Today is the first day of Hanukkah. The first candles were lit last night. There are seven more days, and seven more nights to go.

What should I say that you might not already know? Some of you know more about Hanukkah than I do. Some of you spell it Chanukah, but I choose to spell it Hanukkah for one simple reason: that’s the way my computer’s spellcheck spells it.

Three points: (1) Hanukkah is a holiday clearly based on a real historical occurrence – the revolt of the Hasmonean Maccabees against King Antiochus IV in about 135 B.C.E. (2) Because Hanukkah was based on a post-biblical event, it cannot be mentioned in the Hebrew bible. (3) It is considered a “minor” holiday, although it has over the past several decades taken on greater importance.

What makes is a minor holiday? Well, for one thing, as I said, it is not biblical. For another, there are no religious ceremonies (other than the night lighting of the Hanukkah candles or oil lamps, generally at home and very quick) to celebrate the holiday. For a third, it is not a day when practitioners are not permitted to work. It is a normal workday.

On the other hand, especially in the United States it has become a holiday when children get presents, and families often spend more time together than usual. And of course, there are some foods which are special for Hanukkah, so there is often more attention paid to the evening meals.

This brings me to one of my personal favorite Hanukkah anecdotes: Years ago (25-30 years ago, maybe) a friend of mine – a woman, an African-American, a Christian was the president of the Washington Women’s Bar Association (I am not sure of its exact name – but you know what type of organization I am referring to). Each year, the Women’s Bar Association had a December dinner meeting – gala, with major speakers, and hundreds in attendance.

My friend the President was in charge of this dinner and she called the hotel where the dinner was usually held to see what dates their main ball room was available. It turned out that each of those dates was during Hanukkah. My friend wondered whether or not this would be a problem.

So she called a mutual friend, perhaps the most observant Jew that she knew, a lawyer, and a woman who would most likely be attending the dinner to ask if she could schedule the dinner on Hanukkah, or if this would either be offensive or cut down on attendance.

Our observant mutual friend told her that it wasn’t a problem. It was just one night of eight, you go home, you light candles and then you go to the dinner. Don’t worry. Set the date during Hanukkah. No problem.

So she did.

And then the firestorm started. It’s Hanukkah!! I have to be home with my kids!! Etc. Not from one or two people, but from scads (that’s the exact number, I believe, if memory serves) of people. I am not positive what happened next (I was not a member of the Women’s Bar), but I think it was too late to change the date.

But my friend, the President called me up during the middle of this ado (which I until then knew nothing about), with a simple question. “Art”, she said, “I have a question about Hanukkah. Is it a holiday that you only observe if you aren’t religious?”

That pretty much sums it up.

Of course, there is more I could say. I could talk about the success the Maccabees had in defeating Antiochus, cleaning out the Temple and rededicating it (Hanukkah means dedication). I could talk about the differences within the Jewish community, especially in Jerusalem (the site of the Temple), where there were many Jewish Hellenizers, as they were called, people who assimilated into the Greek culture of the ruling families, and the war of the Maccabbees became, to a civil war as well as a war against Antiochus. I could talk about the failure of the Maccabees, whose successors were not as traditional and whose rule became much more religiously lax over time.

And, if I had been living in Jerusalem at that time, what would I answer when a Jewish Pete Seeger would look at me and say “Which side are you on?”

But let’s save that for another day.