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Re: orion Code-words and Hanukkah
>
>2) Re Hanukkah. Since Maccabees does not mention the miracle of the
>menorah, is it possible sectarians recognized the Hasmonean victory as a
>day of celebration while rejecting the "Pharisaic" injunction to light the
>candles in recognition of the menorah?
Since the miracle of the oil isn't mentioned in any literature until
centuries later (not in the Mishnah nor in the Yerushalmi, first mentioned
in Babylonian Talmud! nor is there a tractate on Hanukkah to correspond
with tractate Megillah for Purim!), most modern scholars have concluded
(in my view, correctly) that no such ritual was officially instituted at or
even close to the time of the historical events nor is it attested for
centuries thereafter. Yes, I know that some people get very upset upon
hearing this, but in the interests of intellectual honesty these facts and
their implications need to be confronted.
Judith Romney Wegner
jrw@brown.edu