Under Tsar Nicholas I of Russia, when tens of thousands of young Jewish recruits in the Tsar’s army faced enormous pressure, including torture to accept baptism, their brave resistance prompted the Lubavitcher Rebbe, known as the Tzemach Tzedek, to compare their suffering to that of the Jews under the rule of Antiochus. The Tzemach Tzedek considered these boys, known as “Cantonists,” to be the greatest heroes among the Jews.
So why rejoice if much of Chanukah and its legacy are linked to suffering and persecution? Perhaps Chanukah should be a gloomy and depressing memorial day.
What is celebrated is the fact that the sacrifices by so many during the time of the Maccabees, and over the millennia as well, were not in vain. By acknowledging their sacrifices, by declaring that there are things worth sacrificing for, we are celebrating life – and the endurance of the Jews as a people.
There are special messages we can glean from Chanukah in our own times.
Within the confines of free and open societies, Chanukah is also a most appropriate time to ask what being a Jew means, and how we can use the freedoms which with we are blessed to perpetuate that eternal legacy.