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- 16006 Woodward at Ferris from which other peoples HEATING AND AIR CONDITIONING ing to extend its sting to this book derived theirs. The United States country, too. Is peace any bet- HIGHLAND PARK is the best example. 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 FRIENDSHIP GARAGE = - 311111111 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 111111111111111111111111111111111IP Brown Tire t4 Appliance Distributing Co. HOLLAND VAPORAIRE HEATING 41 3 CHANUKAH GREETINGS Let Holland Solve Your Home Heating Problems • Holland representative is a heating expert—capable of properly planning From the Makers of Sincere Chanukah Greetings! •r: - 3 your heating system or if your pres- ent plant is not heating satisfactorily he can tell you just what is wrong and what to do to correct the trouble. 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