Pour Clara, de Grand-Mère
Octobre 2022

HANNOUCCA……… UNE HISTOIRE DE MIRACLES

HANUKKAH......... A STORY OF MIRACLES

When Orit opened her eyes that morning, she heard the strong voice of Zohar, the servant.
-  Stand up girls! Now is not the time to stay in bed! Listen to the song of the olive trees the autumn wind brings us! Come on out! It's a good day to fill our jars with our fresh olive oil  if you want to taste later my delicious  donuts well browned and drizzled with honey from our fields! 
Orit and Lia jump out of bed and open wide the swathes of the large family tent. After a quick wash with water from the nearby well and some ritual ablutions, they thank G-d for seeing again the day light. They greedily have a bowl of fresh pomegranate juice and a wheat cake that Zohar prepared for them.
Orit is thirteen years old: she is blonde, tall and very sporty. She always ties her golden braids with a barrette of olive wood. She is not afraid of anything, neither of the eagles circling in the sky in search of the lambs of the Jordan Valley, nor of the jackals sometimes heard howling in the Judean desert.
Lia is only eleven, with messy brown curls that Zohar can never untangle. Dreamy, more thoughtful than Orit, she likes to read, draw, run between the vines; lying in the grass, she loves to watch the clouds fleeing into the sky and the strange shapes they draw.
Every autumn, when the olive season arrives, Orit and Lia are always looking forward to hurtling down the slopes of the Mount of Olives to meet their best friend, Thalie. 
Thalia ?  Thalia,  despite her twelve years, is as tall and smart as Orit, as artist as Lia, and above all always ready to try all adventures!

 

 

However, alas, their friendship is not to everyone's taste!  Far from it! Here's why: Thalia is Greek, and Orit and Lia are daughters of Israel.
So what?
What's the problem?
The problem is, but of course, I forgot to tell you, that this true story, took place a few centuries BC. 

*****

Now, you have to know that, in those years, the climate between the Greeks and the Hebrews has become terrible.
Since the Greek King Antiochus Epiphanes came to power, war has been everywhere throughout the region. The Greeks have also decided to forcibly convert all   Hebrews to the religion of the Greek Gods of Olympus … but the Jews resist!
There is panic among the distraught Jews and some even abandon their faith.
And for two weeks, the situation has worsened: the soldiers of Antiochus Epiphanius not only terrorize the Hebrews but, terrible news: the golden candlestick of the Temple of Jerusalem has been stolen. Everything has gone wrong!
But enough is enough!! Revolt breaks out: the High Priest Matityahu, grandson of the former High Priest Yohannan, has gathered his sons, the Maccabes, to take refuge in the hills of Judea. The time has come for the Jews, to resist with arms and organize the fight!

OK ! But you're probably wondering what Orit, Lia and Thalia have to do in this story and these struggles?
Well, that's because on the one hand, Lia and Orit are the daughters of Judah, the eldest  son  of the famous Maccabees, and thus the granddaughters of the Jewish High    Priest Matityahu of Jerusalem. 
On the other hand, Thalia belongs to an eminent family of Greek scholars and poets, very close to King Antiochus Epiphanes: more over she is, in fact, the granddaughter of Thales, the great Greek mathematician! You know... the inventor of the famous  theorem!

But if it is now easy to understand why their friendship is not to everyone's taste, on the other hand, how come that Lia, Orit and Thalia did first become friends and still are,  when their  families are now the worst enemies?

Patience! Let's go back in the years! 
In the distant times of the reign of the First King Antiochus, and even though Judea and Jerusalem had been conquered, peace reigned: Antiochus respected the religious customs of the Jews and the Jews, those of the Greeks. As Thalia’s grandfather, the great poet and mathematician Thales, he had accompanied Antiochus to Jerusalem to write the story of his victories over Egypt, Rome and especially Judea.  But most important, Thales, with his logical and mathematical mind, assisted Greek architects in their planning of the roads and fortresses of his vast empire.

