Faith on the Frontline at Chanukah

The is one of those things that gets everyone excited and feeling all sentimental about the chivalry of ; unfortunately, the reality is a lot less noble. Yes, it’s true that some men from both sides of the conflict decided that around Christmas Day 1914 they didn’t want to partake in the killing for a bit. Some of them got out of the trenches and walked into no man’s land where they exchanged pleasantries with each other and shared their Christmas food and drink supplies. It is even possible that over those couple of days they may have had a kick about (as young men often do when conversation runs dry – and in this case a lack of common language probably meant that happened quite quickly), there was not however an organised football match. That is because the truce was very sporadic and unofficial.

In fact, at other points along the Western Front on that same Christmas of 1914 men were being killed through the normal activities of war, and that is because war does not stop for religious festivals. Chanukah of 1914 started on the 13th December and over the following eight days nine Jewish men are known to have been killed, how many were injured remains unknown.

While faith often increases during times of war, and certainly any military chaplain will tell you that attendance at a service just before a planned battle will be one of the largest they have, the ability to observe certain religious elements usually becomes more difficult. Fighting doesn’t stop for meal times and it will not stop to enable a feast, a fast or a prayer. The reality of war is it is ruthless, often relentless and never noble.

Perhaps this is why the Christmas Truce has taken on such mythical proportions, is it that last element of ‘Dulce et Decorum Est Pro Patria mori’ mentality of war being something heroic; or is it a desire to believe that we are all better than conflict and will see each other as an equal rather than an enemy? Either way the brutal truth is that over every religious festival those fighting and supporting the conflict were killed by it. An estimated thirty Jewish men were killed during the Chanukahs of 1914 – 1917 and probably many more were injured. The 1918 Chanukah was after Armistice Day; nonetheless ten Jewish servicemen are recorded to have died during that period, either as a result of their injuries or from the which was sweeping through the service community.

During November to January all the winter cultural and religious festivals have things in common, delicious food generally but also a culture of introducing light into the darkness. That light is a symbol of hope, and in conflict hope is a key motivator for survival. It is why the authorities went to huge lengths to get Chanukah supplies to those serving in the trenches and across the military service. Hope, faith and a sense of community and continuity were an essential part of military morale just as it is in peacetime.

This year as you light your Chanukah candles and you see the twinkling Christmas lights of your neighbours, whilst reflecting on the difficult months of 2020, give a thought for the men and women a hundred and more years ago whose year was far worse and for whom Chanukah was a series of quickly read prayers from a pocket prayer book; think also of the servicemen and women who serve today regardless of the dates on the calendar and who still need our prayers and symbol of light.