{"id":82043,"date":"2020-10-25T12:58:41","date_gmt":"2020-10-25T10:58:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=82043"},"modified":"2020-10-25T12:58:41","modified_gmt":"2020-10-25T10:58:41","slug":"what-is-chanukah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/what-is-chanukah\/","title":{"rendered":"What is Chanukah?"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[],"acf":{"old_id":"82043","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":34243,"related_cahpter":"597","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"And how is it connected to education (chinukh)?\r\n\r\n","content":"

This psalm is familiar from the liturgy, where it serves as the conclusion of the morning blessings (<\/span>birkhot ha-shachar<\/span><\/em>) just prior to the commencement of \u201cthe verses of song\u201d (<\/span>p\u2019sukei d\u2019zimra<\/span><\/em>). If we interpret c<\/em><\/span>hanukah<\/span><\/em> in the opening verse as inauguration or commencement (see Deut. 20:5: \u201cWhosoever has built a new house and not inaugurated it\u201d), it gives us an idea of why it was chosen for that function.<\/span><\/p>\n

The verbal root of <\/span>chanukah<\/span>, <\/span>ch-n-k<\/span><\/em>, is also at the core of the modern Hebrew word for education: <\/span>chinukh<\/span><\/em>. What do schoolchildren have in common with David\u2019s \u201chouse\u201d? An identical answer comes from two medieval authorities: Rashi and Rambam (Maimonides).<\/span><\/p>\n

Rashi, the premier biblical and talmudic exegete of Northern France (1040-1105), defined c<\/em><\/span>hinukh<\/span><\/em> in his Torah commentary (Genesis 14:14) as follows: \u201c[<\/span>Chinukh<\/span><\/em>] indicates the introduction of a person or a utensil into a profession in which it is intended to persevere\u2026 and is known, colloquially, as to educate.\u201d (An alternative reading of Rashi\u2019s old French gloss yields \u201cinitiation.\u201d)<\/span><\/p>\n

In his Mishnah commentary (Menachot 4:4), Maimonides (1138-1204) defined <\/span>chinukh<\/span><\/em> as:<\/span><\/p>\n

The meaning of <\/span>chinukh<\/em> <\/span>is habituation\u2026 The word <\/span>chinukh<\/span><\/em> is used in these matters to refer, metaphorically, to the beginning of a process, as though a utensil were being accustomed to a task. This can be compared to a person who is first learning a science or a virtue, which he repeats until he acquires it.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to both Rashi and Maimonides, then, the common denominator of the education of school children and new buildings is that both are developmental processes whose progress\u2014and certainly completion\u2014deserve recognition.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":82044,"id":82044,"title":"ps30-menorah-pencil-holder","filename":"ps30-menorah-pencil-holder.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps30-menorah-pencil-holder.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/what-is-chanukah\/ps30-menorah-pencil-holder\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"ps30-menorah-pencil-holder","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":82043,"date":"2020-10-25 10:57:16","modified":"2020-10-25 10:57:26","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":540,"height":540,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps30-menorah-pencil-holder-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps30-menorah-pencil-holder-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps30-menorah-pencil-holder.jpg","medium_large-width":540,"medium_large-height":540,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps30-menorah-pencil-holder.jpg","large-width":540,"large-height":540,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps30-menorah-pencil-holder.jpg","1536x1536-width":540,"1536x1536-height":540,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps30-menorah-pencil-holder.jpg","2048x2048-width":540,"2048x2048-height":540,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps30-menorah-pencil-holder.jpg","post_full_size-width":540,"post_full_size-height":540,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps30-menorah-pencil-holder-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"What is Chanukah?","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"And how is it connected to education (chinukh)?","preview_embedded":"","preview_image":{"ID":82044,"id":82044,"title":"ps30-menorah-pencil-holder","filename":"ps30-menorah-pencil-holder.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps30-menorah-pencil-holder.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/what-is-chanukah\/ps30-menorah-pencil-holder\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"ps30-menorah-pencil-holder","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":82043,"date":"2020-10-25 10:57:16","modified":"2020-10-25 10:57:26","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":540,"height":540,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps30-menorah-pencil-holder-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps30-menorah-pencil-holder-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps30-menorah-pencil-holder.jpg","medium_large-width":540,"medium_large-height":540,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps30-menorah-pencil-holder.jpg","large-width":540,"large-height":540,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps30-menorah-pencil-holder.jpg","1536x1536-width":540,"1536x1536-height":540,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps30-menorah-pencil-holder.jpg","2048x2048-width":540,"2048x2048-height":540,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps30-menorah-pencil-holder.jpg","post_full_size-width":540,"post_full_size-height":540,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps30-menorah-pencil-holder-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"preview_video":"","external_link":"","link_for_pay":false,"tile_gallery_items":false,"credits":""},"alternate_tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"","hide_media":false},"tile_group":{"preview_image_url":false,"main_caption":"","sub_caption":"","":null,"popup_package_extra_content":"","read_time":""},"home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo":{"seo_title":"","seo_description":"","seo_default_title":"","seo_default_description":""},"links":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82043"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82043"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82043\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":82045,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82043\/revisions\/82045"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82043"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82043"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82043"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}