Do You Really Know About Hanukkah If You Haven’t Had ’80s Henry Winkler Explain It To You?
Television legend and national treasure Henry Winkler is a man of many talents — but did you know one of them was explaining Hannukah?
Today’s audiences may know him as acting instructor extraordinaire Gene Cousineau on the late lamented HBO hit Barry, or as the ill-fated Principal Himbry in Scream, or the man who turned down the John Travolta role in Grease. He’s also known to different generations as Arthur “The Fonz” Fonzarelli from Happy Days and as the “Jumping the Shark” origin story dude.
At the height of his Fonzie fame, Winkler narrated a very brief history of Hannukah — sponsored by now-defunct Chicago department store Marshall Field’s — that carries a message that still resonates today:
The Hebrew word Hanukkah means dedication.
It began in ancient Jerusalem when the Jews of that city were forbidden on penalty of death to worship in their own temple. However, the voice of the high priest, Mattathias, arose, saying, “I and my five sons will not obey the king’s command to depart from our religion.”.
One of those sons was the courageous leader, Judah Maccabee. After three years of rebellion, Judah and his outnumbered army freed the defiled temple, had it rebuilt, cleansed, and its holy altar restored.
It was ordained that a yearly eight day festival be observed.
And today, the eight days of Hanukkah still serves as a re-emphasize on Jewish tradition and is a reminder that freedom is secure only when we respect the beliefs and the dignity of all people.
I’m Henry Winkler.
Have a great holiday.
Winkler’s explainer didn’t address the Hannukah miracle, but JewishHistory.org has you covered:
The last famous battle was for the fortress of Antonius, which guarded the Temple. When Antonius fell, the Jews came back to the Temple. They shattered the statue of Zeus and cleaned the Temple to the extent that they could. Any priests who worked for the Greeks were sent away or executed.
They only found one small flask of uncontaminated oil with the seal of the High Priest. By Torah law, the flame of the Menorah (Candelabrum) in the Temple could only be lit with specially prepared pure olive oil. The amount of oil remaining in the one uncontaminated flask was only enough to burn for one day, and it would take eight days to produce a new batch of pure oil.
What could they do?
They lit it — and it miraculously burned for eight days. That is why Chanukah lasts eight nights (the festival was established a year later by the Rabbis).
Watch above via The Museum of Classic Chicago Television.
