I've never been
a great fan of the whole oil story of Hanukkah. I remember sitting in
the Dalet Class in Hebrew School when I was eleven wondering if the
story about the little bit of oil lasting eight days was really true.
The next year I wondered if that little bit of oil lasting eight
days is really such a big deal that we make a whole holiday out of it.
Something more must have happened to warrant a holiday. By the way, I
also wondered in the Dalet class, a year and a half before my Bar
Mitzvah, if Moses really parted the Red Sea. Mel Brooks says Moses
couldn't even part his own hair how could he part the sea. That's a
discussion for another time.
Isn't it ironic
for we Jews to be celebrating a holiday based on oil. Our holy land is
one of the few places in the Middle East without oil. When we dug a
hole in the land, no oil gushed out. How in the world do we have a
holiday all about what we really don't have, namely oil. And then we
eat latkes fried in oil and sufganiot made in oil.
As I explained
in my December Dove Tale piece, for me the great miracle of Hanukkah
was that a small group in the Ancient Near East chose to resist the
lure of Greek life and culture. Though fewer in number and military
strength, they fought for their own faith and identity and they won.
They cleansed the Temple polluted by Antiochus. When they rededicated
the Temple, they really had something to celebrate. Their fierce and
loving loyalty to Judaism was so great, their decision not to
assimilate so powerful, it is worthy of our celebration each and every
year.
But this year,
I find myself really celebrating that little bit of oil that was only
enough to last one day and wound up lasting eight. This is the holiday
of that little bit of oil and this is such a big deal that the whole
world should make a holiday out of it. Do you realize what I am
talking about?
First of all,
it was a blessing in disguise that the Jewish homeland has almost no
oil that we know of. All of the countries "blessed" with vast
reserves of oil may not be so blessed. They have been able to rely on
their oil for their riches the way an heiress relies on her parents'
wealth. I hope there are some exceptions but they are mostly countries
with a mega wealthy ruling class and a largely uneducated and
impoverished population. They are almost never democracies. Israel
has almost no oil but almost every citizen has a vast reserve of
opinions and is free to express them. Israel's natural resource is the
mind. Like it or not, the oil wells will one day run dry. Some say oil
production has already peaked and if not yet it will peak sometime in
the next few decades. What will these oil rich countries do when they
are oil poor?
On 9-11, the
cost of oil was twenty some dollars a barrel. Now it is almost $100.00
a barrel and going higher. Gas is so expensive that when I went to
fill up this week, I realized the gas flows out slower and slower
because the numbers indicating the cost can't roll any faster. I was
in a rush and had to leave when the tank was only half full and my
wallet half empty. We have to use less! The use of oil causes green
house gases which is plaguing our planet. We have to use less oil.
Congress is on the verge of passing new legislation that will be the
blueprint for real conservation and will force Detroit to produce much
more efficient cars. Congress knows we have to use less oil. We need
to invest more money in research into renewable and reusable sources
of energy, solar, wind and more. I dream of Israel being a leader in
this research. G-d knows we have to use less oil.
The UN recently
tried to develop a regional Middle East Conference on the environment
with the hope of developing an ecological coalition. It was more
important to the Arab countries to refuse to sit with Israelis than to
help to save the planet. The headline in the Jerusalem Post read "Arab
officials have rejected a UN proposal to set up a regional
environmental training center in the Middle East because it would
include Israel, a Saudi official said Wednesday. Arabs do not need
training from Israel." Should we in any way be surprised?
It is unwise
for the Saudis to refuse to meet with Israelis. We have a long history
of conservation in that part of the world. It is recorded in our
Parsha how Joseph, Viceroy of Egypt conserved the grain during the
seven years of plenty so there would be enough to survive the years of
famine Joseph anticipated. His conservation program was so great that
Egypt became the bread basket of the entire Region which accounts for
Jacob and the rest of the clan moving south. Now is the time for us to
conserve and plan for the future.
We have to
learn to do what they did in the time of the Macabees. They took a
little bit of oil. It was enough to last for one day and it lasted for
eight days. We need to develop a car that would go 35, 50, 70 miles or
more on a gallon of gas. It seems like a miracle and so let's make a
miracle happen. We already have hybrid cars and electric cars are
coming around the bend. Making a little bit of oil last a long time is
our goal for the future. If the Macabees could do it, we can too.
Sometimes
people ask if Jews can celebrate Christmas. There is no such thing as
Chrismakah but how about non Jews celebrating Hanukkah. The whole
world should celebrate Hanukkah if it means celebrating one day's oil
lasting eight. If the propane gas it takes to heat my home for one day
could last eight days, I'd start a whole new holiday to celebrate. In
the not too distant future, homes will be so energy efficient one days
oil will last eight. Take that Opec!
I now see another student sitting in
the Dalet Class in our very own synagogue. She doesn't wonder so much
whether one day's oil really lasted eight days. She wonders whether
the earth's oil will run out before we invent alternative sources. She
wonders if the ever exploding usage of oil will ruin our planet before
we get it under control. What can we say to that wondering student.
We ought to tell her that we are working for the day when we can
celebrate making that little bit of oil go a long way. Now there's a
holiday worth celebrating.
