Apocry-Fest 2024:
Hanukkah Unbound and Un-Canonized
Happy early (C)(h)(x)(j)anukkah, whatever your preferred spelling! This year, Judaism Unbound — in partnership with The Torah Studio is taking Hanukkah as a chance to explore a bunch of books from a genre called “Apocrypha.” These are books that were not included in the official Biblical canon, but which nonetheless were important to different groups of Jews in a wide variety of historical eras.
Sign up with your email address through this super-short form, and we’ll send you all sorts of cool Apocryphal (ApocryFUN!) stuff, during Hanukkah, to help enrich your experience of the holiday!
Register for Apocry-Fest Below!
What does Apocrypha have to do with Hanukkah?
We believe that Hanukkah is a perfect time to revisit books that aren’t officially part of the Jewish canon. Why, you ask? Weirdly, Hanukkah is our only major holiday that has no direct connection to any of the books of the TaNaKh (the Hebrew Bible – T for Torah, N for Nevi’im/Prophets, K for Ketuvim/Writings).
The Hanukkah story itself comes from an apocryphal book, the Book of Maccabees, which records the 2nd century rebellion of the Maccabees (founders of the Hasmonean dynasty) against Seleucid leadership. In later eras of Jewish history, this story became more “authoritatively recorded” by being included in the Talmud, although the rabbis still sought to shift the Hanukkah story away from the Maccabees toward a narrative of divine miracle.
Raising Questions About Canon
We believe the “apocryphal festival” of Hanukkah gives us an opportunity to raise critical questions about canon. By considering books and stories excluded from the “official” Jewish biblical literature, we may ask, “what other stories, held sacred by Jews of the past, have been marginalized and de-centered in favor of other stories?”
How can we re-connect to these stories – not merely as books on the sidelines but as central components of our contemporary Jewish observances? What might these histories reflect not only about books, but also about people who have been marginalized and de-centered over time? Finally, what can this inquiry contribute to a fuller picture of Jewish wisdom and life?