Fidel Castro and Chanukah

It’s common knowledge that after the 1959 revolution in Cuba, about 90% of the Jewish population fled the country.  It wasn’t that Fidel Castro was anti-Semitic, but in keeping with the spirit of Communism, he definitely was anti religion in general.  It wasn’t until the fall of communism in the Soviet Union in 1991 that Cuba changed its policy and allowed citizens to once again affiliate with their respective religions.  And no surprise, Jews slowly began returning to their synagogues and rebuilding the Jewish community.

But Castro himself had no connection with the Jewish community.  In 1998, Adela Dworin, president of the Patronato Synagogue in Havana, approached Castro at a public gathering and asked him why he hadn’t visited the synagogue. Fidel answered: “Because no one invited me!” Mrs. Dworin immediately invited Castro to celebrate Chanukah with the Jewish community. Unfamiliar with the holiday, Fidel asked “What is Chanukah?”

Thinking quickly, Mrs. Dworin said:”It is a celebration of the victory of a group of rebels who revolted against their government and brought about a revolution.”

Castro’s eyes lit up – what could be more relevant to a revolutionary leader than Chanukah? That year Fidel Castro came to the synagogue and celebrated Chanukah with the Jewish community for the first time.

Castro’s query, “What is Chanukah,” is not unfamiliar to us. In fact, the question first appeared in the Talmud five hundred years after the Maccabean revolt. The sages asked, “What is Chanukah” and proceeded to tell the story of the oil that burned for eight days.

It is surprising that the sages had to ask why we celebrate this time-honored holiday. And yet the reason for Chanukah seemed to be something of a mystery to our ancestors.

The truth is, there are many faces to Chanukah depending who you ask and where they live. 

For Castro, Chanukah was all about a revolution. 

For some American Jews, Chanukah is the holiday that occurs at the same time as Christmas. 

For others it is a celebration of the freedom loving Maccabees who fought for religious freedom. 

For Zionists, Chanukah is a celebration of Jewish might and valor – Jews defending themselves. 

And for still others it is a commemoration of God’s miraculous presence in history. 

So which interpretation is correct? I would say all of them; and none of them. Chanukah is a prism through which we interpret our place in the world and our values as a Jewish community. Because it doesn’t appear in Scripture, there is more room for an imaginative interpretation of this holiday. 

It is hard for us not to see the celebration through the prism of modern-day Israel. The Maccabees were the original IDF, the Israel Defense Forces. We are proud of the mighty Judah Maccabee who fought back and routed the Syrian Hellenists from the land of Israel. 

And yet the sages chose to ignore this aspect of the holiday. They felt that it was inappropriate for the Jewish people to be celebrating a military victory, Instead, by telling the story of the oil (which may or may not have actually happened), they imply that the real hero is not the Maccabees, but God.

The sages never mention the ferocious battles; they speak only of the rededication of the Temple and the lighting of the Menorah. The rabbis were not interested in depicting the Maccabees as soldiers.

This is hardly the image of the Maccabees we have today! If we were writing a passage for our liturgy today about this holiday – we would depict the mighty Maccabees.

Think about it; if it weren’t for the Maccabees, we wouldn’t be here today.

So spin your dreidel, and have a wonderful Chanukah 2020.  Hopefully, next year, we can celebrate together.

Rabbi Sheldon “Shelly” Kleinman is the spiritual leader of Congregation House of Israel, a reform congregation in Hot Springs, Arkansas, where he and his wife Carol have lived since 2006.