Now, at that time of peace between the Hebrews and the Greeks, Thales, the Greek, had become a good friend  of Yohanan, the highly respected Jewish High Priest of the Temple in Jerusalem.  Thales had taught him to know the hours of the day thanks to the shade of the sun on the huge cedar, at the entrance of the Temple... and thus, the Jewish High Priest always knew before anyone else when Shabbat was going to begin!   And For his part, the High Priest Yohannan had taught Thales, the Greek, the wisdom of King Solomon … and so, both were very  happy.
Furthermore  .. other good news,   this male friendship had been contagious : first  their wives Calliope and Myriam, then their daughters, Clio and Tsipora, and now especially their little girls, the heroines of our story, Thalia, Orit and Lia .....   had also become very good friends.
And this why this old friendship, born in happy times, continued despite the general hostility between the Jews and the Greeks.

*****

So let's now go back to that autumn morning when Orit and Lia, their breakfast swallowed, think of nothing but finding Thalia and running with Zohar to fill their baskets with olives.
Yet the house is strangely silent.

• Is our father already gone? Orit asks.
• For a long time, replies Zohar, the servant, who suddenly bursts into tears.
• What's the matter, explain to us. Has something bad happened? Orit asks.
• I don't know, but I heard your mother say that King Antiochus raised a large army to finish off the Jews.

Lia turns pale and Orit decides to go and see what happens.

• Come on!  Hurry up, let’s go ask Grandpa Matityahu, says Orit. He will tell us what is happening: the olive trees will wait!!

The situation is serious. Great grand Father Matityahu, is no longer home .
The sky is so clear that you can see Jerusalem in the distance, its walls and the Temple where you can no longer pray since the Greeks desecrated it and the golden candlestick was stolen.
"Zohar," Orit and Lia ask, "is it true that Antiochus really raised a great army? And that our father and uncles gathered only a few thousand men? What will then  become of us if the Greek soldiers arrive here  in Modiin?
"Don’t be afraid," calmly replied Zohar, "G.d is with us and we are all now  going to go up to the hills of Judea. We will be safer there.
"But your hands are shaking, Zohar," said Lia.

- It is simply the cold of autumn that this year starts early. Don't worry. Let's go harvest the olives. We will need them to fill our jars, if we want to illuminate our dark nights and light the golden candlestick of the Temple, after  our victory.
Lia and Orit look at each other anxiously when they suddenly hear the usual signal: a flute song. It is Thalia who from the bottom of the valley calls them, slowly climbs the sides of the hill of the olive trees. But then she stops and makes big signs with her two arms.
          -Do you understand what Thalia is telling us? Lia asks.
          - Yes, of course, she tells us not to go any further and that she too must go down. Besides, look, she runs back down, Orit replies.
          "Wait, look closely, she's showing us something else," adds Lia.
          -You're right: she waves her arm in the direction of her house. I will tell her that we understood.
Orit, who is the tallest, then waves both hands above her head, very high, a sign that has long meant "we agree".
          -Zorah, we must leave Modiin and take refuge in the caves of the Judean Hills?  Lia asks.
           -No, replies Zorah, we stay here!
          - Staying here rotting is out of the question," sais Orit. We will climb up  the hills of Judea, we will join Grandfather Matityahu, our father, our uncles, and our soldiers. 
You, Zorah, you can do what you wish, but we're not going to  hang about here.  Come on, Lia, take your black canvas bag and tighten strongly your sandals  and  put your white scarf tightly on your head, I'll do the same.       
Before Zorah could even protest, the two sisters were running and very quickly became two small black dots in the distance, in the Jordan valley.
They walked for long hours, quenching their thirst by chewing the bushes red berries.. Finally, they arrived near the camp of the Hebrews. They made themselves very small. No one was to see them.
The High Priest Matityahu was surrounded by his sons, the Maccabees.  Believing his end near, he had called them and making them promise to continue fighting to defend the Tora. He told them:

• You will always follow the advice of your brother Simon, the wise.
• But when the fight starts, you will obey your brother Judah the strong, Judah Maccabeus, and you will see to it that your mothers, wives, daughters, and servants are safe.  

