Friday, November 30, 1945
DETROIT JEWISH CHRONICLE and The Legal Chronicle
Page Four
SOME THOUGHTS ON CHANUKAH
By LIONEL J. ZIPRIN
Wars are fought for the pres-
ervation of ideals. In our own
times, it has been Democracy
against Fascism. At others, our
own Civil War for example, it
was unity against disunity. And
our Revolutionary War was, of
ter all, fought primarily on ac-
count of religious intolerance.
Chanukah, the dedication fes-
tival, celebrated in commemora-
tion of the victories of Judas
Maccabeas, was fought on the
grounds combining all these
three counts. What distinguishes
it though from these latter
struggles is that, it was "a once
and for all, win or lose battle."
If the Revolutionary War were
lost democracy would, despite
the defeat, have overcome Eng-
lish royalism. If the Civil War
were lost, unity would still have
come about again. But, had the
forces of Maccabeas fallen at
Emmaus, it would have been the
"be all and end all" then and
there. There would have been no
turning back. There would have
been no new chance for victory.
The result, in short, would have
been that Judaism would have
gone the way of so many other
Oriental creeds. It would have
remained as R literary and his-
toric relic. Its real life would
have ceased. Let those who take
a mystical glory in the fact of
Judaism's miraculous existence
realize how thin-worn the thread
actually was.
For while it was outwardly
a struggle against barbaric op-
nression. against a tyrant who
indulged in massacre as if it
were a play thing, the core of
the conflict, the inner and more
important strife, concerned it-
self with the opposition of two
powerful faiths, two cultures,
two completely dissimilar ways
of life — the Hebrew versus the
Greek.
Greek Hellenism, after the
conquests of Alexander the Great,
had filtered through the entire
East. Palestine itself felt the
corruption far more strongly
than any other nation; the He-
brew, more than any other faith.
For Greek worship found com-
patability in the incense burn-
ing rituals of the other tribes
and people. Hellenism suited it-
self so well to Egypt because
severe differentiation hardly ex-
isted between the two national
modes of living. The Syrian more than overcome. And little
could accept the Greek easily, did that general know that be-
before the passing of many more
too. The Syrians made idols months, Lysimachus his succes-
The only difference was that the sor would, at Bethsura, be put
Greeks made better ones. There to rout in the same shameful
fashion.
was an immediate affinity.
There was too much to lose
But Judaea, though it, too,
not
to win. The Jew could not
fell to the influence of Hellen-
sacrifice his past. It had come
ism, kept up the struggle. Half
with too much struggle to be
of Judaea spoke Greek, dressed forfeited. The conception of one
Greek, felt Greek. The High
God was too lofty a height to be
Priests themselves adopted Greek
now substituted with the diver-
names. Jehova was looked at
sities of pagan deities. The soft,
with toleration. He was consid-
easily enjoyed morality of the
ered as just another Olympian Greek was too insipid a solution
— a little out of place, to be for the complexities of living.
sure! Other Gods were needed! It missed the single firmness! It
And the Greeks supplied them! vacillated! It played with ge-
These though were the short- ometry and logic. The Jew de-
comings of the people. But there manded a truth, a way of con-
were worse abominations. Antio- duct. He could not tolerate men-
chus Epiphanes, the tyrant, out- tal posing, mental arithmetic.
lawed the Sabbath, built a sta- He could not be satisfied with
tue of Zeus in the center of the nice, philosophic nuances. Aris-
Temple, sacrified pigs on the sa- totelian analysis could not make
cred altar. And these, no matter up for the ecstatic righteousness
how far Hellenism had gone to that belonged to Moses.
shape the people's ways, could
A culture was at stake. Ju-
not be endured.
daism held the banner. It would
Mattathias called his people not permit itself, nor the world,
together. His five sons were ap- to slip back. Zeus could not tri-
pointed their leaders. The war umph over Jehovah.
began! Already the forces of
The plans of Antiochus Epi-
Appollonius, the enemy com-
mander, had been withheld and
thrown back. And at Beth-horon
that same year, a second and a
Chanukah Greetings
larger army, under the command
of Seron, was hurled against
the Judaeans, only to meet the
same fate as its predecessor.
Now Gorgias, confident in his
arrogance, directing still a third
Courteous Service Always
and still a larger army, whose
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hope it was to exterminate every
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Jew in its path, marched in strict
CL. 2763
formation to Emmaus. But Ju-
•
das Maccabeas was more than
prepared. He more than stood
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off the assault — Gorgias was
.
Frank
Stadium Service
plumes were as shattered as his
armies. He had underestimated
his enemy. He had thought too
little of this people. Now he had
reason to be afraid.
When the sons of the Hasmo-
nean Mattathias returned victo-
rious to a Temple no longer
desecrated by pagan deities, Hal-
lel, the song of praise, the song
of thanksgiving, was sung. Thus,
they showed their gratitude to
a God who allowed his children
to struggle for the honor of His
name.
Amidst these desecrations a
sealed jar of oil was found. It
had escaped the profanation of
the heathen. It was lit, and the
flame burned eight days. Thus,
the Menorah, the eight-branch
candle stick! This allowed time
for the preparation of new oils,
time for the ritual of the new
dedication of the Temple.
And now, in our holiday cele-
bration, the Menorah is set at
night-fall to burn against the
window . . that a world whose
heaven is darkened may yet be-
hold some light.
— —
They did their job, let's do
ours. Buy Victory Bonds.
Season's Greetings
•
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Chanukah Greetings
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The shooting has stopped, but
it's not all over yet . . • not
till the last man is back can
we on the home front consi-
der our obligations met. Obli-
gations we owe to every
man who served in the cause
of Liberty. It's a costly under-
taking, a responsibility v.e
must not neglect. That's win
our Government needs Eleven
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be a better reason?
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Chanukah Greetings
•
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A Joyous Chanukah to All
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Chanukah Greetings
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