Despite the fact that the story of Hanukkah “occurred to the Jewish individuals in Israel practically 2200 years in the past,” the themes are “extraordinarily related” to individuals of all faiths in America right this moment, says one Jewish religion chief because the Jewish individuals quickly conclude the celebration of Hanukkah this yr.

“Historical Greeks worshipped cause and with that, made nice contributions to arithmetic and the sciences,” Rabbi Pinchas Taylor of Plantation, Florida, informed Fox Information Digital.

“Nevertheless, coupled with that,” he mentioned, “their philosophy of materialism solely exalted the bodily and made worship of the bodily a advantage and an excellent.”

PARENT TAKES TO REDDIT TO SAY CHILD LOVES HANUKKAH AND IS ‘CONVINCED’ HE’S JEWISH — WHEN HE’S NOT

Taylor mentioned that this “created a tradition” by which the human being was “glorified” as a “purely bodily specimen.”

He continued, “Every little thing was reducible to physicality and there was no actual concept of a soul.”

Rabbi Taylor, of Plantation, Florida, shared ideas on the that means and historical past of Hanukkah — and defined the idea “in a purposeful God.”
(Rabbi Pinchas Taylor/Chabad.org)

He additionally mentioned, “The Greek idea of the soul was the mind, and the Greek gods have been projections of features of the human character.”

This “immersion” in materialism naturally led to self-indulgence, he famous, and any actual sense of “one thing transcendent” was offensive to their worldview.

HANUKKAH QUIZ: SEE HOW MUCH YOU KNOW ABOUT THE JEWISH HOLIDAY

“In distinction,” he added, “Judaism believes in a purposeful God who created man and endowed him with a soul, made within the divine picture.”

“Commemorating Hanukkah annually by lighting the candles symbolizes the everlasting triumph of spirit over matter and of sunshine over darkness.”

With human beings growing a “God-consciousness” by means of adherence to the Hebrew Bible, Taylor mentioned, “the bodily world turns into a conduit to precise godliness.”

Within the story of Hanukkah, “the depraved King Antiochus and the Greek Hellenists believed that their worldview was far superior to a worldview based mostly on God and religion,” he additionally mentioned.

“They wished to exchange the religion of the Jews with Greek rationalism, in order that they defiled the temple and forbade the observance of any of the super-rational Jewish commandments,” he added.

A miracle occurred when “a small jug of sealed oil,” which solely had sufficient oil for someday of kindling the menorah, miraculously lasted “for eight days,” mentioned Rabbi Taylor of Florida. 
(iStock)

Many Jews have been even drawn to undertake a few of the rationalist concepts and have been “lured to the pleasures of materialism,” he additionally mentioned.

Hanukkah commemorates how the Maccabees, a “small ragtag group of faith-adhering troopers,” defeated the “giant and well-equipped military “of Syrian Greeks, he mentioned.

HANUKKAH 2022: HERE’S HOW THE FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS IS CELEBRATED

This victory culminated with the Temple being “reclaimed, cleaned and rededicated,” he mentioned.

The phrase “Hanukkah” means “dedication,” he famous.

An additional miracle occurred when “a small jug of sealed oil,” which solely had sufficient oil for someday of kindling the menorah — the candelabra used within the day by day Temple service — lasted “miraculously for eight days,” Taylor mentioned.

“There’s something inherently soulful and particular to the human being, which, when embraced, permits a richer and extra significant life.”

“This was lengthy sufficient to acquire extra usable oil and allowed the temple’s service to proceed uninterrupted,” he mentioned, noting that the bodily battle was one victory, however the oil burning “supernaturally” symbolized victory within the non secular battle as nicely.

“The God-centered worldview had triumphed over rationalism and materialism.”

HANUKKAH MENORAH IN TEL AVIV BREAKS WORLD RECORD FOR LARGEST MENORAH BUILT OF LEGOS

“Commemorating Hanukkah annually by lighting the candles symbolizes the everlasting triumph of spirit over matter and of sunshine over darkness,” he additionally mentioned.

The bodily battle of the Maccabees was one victory, however the oil burning “supernaturally” symbolized victory within the non secular battle as nicely.
(iStock)

Many societies over the centuries have, just like the Greeks, “glorified the physique over the soul” and the fabric “solely” over the non secular, Taylor additionally shared with Fox Information Digital. 

“Whereas America is, at its core, a faith-filled nation, there’s a pattern, these days particularly, to focus totally on the worth of the fabric world,” he mentioned.

“All through his life, man is consistently looking for issues that don’t have anything to do along with his bodily make-up.”

Whether or not we’re contemplating a “societal preoccupation with bodily magnificence and buying materials issues,” “wanting on the total spectrum of human expertise because the mere sum-total {of electrical} exercise in our brains” or ” existence as a cosmic accident” — we see an increasing worldview “targeted solely on the fabric world,” he mentioned.

CRISPY POTATO LATKES FOR HANUKKAH: TRY THE RECIPE

Whereas rationalism and the fabric world each “have their place,” he mentioned, a “soul-less world” turns into “an empty, hedonistic existence.” 

He continued, “There’s something inherently soulful and particular to the human being, which, when embraced, permits a richer and extra significant life.”

Rabbi Pinchas Taylor mentioned a wholesome human being has a “will to search out that means” — and it is these “non secular dimensions” that set people aside. 
(Rabbi Pinchas Taylor/Chabad.org.)

“The human being is exclusive in his means to be self-aware, humble, to decide on an ethical path, to be affected person, to enhance, to be compassionate, to have perspective, to have goal and to vary,” he underscored.

“All through his life, man is consistently looking for issues that don’t have anything to do along with his bodily make-up.”

Hanukkah is a time when the trustworthy “recount the battle between matter and spirit.”

A wholesome human being has a “will to search out that means,” Taylor famous, and it’s these “non secular dimensions” that “set him aside from the animals.” 

‘WEEKEND BRISKET’ FOR HANUKKAH: TRY THE RECIPE

He added, “How can the human being want transcendence, if transcendence has no actuality within the cloth of existence? What a few thirst for that means? May the thirst be there with nothing to fulfill it? Existence has inherent that means, and the human spirit seeks to get in sync with it.”

“How can the human being want transcendence, if transcendence has no actuality within the cloth of existence?” mentioned Rabbi Taylor. 
(Jacob King/PA Photos through Getty Photos)

He continued, “So, who will win the battle of worldviews? The views that target materialism and meaninglessness, or the faith-based view of spirit and goal?”

Hanukkah is a time when the trustworthy “recount the battle between matter and spirit” and “have fun the inevitable victory” of the spirit, he mentioned.

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTER

“This utilized within the days of the Syrian-Greeks, it applies presently in America, and can proceed by means of to our final future,” he additionally mentioned.

“Whether or not you’re of the Jewish religion and bodily kindling the Hanukkah lights, or of one other religion who shares this imaginative and prescient, it’s a good alternative to recall that the ‘soul of man is the candle of God (Proverbs 20:27),'” he famous.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Taylor additionally mentioned you will need to “bear in mind that you’re imbued with goal, and to shine your gentle and create a extra soulful world.”