Unfortunately Grandfather Matityahu had spotted Lia and Orit and, furious, their father Judah Maccabeus, ordered them to go away immediately and  join their mother; which they did, climbing the hills again, accompanied by Zohar who had gone looking for them and had therefore found them

The fighting lasted for many days. Orit and Lia, who wondered how they could help their father Yehuda or grandfather Mattatiaou, had no idea: moreover, Zorah was watching them so that they would not try to leave again.
The news of the fighting seemed good:  although in greater numbers, the army of Antiochus could not defeat the Hebrews led by the Maccabees.

Then the situation worsened: Orit heard Zorah explain that Antiochus, furious and in a hurry to finish with the Jews, had raised an army of more than 40,000 men but that the Maccabees had not been frightened at all,  by this news
Orit and Lia were convinced that Zorah was lying to them to comfort them.
So, to find out by themselves, as soon as night fell, they decided to leave to join their father.  Which they did.
Arriving near the camp, they had just enough time to hear their father and the army vow to fight to death, defend their faith and reconquer the Temple. 

 But they were concerned  and anxious : what would become of Thalia, if the Greeks were defeated? Would they all be killed? 

They then decided to show up and implore their father so that  Thalia  would be spared and safe.
"But what are you still doing here!" said Judah furiously.  But no, we are not going to kill all the Greeks, nor Thalia, nor her family! When the army of Antiochus sees that we are the strongest, before the defeat of their soldiers, they will flee and, with them,will leave Judea,  all the Greeks and their families and your friend Thalia too. And now I don't want to see you anymore!!

The two sisters, confident that nothing would happen to their friend Thalia,  quickly returned to Modiin without Zorah noticing their absence.

*****

Yehuda Maccabee then gathered his army at Mitzpah; it was a small city, on one of the hills near Jerusalem, where the Prophet Samuel, centuries before, had gathered the people of Israel to fight the Philistines, and after praying to G-d, victory had been won.
Then they marched back to Jerusalem:  the fighting resumed and the Hebrews succeeded in defeating the army of Antiochus.
They entered the Temple, removed the roses garlands hanging everywhere and broke all the idols that had been placed there.
Yehuda Maccabee and his men decided to build a new altar and as the golden candlestick had been stolen, the Maccabees began to make a new one of a less precious metal.
The women embroidered a beautiful cloth to serve as a cloak for the new altar: Orit and Lia had the honor, after a few days, to bring it to their father.

But they had to stay outside, because women were only allowed inside the Temple in one courtyard, from which they could not leave, which enraged them, and  this  for a long time.

Sitting on the floor, and sticking their ear on the wall,  they suddenly heard the High Priest Matityahou,  say that before dedicating the Temple again to the G-d of Israel, the temple had to be cleaned from top to bottom, and that to purify it, oil would be needed for the new metal candlestick.

Unfortunately, there were only a few drops of oil in the small vial that had been found.

          - We'll look for some!! Orit said at once, standing on her own two legs. Come on!
- Of course, but where?  Lia replied. With the war, I know that there is not a single drop left at home.           
- We are not going home!! Let's go to Thalia's house!  There must be some there. Come on, hurry up. Her house is far from here.          

Right away, Orit and Lia  leave the city, through one of  the eastern Jerusalem gates. They arrive at Thalie's house. Empty !. No one there!. Everyone has fled.  There is nothing left.  But the house was not ransacked. Near the brick oven, there lies just a pot of terracotta, but all  broken.
Lia and Orit are very sad.

