Page 28 - Attractive Deception - The False Hope of the Hebrew Roots Movement

Hanukiah

After posting the previous chapters that spoke of the Talmud and Midrash, some readers wrote to
defend the Hebrew Roots Movement. They stated that their Hebrew Roots church or group only
embrace the written Torah. They reject the Oral Torah and its succedents, the Midrash and Talmud.
I do not doubt the sincerity of these objections. Many people simply do not realize the source from
which many Jewish practices arise. They are following the Talmud unknowingly. It is in the Talmud
that the Hanukiah is established as a Jewish tradition, and rules are set forth for its employment.

On Lighting The Chanukiah:
Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Shabbat, page 21b
What is 'Hanukkah? The rabbis taught: "On the twenty-fifth day of Kislev 'Hanukkah commences
and lasts eight days, on which lamenting (in commemoration of the dead) and fasting are prohibited.
When the Greeks entered the sanctuary, they defiled all the oil that was found there. When the
government of the House of Asmoneans (Hasmoneans) prevailed and conquered them, oil was
sought (to feed the holy lamp in the sanctuary) and only one vial was found with the seal of the high
priest intact. The vial contained sufficient oil for one day only, but a miracle occurred, and it fed the
holy lamp eight days in succession. These eight days were the following year established as days of
good cheer, on which psalms of praise and acknowledgment (of God's wonders) were to be recited...

The rabbis taught: The law of 'Hanukkah demands that every man should light one lamp for himself
and his household. Those who seek to fulfil it well have a lamp lit for every member of the
household. Those who seek to fulfil the law in the best possible manner should light according to
Beth Shamai the first night eight flames, and every following night one flame less. And according
to Beth Hillel the reverse - the first night one lamp, and be increased by one on each succeeding
night.

Note the reasons given for placing the Hanukiah in the home and lighting the candles. The reason
is “The rabbis taught...” There is nothing beyond this. There is no admonition in the Bible to observe
Hanukkah. The Bible contains no mention of the Hanukkah menorah. The Scriptures say nothing
of lighting candles to observe any festival. The Talmud gives the Jews nothing more than a tradition
of men. Since it did not derive from the holy Scriptures. From where did it come?

Before you answer that it came from the miracle of the oil that is described in this section of the
Babylonian Talmud, remember what has been observed previously. The Jewish rabbis have no