HANUKKAH REMINDS JEWS ASSIMILATION IS NOT NEW.

Byline: Michael Gotlieb Local View

JEWS tend to think the challenge facing Judaism today is assimilation; that assimilation is the unique outgrowth of post-enlightenment living. Jewish history, however, has taught that is not the case. The ancient story of Hanukkah illustrates the point.

While Hanukkah is popularized by the rabbinic myth of a container of oil, used to light the temple's candelabra, miraculously lasting eight days, its primary message comes to remind Jews that assimilation is not a new phenomenon.

Toward the end of the second century B.C., Israel fell under the rule of Antiochus Epiphanes of Syria. Antiochus IV, as he was known, embodied Greek thought and culture; he also extended Greek political influence throughout the region. In the wake of Alexander the Great's death, more than 100 years earlier, many Jews were openly sympathetic to Greek styles of life. Unlike Antiochus Epiphanes, Alexander the Great was highly accommodating to the Jews. In fact, the name Alexander was a popular name given to newborn Jewish children, as a sign of their parent's affection and appreciation.

Having garnered tremendous support for Greek culture, Antiochus' immediate gains in Jerusalem were most effectively aided by Jews who assimilated. Jews who dropped their religious heritage for Greek thought were called Hellenists. The cumulative effect of Jewish exposure to Hellenism certainly affected the internal life of the Jew. As the Book of Maccabees notes, sizable groups of Jews living in Israel favored aggressive assimilation.

``Had the process of Hellenization continued gradually and peacefully,'' writes author Rabbi Irving Greenberg, ``it might well have taken over the Jewish people.'' To which he adds, ``The brightest and the best, the richest and the most powerful were increasingly attracted to it.''

Jews living during the time of Hanukkah went so far as to undergo a procedure whereby they attempted to uncircumcise themselves - a painful operation to remove the marks of circumcision.

As assimilation trends continued, a small band of Jews calling themselves the Maccabees waged a victorious revolt against the Hellenists. More than a battle for religious freedom, it proved to be a battle of freedom from the onslaught brought by assimilation. In essence, it was a battle that pitted Jew against Jew, the outcome of which would affect Judaism's very existence.

But if the story of Hanukkah teaches anything other than assimilation is not exclusively a post-enlightenment phenomenon, it teaches us that we must continually offer explanations in the face of outside cultural and religious challenges. We must be prepared to offer sound reasons for being Jewish to Jews constantly challenged by convergent cultures and ideas. If we Jews cannot provide compelling reasons for Jews to identify with Judaism, then it is we who are at fault.

Beyond question, the history surrounding the story of Hanukkah proves the current debate over Jewish assimilation is not new. What is new is the Jews' romanticizing of the past, as if to say, ``Ah, those were the days!'' Threats of assimilation are, in many ways, far more treacherous because it makes one look at oneself.

It is easy to blame a warring army for a loss or anti-Semitism for one's setback. It is far more problematic and painful when one must address one's own internal inadequacies. Assimilationists have more than once informed Jews of their precarious state of existence.

Hanukkah - which is celebrated by lighting an eight-branched candelabra, adding a candle with each night - when viewed openly and wisely, putting the myths that surround the holiday aside, teaches that one need not surrender to the dark.