(I apologize for the paragraph and punctuation problems in this essay. I have a problem with the blog "program" that I cannot seem to fix.)
Chanukah is a holiday of joy. It celebrates miracles that took place in Israel when Jew were under duress. That first Chanukah story unfolded more than 2100 years ago. Now, we celebrate those miracles every year.
This year's Chanukah begins soon--on Sunday night, November 28, 2021. It is an eight-day holiday.
On each of the eight nights of Chanukah, every Jewish family lights one additional candle, until all 8 candles are lighted. That is, we light one candle the first night to mark the first day, two candles the second night to mark the second, and so on, until we light all eight candles to mark the eighth and final day.
During Chauukah, our homes fill ever-more each night with the light of those candles. Both children and adults appear to love watching that light grow stronger each evening.
Two Chanukah miracles stand out for us to celebrate. First, the Jews of Israel rebelled against an oppressive Greek-Syrian ruler, Antichous IV. The Jewish goal was to free the Jews of Israel from their Greek-Syrian oppressors--or die trying.
The miracle was, the Jews won. They threw off the yoke of anti-Jewish Greek-imposed rules. They also vanquished all the assimilationist Jews who had joined with the Greek-Syrians to oppress the religious among them.
These Hellenist oppressors, led by the king Antiochus IV, had attempted to wipe out Judaism in Israel by outlawing two of the most fundamental practices of Jews: Torah study, and the observance of Shabbat. Israel's Greek-Syrian rulers didn't attempt to stamp out Judaism by themselves. They had help. Their assimilationist Jewish allies eagerly joined them. Together, their goal was to replace Judaism with a Greek-pagan non-Jewish cultur
They failed. Judaism survived.
The second miracle (or, perhaps more accurately, the single most important miracle of that moment in time) had to do with the Holy Temple--which still stood. In fact, one might argue that the spark that set off the Jewish rebellion was a successful attempt by a Greek General to bring a pig (literally) into the Holy Temple, and sacrifice it on the Temple altar.
For religious Jews, this was indeed an abomination of the highest order. It was a complete desecration of everything Holy the Temple represented.
After the Jewish victory, Priests returned to the Temple Mount to clean and repair the Temple--and to prepare the Temple for a rededication service. But they ran into a problem
Their preparations required a supply of oil properly qualified to use for the Temple Menorah each day. But when the Priests returned to the Temple Mount, they could not find sufficient oil for more than one day.
The miracle at that time was, while messengers were sent out to hunt for proper oil, that one-day supply of oil miraculously replenished the Menorah each day. That miraculous replenishment lasted for eight days, until a new supply of oil finally arrived.
Chanukah is called, the Festival of Light. We call it that in order to commemorate the miracle of that single container of oil providing light for the Temple Menorah for a full eight days.
Today, some 2100+ years later, Judaism in Israel faces its own existential threat. This threat comes not from Greek, Syrian or Greek-Syrian conquerors, but from anti-Jewish Progressive-Liberal assimilationst Israelis. These modern assimilationists want to be "like everyone else".They choose secularism, not Judaism
They do not want a Jewish state. They are little different from their counterparts 2100 years ago. They prefer to harass religious Jews, not help them.
Religious Jews in Israel are under duress. For many politicians, culture leaders, social 'influencers' and media types in Israel, religion is definitely "out". Being like everyone else (some call this "being goyishe") is definitely "in".
It's the Chanukah back-story all over again.
Anti-Judaism politicians incite against Israel's most religious group, the Haredi. Politicians and media types advocate for laws that will restrict and even punish Israel's Haredi population because, as we in Israel are told repeatedly, the Haredi are something akin to useless insects and\or parasites. The Haredi object to these characterizations; they call laws that appear to punish particularly them, "Antiochus-like". It is a term that recalls the oppression of the original Chanukah story (here)
While the Haredi are despised and scorned as no better than lazy rabbits, Religious Zionists in Israel are demonized as "dangerous". These supposed "outcasts from polite society" are referred to by that dirty word, "Settlers". Their very existence in Israel seems to cause Progressive-Liberals in Israel endless frustration.
The problem with these Religious Zionist "Settlers" is that they will not follow the dreams of Israeli assimilationists. Religious Zionist Israelis refuse to accept a Palestinian State in Judea-Samaria. They say that Judea-Samaria is not a bargaining chip. It is ancient Jewish homeland, as described in the Jewish Tanach. That land is Jewish.
Therefore, to the modern asssimilationist, these "Settlers" must be separated, culled form the Jewish 'community'. It's the only solution. Settlers must be removed from their Judea-Samaria homes. They must be driven off the land. Then, we will supposedly have peace.
Israel's Religious Zionists are different from our assimilationist Jews. Settlers insist upon standing up to low-level anti-Jew Arab terror. They fight back. Assimilationists won't.
Religious Zionist "Settlers" also cause endless troubles for what some say are Israel's "anti-Settler" police. These Zionists are labelled by some as being no better than Jewish terrorists.
In Israel, we see anti-Religious stories about Haredi and Religious Zionist 'troubles' every month--sometimes, every week, occasionally, every day (including the day this story was published here). The inference is clear: just as some 2100 years ago, assimilationist influencers rejected their heritage, their ancient land and their religion, so too do our own modern assimilationists.
The modern Chanukah miracle in Israel today is, these two "outcast" religious groups (Haredi and Religious Zionists) have not been stamped out. To the contrary, they both grow. They do not shrink. Their influence spreads. Neither retreats.
Israel's assimilationists, however, loose power and numbers over time. That drives them to distraction. They hate losing.
Well, here's a news flash: Jews have never survived by embracing the 'not-Jewish'. We do not survive by assimilating. We survive only because of what our Jewish anti-Jew population calls 'being an extremist"--that is, by being religious.
Too bad for those assimilationists. The modern Chanukah miracle is, Judaism survives only because of these so-called "extremists". We survive because of our religion, not in spite of it.
Happy Chanukah.
T
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