After two public Christmas holidays, where we celebrated among our family, I headed back to work regenerated and full of hope despite the challenges on personal, professional, and political level.

For another year the Chanukah decorations – my small electric Chanukiah and the large wooden Dreidel from Israel – would rest in the large cupboard of my office. After placing the Chanukiah in front of a stack of Bibles longing to be used. Then, I carefully placed the Dreidel in front of it. The wooden art piece would forever remind me of a special lesson about Chanukah, inter-religious education, and own theological reflections on this Jewish celebration. As I slowly turned the dark Dreidel on its socket I remembered the astonished voice of a young police cadet.

But let me start with the lesson itself… : After the murderous crimes of World War II the number of Jews living in Germany presently is under 1% of the German population. Most of my police cadets have never had an encounter with Jews and only small knowledge about the living faith of Judaism. Therefore, during the festive season of Chanukah, I taught them about the history of this important festival showing them the Chanukiah and even playing a fun round of Dreidel. While I explained the historical background of your festival I could see that one police cadet sitting in the center of the class room looked very puzzled. He persistently raised his hand. I nodded, as I could feel the urgency of his question. „Mrs. Groß, please forgive my question, but I am confused. Are you Jewish?“ Now it was me being the astonished one. I set down the Dreidel on my desk. „No, I am not Jewish. But I have lived in New York for almost seven years. My children brought home many Jewish traditions. Some of my best friends are Jewish, and through Judaism I was able to understand a lot of my Christian faith.“ While the class then eagerly turned to playing a round or two of Dreidel, the question of the young police cadet stuck and evoked a deeper research on what Chanukah, Judaism and Christianity might have in common. Who would ever think, that an inter-religious lesson I had designed for my police cadets to help them with their ethical decision making, would help me to reach a deeper level of understanding of both faiths.

In the Christian Holy Scriptures we hear from Jesus celebrating most likely Chanukah:

At that time the festival of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon.

John 10:22-23 NRSV

The German Bible translation „Bibel in gerechter Sprache“ even directly speaks of Chanuka:

Damals fand in Jerusalem das Chanukkafest statt.

John 10:22 Bibel in gerechter Sprache

There is no further biblical proof, if Jesus celebrated Chanukah. But the reference seems very convincing to me and I will definitely add to my answer that Jesus was a Jewish Rabbi and most likely celebrated Chanukah like other Jews did.

With a soft push I closed the cabinet door, where the special objects of my teaching are stored. The Dreidel will forever remind me of this special lesson – by now I am convinced that I am challenged to grow as I teach as much as I challenge my young cadets to learn about other faiths, cultures, and festivals.

Love from Bamberg to my Jewish friend.