Emma Parlons Archives - Ben Yehuda Press

Chag sameach! For the fifth day of Chanukah, we have a story from one of our children’s books, An Angel Called Truth & Other Tales from the Torah. The authors, Rabbi Jeremy Gordon and Emma Parlons retell stories about each Torah portion and the holidays for a middle-grade readership, with Pete Williamson’s fun illustrations! This full-color book is great for the whole family, with discussion questions that will also make parents think.

We’d also like to remind you that our holiday sale is still ongoing! Get 3 books for the price of 2. And make sure to check out our readings for the previous days around the theme of light:

Day 1: Ra’u Or: Essays in Honor of Dr. Ora Horn Preuser edited by Rabbi Joseph H. Prouser

Day 2: Everything Thaws by R.B. Lemberg

Day 3: Thirty-Two Gates of Wisdom: Awakening Through Kabbalah by Rabbi DovBer Pinson

Day 4: Here Is Our Light: Humanistic Jewish Holiday and Life-Cycle Liturgy for Inspiration and Reflection, edited by Miriam S. Jerris and Sheila Malcolm

And without further ado, here is today’s story…

We Will Burn What We Have

Around 2,200 years ago, the King of the Seleucids, Antiochus, began to persecute the Jews. He ordered a statue of the Greek god, Zeus, to be placed in the Temple, and that pigs should be offered as sacrifices on the altar (both of which were completely forbidden to the Jews). The king’s behaviour resulted in a revolt against the Seleucids, led by Judah the Maccabee. The Maccabees won. And so began a process of cleaning up the Temple, making it ready to be dedicated again (the Hebrew word chanukah means ‘dedication’). We have imagined a tale told by a young boy who has been working with his father on the clean-up project.

“Silence please! Please do sit down. We’ll begin in a few moments.” Dad’s trying to get the crowd to settle, so we can start the dedication ceremony. But everyone wants to congratulate him, and he can’t help being the chattiest person around. “Oh yes! It does look good doesn’t it? Thank you, thank you. It was a team effort really. My boy, yes that’s him over there, very helpful!” He nods in my direction. I swell with pride. “It was a mess, filthy; pigs roaming around, idols everywhere. I wasn’t sure we’d ever get it back to where it is today. Yes, yes, oh, do please settle down, settle down.”The past two months have been amazing. My back hurts from hauling away rubble. My arms hurt from scrubbing. My legs hurt from all the ladder-climbing. But it’s been great fun and the temple looks amazing; everything is shining, there’s not an idol to be seen. Today is going to be great.

Dad is in charge of lighting the Ner Tamid, the everlasting light. He deserves it; he’s worked harder than everyone. As a hush settles over the crowd, he swells with pride.

“Bring forth the sacred oil,” Dad calls out. Nobody moves. We all wait. “Who has the oil?” He calls out again, this time starting to sound a little anxious. Still silence.

Then I realise that no one has remembered to get hold of new oil. We are all in big trouble. No oil, no everlasting light, no dedication. And the oil presses were a four-day donkey ride away – four days there, four days back. Then I remember I have seen a tiny flask of oil, with the sacred seal still attached. Everything else has been thrown out. I push through the crowd to get to the store cupboard and scramble through everyone back to the front of the crowd as quickly as I can. “Dad, we’ve got this,” I say, opening my hand and showing him the tiny vial of oil.

Dad looks unimpressed. “It’s not enough, son – there’s no point.” I refuse to give up. “Go on, Dad,” I say. I’m out of breath and embarrassed, but after everything we’ve been through, I’ve got to believe it’s worth a try. “Don’t quit now. Let’s burn what we have.” And, somehow, it was enough.

Questions:

Have you ever held yourself back from doing something because you thought you didn’t have ‘enough’?

Do you believe in miracles?

Chanukah doesn’t appear in the Bible. Why do you think it’s such a favourite festival?

Thank you for reading! Next time, we are planning on showing you… prose? poetry? Hmm, how about some PROSE POETRY?

This is our all-ages special for Sukkot, an excerpt from An Angel Called Truth & Other Tales From the Torah by Rabbi Jeremy Gordon and Emma Parlons, illustrated by Pete Williamson. Enjoy, and chag sameach!

~ Lit ~

Succot is the most joyous festival in the Hebrew Bible. While the Temple stood in Jerusalem, it was the occasion for a huge party, discussed in the ancient rabbinic text, the Mishnah. We’ve told our tale from the perspective of a young boy who was central to the celebrations.

I love Succot. Everyone dresses up and comes to Jerusalem, and there are mass processions with everyone holding their lulavim ‫^א‬ and etrogim ‫^ב‬ . The trumpets are blown and at night there are these massive parties. The whole of Jerusalem is lit all through the night and we party and sing and I … I have the best job in the world.

Before Succot, we build these fire towers, all around the central courtyard of the Temple. Each tower has four golden cauldrons in the sky, full of fire. On the night after the first day of the Festival, four young priests are chosen for the honour of lighting these massive flames. This year, I’m one of them! I’m a fire-lighter. Did I mention, I love fire?

א‬. Tall palm leaves, bound together with three myrtle and two willow stems.
‫ב‬. Citrus fruits, not lemons, but similar.

As the stars come out, everyone heads to the Temple courtyard. The chant of thousands of people echoes around the city, ‘vesamachtah b’chagechah’ – ‘Be happy on your festival.’ This really is our time. The harvest is complete, all the food for the winter has been brought into the house and now it’s time to say thank you to God and to celebrate.

Over the heads of the people, ladders are passed down to centre of the crowd and balanced against the fire towers. As everyone chants, I get to be the one to climb up, with a fire-torch in one hand while holding on tightly with the other. It’s a long way down. I’m going to start the flames and the fire will burn so brightly, there won’t be a courtyard in the city that isn’t lit.

There’s a time to be serious and there’s a time to party. This is our time to party.

QUESTIONS:

Being religious is usually associated with being serious. Why? Why might partying also be a religious thing to do?

What might the problems of too much, or not enough partying, be? What might be the ‘wrong’ or the ‘right’ way to party?

The festival of Succot is held at the end of autumn, just before winter (in the Northern Hemisphere). Why might this time of year be a particularly good time to celebrate?

Sources:

Mishnah Succot 5 talks about the celebration side of Succot, called Simchat Beit HaShoevah – or the ‘Happiness of the Water-Pouring House’. The rabbis say, ‘Anyone who has not seen this happiness, has never seen happiness in all their life.’ It describes fire cauldrons on giant pillars and flames bright enough to light up the entire city (back in the days before electricity!). Two other fun details: the wicks for the flames of these oil-burning fires were made from the worn-out trousers of the priests (you don’t just throw stuff away, and especially not if it’s been used for sacred purposes), and the Talmud also records great feats of juggling and contortion – Abaye, Rabban Shimon Ben Gamliel, Levi, Shmuel are all recorded in various places in the Talmud as juggling eight cups, and even eight flaming torches.

If you enjoyed the excerpt and shared it with your whole family, you can also get the book: