by Rabbi Gal Ben-Meir
I have always sensed the vibe of theater during the time of Chanukah in Israel.
It’s an amazing thing and no one ever planned for this to happen, but it seems like the busiest time of year for the Israeli theater is the time of Chanukah. You will notice that the theaters are filled with shows and musicals for all ages, including the annual Festigal, which last year’s had a production budget of 25 million nis, and which involves the top Israeli artists and performers.
It’s almost ironic to think that the Greeks tried to destroy our Jewish culture and replace it by their own, and that our ‘answer’ to them was that we are willing to fight for our culture and religion and won’t give it up as they hoped for.
I am not claiming that what you see in Israel’s theaters is necessarily connected to Jewish themes as I would have hoped for, but on the other hand there has been a lot of progress in the field of meaningful original Jewish culture in the past few years and in Israel of 2017 you can find shows fitting for all sectors of Jewish hashkafa and society.
You could argue with me and claim that it has nothing to do with Chanukah and just happens to be eight convenient days in which there’s no school, summer camps or mass hotel vacations, but I think that there’s more to it. I believe that it’s a vision that was subconsciously created by the Israeli artist as an ‘answer’ and response to the Greek’s attempt to mock and ruin our unique Jewish culture.
As we approach Chanukah, it is once again a great time of the year to reflect on the culture or cultures that we are exposed to, and think about whether we are in fact empowering our own Jewish culture.
May we have a positive and meaningful ‘theatrical Chanukah experience’ which will effect the entire year.
Gal Ben-Meir is Sgan Menahel at Yeshivat Or Chaim.
