A short Chanukah insight Part 1: Judging Lifestyle Choices

A short Chanukah insight Part 1: Judging Lifestyle Choices

How to align with the Chashmonaim

We said in the shiur [1] that the mesiras nefesh of the Chashmonaim stemmed from the fact that they felt it was impossible to live without avoda. To be honest, we must admit that we do not have this inner zeal, so where does that leave us in connecting with the source of the redemption of Chanukah?

The obligation rests on us to have our lives be built and aligned with the proper attitude of the Chashmonaim. This means discerning that there are things in our life which we cannot live with and certain things in our life we cannot live without.

In Judaism, we hold firmly to the principle of not proselytizing. When confronted with something our approach is not to project our beliefs or critiques outward onto others but to engage in self-reflection and address it within ourselves.

In this vein, we must acknowledge that the dominant ways of society are “not the proper way of life.” This is a challenging statement to make which evokes anxiety from us, as it risks inviting criticism and labels from society. Yet, to be moser nefesh for something, we must also recognize that there are ways of living that do not align with the true Torah life. We need to discern what it truly means to live a Jewish life.

In today’s world, we face constant pressure to accept a myriad of lifestyles as equally valid paths. The prevailing message is that all ways of life deserve equal recognition. The Greeks of Chanukah—much like modern society—advocated for a life guided solely by human intellect, bound to the norms of culture and society. This worldview stands in stark contrast to the essence of a Jewish life.

The two-step process

So our first step to work towards the level of the Chashmonaim is to look around at society and reflect, “That is NOT the way I want to live my life; it is NOT the Jewish way.” We then must think, “What is underlying that particular approach to life that makes it so repulsive to me.” we will then find the depth of what is behind that approach that is wrong. 

For instance, when I observe the transgender phenomenon in society, I feel that this lifestyle does not align with what I believe to be the purpose of life. In my view, altering one’s body does not fit within the intended purpose of our existence. Therefore, I do not see it as an acceptable way of living. To take this to the next step, as we said, I must ask myself what is repulsing me personally about this such that I would not want to do this? Is it because it contradicts halacha? Or is it the underlying notion that “my body is mine to change, and my feelings override reality,” which seems to exclude Hashem from the equation, as it suggests that one’s feelings dictate their reality?

Again, this exercise in avoda is not in order to publicly propagate my ideas, nor to convince others that I am correct. Indeed, if a transgender person was meeting with me, I would not feel obligated to convince him to change. That is simply not the topic we are looking at right now.  We are exploring how to live up to the Chashmonaim’s mesiras nefesh, which involves personally discerning the right and wrong ways to live. It also means developing resilience to maintain strong opinions despite societal pressure to conform. We must internally resist the overwhelming tide of individualism to preserve our mental and Jewish health. This is Chanukah, to keep the Torah way against Hellenism. The Chashmonaim declared Hellenism is not right, it is not a way to live a life!

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[1] This is referring to the shiur entitled: “Chanukah – what is the real meaning of Mesiras Nefesh” delivered Chanukah 5785