The theme of the story, history, behind the Chanukah Holiday is how the mighty Greeks were defeated by the small, seemingly weak Jewish Maccabees who were defending Jewish Religious and National Rights in Jerusalem.
It was a great battle. The Greeks were the invaders and not only attempting to rule the Holy Land militarily, but they had also established laws forbidding Jewish worship.They attempted to replace the Jewish religion with their own, and unfortunately, many Jews aka the Hellenists cooperated with them and assimilated.
Today’s Hellenism is western culture and values based on the Christian version of Judaism, claiming “tolerance” and democracy as pillars of the Jewish Religion, which is actually false. Just read the first two of the Ten Commandments, and you’ll see that we have one God only and one approved set of values and Laws.
1) I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 2) Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.
We are not supposed to tolerate and give equality to those promoting violating God’s Commandments. These principles are very clearly stated.
Just because United States President Barack Hussein Obama and his staff managed to convince American allies to support their “deal” with the Iranians, doesn’t make it a good agreement for the world. Read Arlene Kushner’s well documented article for more information about its dangers. Even though there are Jews who are defending Obama and his “deal,” doesn’t make it good. Remember that there were many Jewish Hellenists supporting the Greeks thousands of years ago.
In Judaism the majority isn’t always right. There are inflexible absolutes. Democracy is not a Jewish value! The Biblical story known as the “sin of the spies” is based on the dangers of majority/democracy mistakes and the price we we must pay for following the masses instead of God. The “sin of the spies” happened soon after the exodus from Egypt. G-d told Moshe to send a representative of each tribe to stake out the Land in a very public “pilot trip.” It’s a misnomer to call them “spies.” Instead of coming back to promote their new homes, ten of the twelve the tribal elders frightened the people with stories of upcoming difficulties. Only two, Joshua and Caleb promoted trusting G-d and immediate entrance to the Land. The people followed democracy, the majority and feared the move. In response, G-d punished them all by delaying the entrance to the Land by forty years.
Israel is now in a very challenging position. The “deal” between the western powers and Iran has isolated us even further than usual. Israel’s response has been very strong and negative. This is the excerpt from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s statement that was sent out by the Government Press Office:
“What was achieved last night in Geneva is not an historic agreement; it is an historic mistake. Today the world has become a much more dangerous place because the most dangerous regime in the world has taken a significant step toward attaining the most dangerous weapon in the world. For the first time, the world’s leading powers have agreed to uranium enrichment in Iran while ignoring the UN Security Council decisions that they themselves led. Sanctions that required many years to put in place contain the best chance for a peaceful solution. These sanctions have been given up in exchange for cosmetic Iranian concessions that can be cancelled in weeks. This agreement and what it means endanger many countries including, of course, Israel. Israel is not bound by this agreement. The Iranian regime is committed to the destruction of Israel and Israel has the right and the obligation to defend itself, by itself, against any threat. As Prime Minister of Israel, I would like to make it clear: Israel will not allow Iran to develop a military nuclear capability.”
Now the big question is whether Bibi will slink away or fight like a Maccabee. And even more important, will Netanyahu defend Jewish Israeli interests, security etc. Remember that the same faulty logic (faith?) behind believing that Iran can be trusted not to develop nuclear weapons is urging us to believe that a Palestinian State won’t attack the State of Israel. If the United States and allies are so ignorant as to believe and trust the Iranians, we should refuse to cooperate with them in terms of our country’s security in all aspects. No more American brokered negotiations with the Arab terrorists!