The act of extinguishing Hanukkah candles with a fire extinguisher has been the subject of stormy criticism by MEP Grzegorz Braun. Even biblical scholars have taken the floor, claiming that Braun is wrong and even lying when he claims that Hanukkah is a "tribal", Talmudic, foreign holiday.

These may be harsh words, but what is the reality? Let me look at this event from a philosophical, theological and political perspective. Then it will show itself in a different light.

The biblical scholar Professor Marcin Kowalski writes in Rzeczpospolita that "Jesus himself took part in the feast of Hanukkah" and that Mr Braun's statements are therefore "regrettable". So let's look at the exact circumstances under which Jesus "participated" in the holiday, what came of it, and what theological significance it has. In Jn. 10:22-42 we read that "23 Jesus was walking in the temple, in Solomon's portico. 24 The Jews surrounded him and said to him, "What has happened? Where do you want to keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us openly!" 25 Jesus said to them: "I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name testify about me. 26 But you do not believe, because you are not of my sheep... 30 I and the Father are one." 27 So he returned to the Father. 31 And the Jews again picked up stones to stone him..."

Thus, according to the Gospel narrative, there is a "participation" of Jesus Christ in the celebration of the dedication of the Temple (Hanukkah). The Jews threaten him with stoning. He says to them, "37 If I do not do the works of my Father, do not believe me. 38 But if I do, even if you do not believe me, believe my works, that you may know and know that the Father is in me, and I in the Father." 38 And so he receives the answer. 39 And [then] they tried to take him again, but he escaped out of their hands..." This passage shows the rejection of the Son of God by the Jews. He is threatened with stoning and must flee Jerusalem across the Jordan. Hanukkah is also known as the Feast of Lights (herb. Hag ha-Urim). However, the metaphor of light here has a much deeper dimension than the historical events described in Scripture.

These are symbolic events. The Feast of the Dedication of the Temple was celebrated to commemorate the cleansing of the Temple of Jerusalem after its desecration by the Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes, who attempted to turn it into a pagan temple, and its rededication in 164 BC. by Judas Maccabeus. The lights lit on this feast are not only a remembrance of the relighting of the menorah, the golden seven-branched candlestick used in the Temple, but also the lights of hope for the independence of the State of Israel to be brought by the awaited Messiah. The Jews looked to the Messiah as a powerful earthly king who would establish the all-holy kingdom of Israel. In this context, Jesus, who told the Jews in the temple of his identity as the Son of the Father and Savior of the world, ruling the world on a spiritual rather than physical plane, freeing his sheep from the yoke of sin as the Good Shepherd, and pointing to eternal salvation in the kingdom of heaven, had to be rejected.

Compared to any physical light from this world, Hanukkah candles or any other source, Jesus Christ reveals Himself as the true light. He is the one who is "the light of the world" (John 8:12). He is the one who shows the way of Love to all people regardless of their nationality or origin. He is the one who can bring spiritual light where there is darkness because of our weakness, sin, suffering, fear and death. He is the one who is ready to fight and make the greatest sacrifices. Even though he is aware that he arouses hostility among the Jews, he goes to the Temple in Jerusalem to bear witness to the Truth, to illuminate the darkness resulting from the lack of true knowledge and values with his message, and he illuminates it today as long as there is faith in his messianic role.

Poland has been associated with Jesus Christ and Christianity for more than 1000 years. Enlightened by the True Light, it has survived sometimes difficult periods of history, but it has survived. This Light is our strength, and not only spiritual. On this Light are forged the strengths of human character: courage, steadfastness, hope, love. If we look at this issue from a political science point of view, there are three basic ways of conquering countries: military, economic, cultural. Cultural subjugation is the most effective way of subjugating other nations. As a result, they lose their traditions and values and instead adopt what is alien to them.

That is why in Poland we should light and celebrate the True Light in the Presidential Palace, in the Sejm and in many other places. This True Light, which runs to us from the Gospel, leads us and the whole of humanity to the final goal, to goodness and mutual love, and not to hatred, conflict and destruction, which today appear to our eyes and are the result of a departure from God. We should always keep before our eyes the simple message, "That you may love one another," and know that love is manifested by doing good.

Although Hanukkah was established as a Jewish holiday in the 2nd century BCE, for many centuries its true reason, the military victory over the Seleucids, was not emphasized. It was an ancient holiday, however, celebrated modestly, in the synagogue and at home. The emergence of Jewish nationalism and the Zionist movement at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries had a profound effect on the celebration and reinterpretation of Jewish holidays, especially Hanukkah. It acquired a new meaning as a holiday of independence, symbolizing the struggle of the Jewish people against foreign oppression, and was celebrated publicly as a Jewish national holiday in many Diaspora countries. Its promotion reached Poland as well. Should it be celebrated in Polish state institutions? We have come to know the True Light and it is thanks to it that we can overcome the darkness of the modern world. Therefore, there is no reason to celebrate those who rejected this Light and still refuse to accept it.

In the Jerusalem area today, incidents and verbal and physical attacks on Christians by Orthodox Jews are still frequent. The Christian response is love. Love, however, does not mean accepting cultural subjugation, the replacement of our tradition with an alien tradition, and the obscuring of the manifest light of the True Light. By rejecting the Son of God, the messianic idea becomes false. It becomes a mere political idea, motivated by world domination, a vain desire to stir up wars, riots and revolutions in order to establish a universal kingdom on the ruins of nations. This is not the right way. "Come to me, all of you. I am the Light of the World," he says. "I have made your hands to give - not to usurp, and your hearts to love - not to hate" (from the book Let Love Embrace You).

Prof. V. Julian Korab-Karpowicz

Polish mind/gnews.cz-RoZ_07