Hanukkah in the Diaspora: A History of Transmission

"Hanukkah in the Diaspora: A History of Transmission" by Eli Mercer examines how the Hanukkah observance spread across diverse communities without a centralized authority. Mercer investigates the various mechanisms through which Hanukkah traditions were transmitted, including prayer books, legal texts, ritual objects, songs, commerce, marriage, educational practices, printed materials, migration, and familial recollections. The historical analysis spans from late antiquity through medieval trade networks, early modern commercial exchanges, periods of mass migration, modern educational systems, broadcasting, and contemporary digital culture. This work treats change as an integral aspect of continuity, rather than an indication of decline, and utilizes case studies to illustrate how customs can emerge, fade, be revitalized, or acquire new interpretations.

The book provides geographically and temporally specific examples from Sephardic, Ashkenazi, Mizrahi, Italian, North African, and American Jewish communities. It distinguishes between the historical context of the Books of Maccabees, the prayer Al HaNissim, and the Talmudic narrative concerning the oil, subsequently tracing their respective patterns of circulation. Halakhic rulings, Midrashic narratives, mystical interpretations, folk practices, and commercial innovations are maintained within their distinct categories. The study considers the influences of colonialism, displacement, translation, and institutional dynamics to explain why certain traditions gained global prominence while others remained localized. Readers will gain an understanding of how items like a family menorah or a traditional recipe function not as static artifacts, but as points within a dynamic network of human movement, material culture, and deliberate choices.