Americo lavish Periodical Cotter
CLIFTON AVENUE - CINCINNATI 20, 01110
Friday, December 15, 1944
DETROIT JEWISH CHRONICLE and The Legal Chronicle
Peg. 7
CHANUKAH: The Beacon o Hope
By JULIUS L. WEIL
1,.. l
reserves. By just lighting a can-
THAT WAS A HOLY WAR
dle, and showing it to the world,
his sons knew that should the
By ABRAHAM CAPLAN
we may derive new hope for our
Jews of their time be defeated Mattathias and his sons waged a holy war.
future, but we have not yet con-
by the Greeks, their survival Was it a holy war? Yes, it was a holy war.
tributed anything to bring about
would be utterly endangered. But not like those we usually read about in histories—
this future. When we gain new
And so came about the spectacle Butchering of people professing a different religion,
hope, we must realize that hope
of the peace-loving Jew taking Who devoutly believe in their own doctrines,
must inspire us to deeds. Hope
up arms and defeating the might- Who think they have come upon the secret of salvation.
for a better future is only justi-
iest power of that time. But at Not such a holy war was the Maccabean war.
fied when we prepare for it.
the moment the struggle was The men of Modin worshipped the God of Israel,
Chanukah has always been a fes-
over, they laid aside their weap- They practiced the ancient rites of the Temple,
tival of special significance for
ons and once more became the Upholding sanctities designed for righteous living,
the Jewish child. Is there any
Holy people.
All of which stirred in their hearts a burning love for freedom. better guarantee for the Jewish
Throughout the generations, And when the tyrant came and noted these things,
future than the Jewish child?
this example of the Maccabees Observing that the religion of the God of holiness
Our children are our hope for a
was the inspiration Jewish fight- Periled regal might and disputed evil at every point,
future; let the Chanukah candle
ers had. At no time, however, He resolved to destroy this blasphemous religion.
show us the way to prepare them
had it found such an applica- So Antiochus, natural ancestor of the Ilitlerian brood,
for it. If we do that, then
tion than in our time. At no Sent forty mighty legions against the Judeans
Chanukah has truly become a
time, too, had the Jews lived With all the seeming power to crush them utterly.
beacon of hope for a better
under such oppression as now. But Mattathias and his brave sons fought back,
future.
Before, their enemies intended Fought a holy war, indisputably a war for the Lord of Hosts.
to do away with them either be- That was a holy war in truth, and they emerged triumphant.
cause of their different religious Would you know the meaning of a holy war,
faith, or because they wanted A holy war which was not, verily, an unholy war?
A Joyous Chanukah to All!
their belongings. Hitler, how- Well, read the story of the war of the Maccabees.
ever, did not kill the Jews be- Then you will understand.
cause theirs was a different re
ligion, but only because they of our power, and will to sur- present time. The struggle in
were Jews, a race he just did vive on the window sill for all whch the world is engaged is not
not like. For years, he did not the world to see? Yet, showing yet at an end. Many hard days
encounter any resistance. The this alone does not do the job. are ahead of us. And hope is
Jew was a pushover. But what Just lighting candles and giving what we need in these days. The
he did not figure on was that them the world to look at is not Chanukah candle, which reminds Service on All Makes of Cars
the undying spirit of the Macca- THE thing. These same candles us of a miracle, tells us that no
WE MAKE-EM NEW
bees would some day wake up must also show us something. matter how hard the Jews were
again. And it did. The battle They must have a meaning to us, hit, they always survived. No Collision Work Our Specialty
of the Warsaw ghetto is the if they are to have a meaning matter how cruel our enemies,
most vivid proof of their spirit. for the world.
there is always hope for a better
31 W. FERRY
And the contribution of Jews
The Chanukah candles mean time after the persecution. But
to the various underground move- various things to us. In thein- to bring about a better time, we
TE. 2.8995
ments costing the lives of many selves, their quiet, steady burn- must do our share. Israel is deci-
Germans, is another example of ing should •impress upon us that mated, out best front line troops
this new faith.
the life of the human being can have fallen. We must supply the
All this did not prevent mil- be tranquil if he makes it so.
lions
of
Jews
from
perishing.
The individual forms his own
SEASON'S GREETINGS!
The soul of the Jewish people life by himself first, and by his
has been weakened. The founda- environment second. But let
tion is crumbling. But whether us regard the Chanukah candles
BEST WISHES FOR A JOYOUS CHANUKAH!
it will ultimately collapse, de- as something much nearer to the
pends on us. We are told that Jew, his law, the Torah. Many
the Chanukah candles should be of us think of our Jewish law
placed on the window sill to as something very hard to bear.
show the world the miracle which We are liable to regard it as old
happened so many centuries ago. fashioned, and out of style. No
Today this display may assume conception could be as wrong as
still another meaning. Although that. Better knowledge would
Radios, Refrigerators, Stoves,
we are living a peaceful and teach
us something quite differ-
Electrical Appliances, Etc.
quiet life in America, we could ent. Although
we may not rea-
not help noticing that the ugly lize it, our Torah was the law-
monster
of
anti-Semtism
is
try-
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from which other peoples
HEATING AND AIR CONDITIONING
ing to extend its sting to this book
derived theirs. The United States
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Is
peace
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bet-
HIGHLAND PARK
is
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Would
any-
ter way of showing our defiance one call the constitution of this
SYSTEMS FOR THE HOME
to it than by displaying proof country old-fashioned? The Tor-
all as impersonated by the Chan-
ukah light should show us that
nothing can extinguish its flame.
But we all can derive benefit
from its warmth if we keep the
flame burning. Much has been
said about the need for spiritual
improvement of the Jewish house-
hold. Our leaders have been try-
ing to do just that. The response
has not • been too good. But the
flame of the Chanukah light
should be a reminder to us that
all of us face a task, to take
MAY THE HOLIDAY TIME—WITH ITS
over the job of keeping Judaism
Before you buy or build a home—
alive, which millions of European
MEANINGFUL TRADITIONS — BE A
Jews can no longer carry out
because the flame of life has
make sure it will be comfortable in
TIME OF JOY FOR ALL OF YOU AND
been driven out of their bodies.
Winter. Do this by consulting the
The most encouraging mean-
EVERY YEAR TO COME!
ng the Chanukah candle has, is
Holland man in your locality. The
that of hope. Very seldom did
we need hope more than in our
Only a few weeks separate us
from the festival of lights. In
a short time, the Jewish father
and his sons will once more pro-
nounce the blessing over the can-
dles and light the Chanukah can-
dles for the world to see. Chan-
ukah, like Purim, is a festival
in the Jewish calendar which is
not based on a command of the
Almighty. It is not mentioned
in the book of the Jewish law,
the Torah. It was instituted by
our sages who regarded the mir-
acle of the one day's supply of
oil which lasted for a week as
so important that they decreed
the celebration of this miracle for
all generations to come.
The miracle of Chanukah, how-
ever, is not identified with the
miracle of the oil alone. Before
the Maccabees were able to re-
store the temple to its rightful
use again, they brought about
something which the Jew had
very seldom witnessed before,
namely the decision to fight of-
fensively, and no longed defen-
sively. Whenever the Jews were
commanded to take up arms,
they did so on Divine command,
and their struggle was a fight
for the sanctification of the Holy
Name, and therefore victorious.
Our history proves that when-
ever the Jews took up arms on
their own accord they were the
losers. However, at the time of
the Maccabees, this no longer
held true. The old priest and
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