Winter to Spring, Hanukkah to Purim

Note: This is a combination of Waskow's chapters from 2/11 and 2/16.

Waskow:
“Dark of the Sun, Dark of the Moon – Hanukkah”
“The Tree That Sustains All Life – Tu B’Shvat”
“Spring Fever – Purim”

Hanukkah, a holiday based solely on history, stems from the Maccabees’ triumphant recapture of Jerusalem from the Greeks from 169 to 166 B.C.E. Judaism celebrates Hanukkah for eight days to symbolize both the Maccabees’ missed Sukkot and Sh’mini Atzeret and the small amount oil that miraculously burned for eight days during the rededication of the Temple. Hanukkah is celebrated with increasing amounts of candlelight each night, perhaps to symbolize the hope of future sunlight during the current darkness of the winter solstice. Soon afterwards, Tu B’Shvat celebrates the existence of trees with flexible forms of practice, including sedars and acts of environmental justice. After Tu B’Shvat, at the onset of spring, an anti-structure in the structure of the Jewish calendar appears as Purim. A holiday based on a somewhat ridiculous tale about the punishment of anti-semitism, Jews take this day to celebrate without restraint.

Although Hanukkah, Tu B’Shvat, and Purim celebrate three widely contrasting aspects of the same religion, their celebrations can all translate into successful ritual by Driver’s suggestions. All three can become shamanic in nature, with celebratory games and cooking on Hanukkah, communal rallying for the environment and planting of trees on Tu B’Shvat, and shared merriment on Purim. All three can incorporate the confessional, ethical, performance, and ritual modes of performance. Tu B’Shvat enters the ethical mode of performance with its call for the renewal of trees, and the ritual of Purim demands incorporation of tzedakah into celebration. Simply including community members in Hanukkah celebrations can count towards the ethical distribution of light throughout the world. Through their successful practice, all three holidays should become enjoyable experiences. Of course, the success of their practice in the ritual mode can relate back to the completion of the confessional mode, the display and acceptance of the beliefs all three holidays strive towards. The ordered practice of all three holidays creates a community of Jews that hope to contribute to the wider communitas of mankind.

Hopefully, every Jewish practice can tie back to Driver’s explanation of successful ritual. As I mentioned in a previous post, every one of mankind’s practices may tie back to Driver’s explanation of successful ritual. Perhaps, rather than searching for reform of specifically religious ritual, we should strive for the reform of every-day ritual and apply Driver’s theories to the liminality of every-day life.