

[OzYashirMotti]

There is a very pithy Yiddish expression (aren't they all?) sometimes used in yeshivah argumentation to label something interjected into an argument that has no logical bearing on the debate as a non-sequitur or an irrelevancy or a red herring. It goes: vi kumt a yovon in sukkah arayn? (How did a Greek get into the sukkah?) Somewhat ironic don't you think, in view of the historical connection.

On a more serious note, as a comment on the cartoon, I can see the context here of the link, but I can also see people getting their gatkes in a real knot over it. It is worth pointing out therefore that satire has its place, but remember that that's all it is -- satire, and it must be taken with a pinch of salt. The author is using artistic license to make a point. It is a caricaturization (and that, after all, is what a cartoon is – a caricature) of history, not a serious representation of it.

On the general to and fro of the discussion here about Hanukah, it is also worth reminding people that collective (national) memory and history are two separate and distinct things, each valid in its own right. They should not be lumped together or confused with each other, nor can they be judged by the same criteria.

The former is all about the things that we hold dear, the things that we celebrate and mourn, the things that have contributed to the evolution of our national culture, identity, beliefs and values. It is loosely (very loosely) based on history but it is not dependent on historical accuracy for validity. History is a scientific, not a cultural pursuit, and true historians (both religious and otherwise) are aware of the difference and allow each its own space.

For dozens of generations, Christian children attaining a certain age and finding out the awful truth that Santa isn't real after all, have been subjected to the terrible trauma of discovering what a monumental lie and fraud their parents and religious teachers have perpetrated upon them. So far, they haven't cancelled Christmas on account of it. Instead, they go on to perpetrate the same fraud upon their own children.

My point is that eventually we grow up and learn to winnow the stories and legends of Judaism from Jewish history. For some it happens sooner, for others later, and some of the latter can be left a little traumatised at having their eyes so suddenly and harshly opened at such a tender old age. But anyone with some intelligence and sophistication need not feel devastated or angered by this. It doesn't diminish the meaning and significance of our festivals, nor of our religious values, and it doesn't mean that we have to cancel Hanukah or our next Seder because of it. It does however make a powerful argument for some more sophistication in our teaching of Judaism beyond the simple stories of our childhood. And this is worth learning by the very religious and the not so religious alike.

So lighten up, and light up. Go eat your latkes and spin the dreidl, and when you do, realise that truth has its place, but so, occasionally, does spin.

[Yochanan Lavie]

Oz Yashir: Great post. I look forward to your future comments. Frielich Chanukah and Chag Samaech.

[Neo-Conservaguy]

"It doesn't diminish the meaning and significance of our festivals, nor of our religious values, and it doesn't mean that we have to cancel Hanukah or our next Seder because of it. It does however make a powerful argument for some more sophistication in our teaching of Judaism beyond the simple stories of our childhood."

All in all, that was a great post. I do, however, take issue with a part of this:

I'm more impressed by the latter statement than the former. One could argue that mistaken understanding of festivals does undercut the religious significance of them. Why is celebrating Chanukah important if it's celebrated for the wrong reasons - because we like the fried food? Better we should follow your second thought and work on teaching the more complicated historical realities of the events and later spin of them. Then, we'll be better equipped to celebrate the incredible tapestry of myth and reality that comprises Jewish history.

[A reader]

Just want to point out that there is a difference between "history" and historiography and that the academic field of "history" and its subsequent presentation as we know it is ALWAYS engineered by historiography of one sort or another. Why should I feel compelled to accept one method of historiography over another? And who is to say what version of events really came "later."

The truth is that if we term history as 'what actually happened' then only G-d really knows that with absolute confidence. If we term "history" as the presented field of general knowledge of past events as accepted by the mainstream, then this is not in fact history of 'what actually happened' it is simply a general consensus on one version of it, and arrived at by science, logic, thought, conjecture, and all other means available to us. Regardless of the methods, it is still placing one brand of historiography on a level slightly above any others to call one version of events "history" and another version of events as simply "culture" or "traditional culturally believed myths about history." They are both varying versions of events. The preferred method of historiography is up to the student to choose, is it not?

[upset and concerned]

be careful. what you are doing here seems like a chilul H' big time.

during days like this we need people who foster ahavas yisroel, not sinat chinam.

remember your history and work for the jewish people, not against.