• Well, let's leave, come on, says Orit.
• Wait, Lia replies, let's go see the little courtyard behind, where  we use to meet  Thalie; maybe before leaving, she thought of us, her best friends and left us some farewell message ?
• You're really sentimental and naïve, Orit replies. The departure must have  taken place in panick!!
• Well, even in a panick, I would have thought of Thalia. In fact, during the fightings, I thought of her all the time, about  our friendship and the horror of those fights. But when I asked our mother why? She just replied that men, all men, kill each other because they like to be the strongest. But then our father came and hearing mother’s answer, he got angry and shouted at her that she was like all women, that she did not understand anything and that it was a fight for the survival of our people, of our faith against a civilization of barbarians and idolaters. What do you think, Orit?
• Listen Lia, it's not the time, but you're right, after all, let's go to the little courtyard, near our olive tree.  We played so much there......

The olive tree is there. Its branches are loaded with green olives which are not yet mature. Lia and Orit sit  down and suddenly, Lia sees in the trunk, a small slit from which comes out, it seems, a strange object.

She pulls it and drops a white stone, all flat on which are written in very small letters: "My dearest friends, Lia and Orit, I missed you so much, but we must go. Near the brick oven, I left you a very small jug of oil from these olives that we were picking together. And when you taste it, you will think of me as I think of you. And who knows, maybe one day we'll meet again." Love.big big hug  your friend Thalia.

Not a minute to lose. Their tears barely dried, Lia puts the pebble in the fold of her tunic. They run to the brick oven, find the small jug hidden in the ashes, at the very bottom. Orit hides it in her tunic and here they run towards the Temple.
The small door in the walls of Jerusalem is open. They sneak in and no one stops them.
But the Temple is guarded by the men of Judah Maccabeus.
- You don't go in!!

"We are the daughters of Judah Maccabeus and we must talk to him, so you must let us in," Lia pleads.         
          -He's not here! You don't go in! And, besides, who tells me that you are his daughters, leave immediately!
          "If he's not here, then I want to talk to our uncle Simon, go get him," Orit orders. This is of the utmost importance.  
Orit's authority must have impressed the guard.
          - Well, I'm going to ask, but you don't move from here!!

As soon as he leaves, Orit and Lia rush inside the Temple, but apart from the courtyard of the women they know, they do not know where to find their Uncle Simon. 
So, Orit climbs a small wall from where she sees the High Priest Matityahu, their grandfather.  She calls him silently. But he doesn't hear. It is true that he hears a little less well now.  So, she makes big signs to him. Wasted time. He does not look in their direction.
- What do we do? Lia whispers as she watches the sun go down with some anxiety.          
"We're waiting," Orit replied. When the sun has set, we will go out and bring the small jug of oil to the small room where the altar stands.          
- But we are not allowed to enter! Horrible things can happen to us!
-Nothing will happen. Lets wait for the night to come... In the meantime, let's rest, we've walked so much and I'm exhausted.

The night has fallen. The few women who were  in the small courtyard of the Temple have left. Silence falls on Jerusalem and the temple of King David. Lia snuggled up to Orit and dozed off. The moon has risen.
From the small room where their grandfather, the Grand Priest- Matityahu, rests, only a few prayers rise in the starry night.
Quietly, Orit then stands up and, silently, she drags Lia with her. They let themselves be guided into the sleepy temple by the notes  of the Grand  Priest’s prayers.
Here they are, at the threshold of the altar.
Then, without making a sound, Orit takes out of her tunic the small jar of oil and places it on the threshold of the half-open door.
Silently, the daughters of Judah Maccabeus are about to leave when, suddenly, the High Priest turns around.

• Shhh, Grandpa, makes Lia with a big smile, look,  that's it, pointing to the little jar on the floor.

And before Matityahu could say a word, they have already disappeared into the starry night of Jerusalem.

And so it was:  the next day, on the 25th of kislev, the High Priest was able to light the candlestick with the oil of this little jug.

Of course, then, everyone knows and tells it ever since :”the miracle is that this oil, supposed to burn only one day, burned eight days!

It is, of course, the merry holiday of Hanukkah!
The feast of eight lights, the feast of gifts!

But what they do not know is that the first miracle was the fruit of a great friendship, the one that united Thalia, Orit and Lia, beyond war, beyond hatred.

And who knows?  Was it not because of these three girls’strong  friendship, that eventually  the miracle of the eight days happened?