A HANNUKAH TALE

About 2,200 years ago, somebody hid a wooden box with 15 silver coins in a cave in the Judean Desert. The box remained hidden until earlier this year, when it was found during a survey conducted by archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority.                                 The find was made in the Muraba’at Cave, now part of the Nahal Darga Nature Reserve by the Dead Sea. Jews fleeing the Romans at the end of the ill-fated Bar Kochba revolt are known to have “holed up” in the cave. However, these newly unearthed coins are the first solid evidence of people using the cave to hide centuries earlier, at the end of the Hasmonean period.                                              

Now as we are about to celebrate Hannukah the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) decided to publish the discovery of the silver coins cache. It’s reasonable to assume that the owner of the wooden box was killed in battle before he could return to the cave.                                                                                                                    

Over the past six years the IAA’s survey has yielded thousands of archaeological finds. The work has also saved them from destruction by would be looters.            

No less remarkable than the coins is the wooden box that contained them. The receptacle was crafted using a hand-operated wood turning lathe, presumably by its hapless owner. Similar boxes have been found in other places, but none of them so well made and so well preserved. Concealing the box in a cranny in the wall of the cave and the prevailing dry atmosphere probably helped to keep it intact. The owner-craftsman-warrior went to great pains to hide the coins covering them with layers of dirt, pebbles, a piece of woollen cloth and placing them at the bottom of the box wrapped in a clump of sheep’s wool.

Hannukah brings to mind an unusual incident that occurred many years ago during my reserve army service in an IDF liaison unit attached to UN observation forces in Lebanon and the Golan Heights. The commander of the IDF liaison unit invited the commander of the Finnish UN observation forces and his adjutant to celebrate Hannukah at the IDF base near Katzerin in the Golan Heights.

It's important to add that all liaison communications were conducted in English, so all the personnel were required to have a reasonable working knowledge of the language. The Hannukah party went well, that is up to the point when the Finnish battalion commander asked why we celebrate Hannukah. I noticed that our liaison commander was struggling to phrase a reply, so I cautiously volunteered to reply for him.

Two days later the Finnish battalion commander invited our liaison commander to experience a Finnish Sauna. After receiving the invitation, he ordered me go with him. “There’s no way I can carry the conversation on my own.” He said.                

 We arrived at the UN base and were invited to prepare for the traditional sauna ritual. The sauna was a commercial structure imported from Finland. The door faced westwards in the direction of the Sea of Galilee/Lake Kinneret. “You know we have more than 188,000 lakes in Finland” The Finnish commander said. “Most are small ponds, but about two hundred are about the size of the Sea of Galilee” He noted. “Yes, you are right of course, but does any one of them have so much history,” I added, alluding to the lake’s many-layered history including its association with Christianity.  

After showering we joined our hosts, all four of us naked. Fortunately, there were no birch branches available, so we had to forgo the customary self-flagellation. While our hosts ladled cold water over the hot stones, we chatted drank a few glasses of Finlandia Vodka, showered again before our driver arrived to take us back to our base.

Wishing you a happy Hannukah

Beni,               15^th of December, 2022.