Chanukah is the well-known holiday that arrives at the end of Kislev and the beginning of Tevet. Though it began later in Jewish history and carries a different kind of religious weight than the Torah festivals, its prominence in the United States has grown as Jewish families navigate life in a Christmas-centric culture. Chanukah is a post-biblical holiday commemorating events between 168 and 164 BCE.

Historically, the story begins with deep divisions among Jews in the land of Israel. Some sought to assimilate into the dominant Greek culture of the Seleucid Empire, while others were committed to preserving Jewish practices and traditions. What started as an internal conflict, including competing factions vying for the High Priesthood, eventually invited imperial intervention. King Antiochus IV conquered Jerusalem, restricted Jewish religious life, and installed Greek worship in the Temple. 

The backlash from the traditionalist camp, known as the Hasmoneans or what most of us know as “The Maccabees,” sparked a successful revolt. Their victory led to the establishment of a semi-independent Jewish commonwealth in 142 BCE. Yet within a few generations, the Hasmonean rulers themselves adopted Greek cultural influences, and new rounds of internal conflict again opened the door to outside intervention. By 63 BCE, Rome had annexed Judea. The same dynamics that sparked the original revolt repeated themselves.

These historical tensions raise profound spiritual questions. This year, I invite you to sit with one question per night, and maybe even bring them up at your dinner table while eating latkes. Feel free to make them into your own discussion topics. The first five come from a reflection on our Jewish history and how they could relate to current affairs. The final three come from the earth-based wisdom of this season.  I hope you will find these useful in making the holiday an opportunity for your own personal reflection and growth.

1. What is our relationship with majority culture? Just as ancient Jews struggled between assimilation and preserving tradition, where do you feel pulled toward blending in and where do you feel called to maintain something distinctly your own? What parts of Judaism are meaningful to you that you want to practice and pass down to your children, and what parts are not meaningful to you?
2. How do we preserve the unity of the Jewish people, and is it only possible when we face an external threat? In the Chanukah story, internal divisions only gave way to solidarity once Antiochus imposed his rule and restricted Jewish identity. How can we nurture a sense of shared purpose and togetherness without waiting for a crisis to force it?
3. Where does win-lose thinking appear in your life? The ancient conflicts escalated when factions believed only one side could prevail. Where do you fall into this mindset? What might open if you shifted toward a more spacious way of seeing things?
4. How do we change ourselves so that we choose the right thing? (I.e. just because you can, doesn’t mean you have to)
   The Maccabees won their revolution but later repeated some of the same power struggles. Where in your life do you risk repeating a pattern or power dynamic over others, simply because you can? How can you cultivate deeper discernment?
5. What in your life leads you away from the divine, and what needs cleansing or renewal? The Temple had to be cleared and rededicated after outside forces overtook it. What in your own life needs clearing so you can reconnect with the sacred?

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From an earth-based lens, Chanukah occurs at the darkest time of the year. These are the longest nights, and they bring the least moonlight. The new moon falls right in the middle of the holiday. The world outside slows, quiets, and leans toward stillness. Nature itself is turned inward. Seeds lie dormant. Animals conserve energy. The land rests. Chanukah invites us to mirror this natural rhythm: to pause, listen, and kindle small lights against the deep dark.

6. What in you needs to be relit? Look towards something you have been passionate about in the past where your ardor has dimmed.  What areas of your life may need more light to grow? Look towards areas of your life that feel unclear, murky.  

Another earth-based teaching around Chanukah comes from livestock tending. Pastoralist peoples—like the ancient Hebrews—carefully attune breeding and birthing to the rhythms of the land. When babies are born between March and May, the spring grasses nourish the mothers, their young, and the humans who depend on them. The deep freezes of winter, too harsh for newborns, become instead the quiet season of gestation. And so, during Chanukah’s light in the darkest days, we’re invited to notice what we are tending and growing now, trusting it will come into being in the spring.

7. What seeds are growing in your belly, waiting for the warmth and fertility of spring to come forth? 

The depth of winter darkness and the ritual of bringing light into it also invite us to explore our own shadow. In Carl Jung’s teachings, the shadow is the part of ourselves we avoid seeing because we fear it is unacceptable or “bad.” When left unexamined, it can quietly steer our behavior or get projected onto others. Chanukah’s practice of adding light night by night offers a gentle metaphor: illumination doesn’t banish the shadow, but it helps us see it with honesty and compassion.

8. What part of your shadow self might be asking for attention right now, and how might bringing it into the light shift the way you show up in your life?

May you enjoy the lights of Chanukah, the special foods with which we celebrate and take up these questions for introspection and spiritual development. 

About the Author:

Jared Gellert is the treasurer of Wilderness Torah.  He writes about earth based Judaism at www.earthbasedjudaism.org and on substack animistearthbasedjudaism.substack.com.  A core focus is on reclaiming an authentic Animist earth-based Judaism.