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B"sd A New Chanukah Gary CooperbergDecember 3 , 2007The holiday of Chanukah is upon us once again. And, once again, I wonder how many of us realize the significance of this holiday. This is one holiday that truly is shared by both religious and non-religious Jews. We light the candles and recite the blessings. We sing songs, exchange gifts and eat potato pancakes and jelly donuts. For many American Jews Chanukah is the Jewish answer to Christmas. The fact is that the festival of lights has a far deeper and meaningful significance. The historical fact is that the Jewish People at that time were living in Israel under Greek occupation. Unlike our predicament in Purim, when Haman sought to simply destroy the Jews, the Greeks only wanted to get us to give up our belief in the One G-d. They offered us equal rights were we to accept their deities and live as they did. Many pragmatic Jews saw this as a reasonable option and went for it. After all the Greeks were clearly stronger than we were and there was no hope that we could defeat them. So at least we could find a way to survive and have genuine peace in our homeland. A handful of religious fanatics, led by the former high priest, Mattityahu, rebelled against the Greeks. When a Greek officer came to Modiin and set up a statue of an idol and called upon Jews to bow to it in order to be accepted as equal citizens, a line formed to do so. As the first Jew went to bow down, Mattityahu stabbed him to death and shouted to his brothers, All who stand with the Living G-d of Israel follow me! They fled to the hills and conducted a guerrilla war against the Greeks. The Maccabees were a tiny group of religious zealots who stood against the Jewish majority. Many considered them enemies of peace in their day. Yet, as history has proven, this tiny group which was prepared to die rather than turn against their G-d, actually defeated the overwhelming might of their enemies and returned Jewish sovereignty to our homeland. They accomplished this feat not by entering into negotiations; not by bowing down to the Greek oppressors; not by looking for a strange road map; and not by compromising upon Jewish Law. They accomplished the impossible by standing with their G-d. When G-d saw their uncompromising love for Him, He intervened and enabled the few to overcome the many; the weak to overcome the strong; and the true believers to overcome the faithless. Today we are facing a new Chanukah. Our leaders have become the Hellenists of our time and seek to compromise our beliefs in order to live in peace with our enemies. The basic difference between then and now is that our enemies do not merely want us to give up our beliefs, they want to destroy us. It is we who labor under the self-delusion that our enemies want peace. So we negotiate with ourselves, throw our brothers out of their homes, give away large chunks of our homeland, release terrorists from prison and turn them loose in our homeland to continue their efforts to destroy us, and we help fund our enemies and give them weapons. The miracle of the Chanukah of today is far greater than that of the original. At least in those days we knew who are enemies were. Today we call them peace partners. Never in the history of Mankind has any nation worked so hard to destroy itself as has the modern nation of Israel. Yet, in spite of our lost leaders, the faith of the Jewish People continues. Although the media gives the false impression that the Jewish People agree with the stupidity of our leaders, this is simply not true. We are locked into a false democracy which has enabled the political system to override the will of the people. It is a system doomed to self destruction, but one which continues to bring needless tragedy to our country. As in the original Chanukah, our victory was not possible...but it happened anyway. So too will be the coming Redemption, may it be swift and glorious. Project Shofar is dedicated to spreading these truths wherever it is possible to do so. It is sounding the alarm, to Jew and Gentile alike, to open our eyes to the G-dly process that is presently underway, and work to support it. We dare not stand idly on the sidelines. If you want to support the concepts espoused by the Voice from Hebron, and the physical work of Project Shofar, click the following link below to donate now by credit card: Or, you can send a tax deductible contribution to: Project Shofar, Inc. Thank you for your support of Project Shofar! Gary makes regular speaking tours to the states and strives to reach out to all who express an interest in the ongoing process of Zionist Redemption, Jew and Gentile alike. An observant Jew, Gary will not enter into a church sanctuary, but will be happy to address groups in a social hall or other secular location. Should you wish to invite him to your area feel free to send him an email to gary@projectshofar.org. Subscribe to A Voice From Hebron To subscribe to the weekly column, A Voice from Hebron and have it sent directly to you, enter your e-mail address below.
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