What archaeologists discovered was a burial cave believed to include tombs of the Maccabees. (Some archeologists have since claimed that a more likely Maccabean burial site can be found in the nearby Yohanan Hagardi Ruins). The complex had three chambers containing 23 ossuaries – stone boxes of human remains. One of them appeared to refer to the Hasmoneans, with Hebrew letters chet, shin, mem, part of a nun, and alef , all written in script from that period.
Inscribed on the newly uncovered ossuaries were such names as Sara, Miriama, Elazar, and Eliezer written in Greek, and Shimon in Hebrew. Some of those are the names of the sons of Matityahu, who defeated Antiochus. Other finds in the cave were coins and oil lamps of the Hasmonean period. This was the last era of Jewish independence in the land prior to the modern State of Israel.
Sholem Aleichem wrote about Chanukah in “The Wheel Makes a Turn.” He depicted a proud Jew lighting the eight-branch candelabrum, celebrating the festival of dedication and liberation with warmth and affection. Later in the story, this same man, now old and infirm, is barely allowed to light the candles by his assimilated son, while his grandson is not even allowed to watch. The story ends when the grandson is an adult and celebrates Chanukah with his friends, to the dismay of his “modern” parents who cannot accept that their son has rejected their assimilation and returned to his Jewish roots.
Today we still celebrate Chanukah as a festival of light and song. As I sing “Maoz Tsur” I’m reminded of the Chabad saying, “Song opens a window to the secret places of the soul.” At Chanukah 1949, when we had the miracle of our homeland through the sacrifice of so many who had fought and died for it, poet A. Haffner wrote these words (translated from the Hebrew):
“As in all the years, we have re-kindled the light,
But those brave and true boys who have fallen in fight
We shall never forget, they are forever in sight.
For these are the boys who in every strongpoint fought
Bringing freedom in the bodies’ sacrifice they wrought
And a second Chanukah miracle they have brought.”
Dvora Waysman
Jerusalem
Editor’s Note: Dvora Waysman is the author of 13 books; her novel “The Pomegranate Pendant,” now a movie titled “The Golden Pomegranate,” was recently awarded the Shabazi Prize for Literature.