Celebrating Hanukkah with Jews #1
Hanukkah at the Great Synagogue in Sydney - Tue 20 Dec 2022
Note: any error or misunderstanding is mine and mine only. 😊
Paul and I (Korean Australian gentiles) celebrated Hanukkah in the Great Synagogue last week. The synagogue looked like a mini-cathedral – appears even prettier on digital photos. One gentile speaker at the gathering commented, ‘I feel like I’m inside a GIANT WEDDING CAKE!’ And we fellow gentiles vigorously nodded in jovial agreement.
Our Jewish emcee, Steve, won us over when he expressed with endearing childlikeness his Jewish shock(?) and joy that so many of us Christians responded to their Jewish invitation to celebrate the 3rd day of the 8-day-long Hanukkah festival with them. His guilelessness was touching as he named the many churches and ministries we Christians came from. And we represented all shades of skin colour and ethnic background - including the Greek Orthodox! (Remember, Hanukkah celebrates the ‘David vs Goliath’ kind of victory God granted a little group of Jews who wiped out the wicked Greek oppressors who defiled their holy temple!)
That evening I learned surprising things from the rabbis and the Jewish people who shared with us.
Musical instruments are not allowed in the Great Synagogue and all Jewish Orthodox Synagogues. (I wanted to ask - why?) King David and the Levites happily worshipped God with all kinds of musical instruments of their day.
Happily, our night was filled with lots of acapella singing of Jewish choruses - led by the Israeli Ambassador to Australia, His Excellency Mr. Amir Maimon – a humble and brilliant Yemenite Jew who found a soft spot in our gentile hearts. I learned afterwards, he played an integral role in Operation Solomon rescuing 14,000+ Ethiopian Jews out of danger and airlifting them to safety in Israel.
The synagogue’s choir is all male. No female singing is allowed. (I asked at this point - why?) The rabbi answered, because females are not allowed to sing TO males. Really? My gentile (and female) mind could not grasp this. Is it a relic of the patriarchal tradition of male headship? Taken a little too far in this case?
Didn’t Miriam and the women sing and dance and praise God Who with His mighty arm divided the Red Sea and saved the children of Israel from Pharaoh’s army? Didn’t Deborah and Barak sing in triumph when God gave Israel mighty victory over their enemies?
I felt a little sad for the Jewish congregation who was deprived of hearing female soprano voices rising in worship to God.
In the final few minutes of the service, an acoustic guitar was allowed in! (Maybe Jewish softening to our gentile sensitivities?) But attached to NO sound system! And a bearded young Jew with an angelic voice took us to dizzying heights - all in minor keys! - singing the Hebrew Psalms as we gentiles clapped our hands in joy.
Mia Kim