The Spark Weekly 12.29.2024: The History Behind Kwanzaa and Hannukah

The Spark

The Jewish week-long festival will take place in just a few days. This year, Hanukkah falls on the night of December 25 and ends on January 2. Zach Benjamin, President and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Harrisburg and Marc Kline, Interim Rabbi of the Temp Ohev Shalom joined to the spark to share more information.The history of Hanukkah begins 2200 years ago.“The Syrian Greeks were in control of what we now call Israel Palestine, and they brought Greek culture, which was replacing the existing Jewish culture, and they trashed the temple and didn't destroy, but they trashed and were sacrificing pigs on the altar. And Jews said, we can't let this happen. And so Matthias and Judah Maccabee and their followers warred against the Syrian Greeks and they defeated the Greeks and rededicated the temple. The rest of the story becomes a matter of different versions of history. The story everybody seems to know is that when they went to light the lights on the altar, they had one cruise of oil that hadn't been destroyed. They thought it would last for one day and it lasted for eight. That story's first written about 500 years later. Many of the versions of the story, though, deal with the fact that we changed the practice from Pagan to to God at the altar, that people stopped the war to rededicate themselves to God. So whatever story you're looking at, we're looking at bringing the light of peace and faith over the ugliness of paganism and war, “said Kline.Zach Benjamin explained the significance of sundown and those eight days of Hanukkah.“Well, in at its most basic, the Hebrew calendar and the Gregorian calendar, what we think of as our typical calendar, they're different in a number of ways. The Hebrew calendar has 13 months. The our Western calendar has 12 months. And another way that they are different is that the Hebrew day begins at sundown and goes from sundown to sundown. And thus Hanukkah, like all other Jewish observances, begins at sundown on the first day. And Hanukkah lasts eight days. And so it goes until sundown.”

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Kwanzaa honors unity, pride, and African traditions from December 26 to January 1. This celebration brings people together by sharing stories, lighting candles, and community. Naaja Rodgers, Professor of Africana studies at Dickinson College says Kwanzaa is a Kiswahili word.“So it's actually a Kiswahili word, which means maternal, your Kwanzaa, which means first fruits. So essentially Kwanzaa means first fruit. And these are typically celebrations that are held throughout Africa.”Kwanza was created in 1966 by Maulana Karenga. He was a part of a cultural nationalist group that promoted African culture.“The Watts riots in Los Angeles and just the racial tensions going on during the Black Power movement inspired him to think about what we can do to kind of help African people as a collective Pan-African. Keep that theme intact. How can we ensure that black people are able to reason to remember and prepare for the new Year as opposed to just like the commercialization of Christmas where it's like a hustle and bustle, you're shopping and then you give a gift and then you go on to the new year.”There are seven principles of Kwanzaa:

Umoja (Unity)

Kujichagulia (Self-Determination)

Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility)

Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics)

Nia (Purpose)

Kuumba (Creativity)

Imani (Faith)

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