Friday, December 12, Oft
DETROIT JEWISH CHRONICLE
rage Eighteen
fend
Maccabees First to De
Freedom of Little People
By MARC H. TANENBAUM
HEN THE PALE yellow glow
of Chanukah candle-light
spreads across the window-panes,
a warm moving spirit will surge
through the breasts of Jews
throughout the world. Huddled
about the candfiiabrum, Jewish
families in Detroit, Buenos Aires,
Hamburg, Shanghai and Tel
Aviv will usher in Chanukah
5708, with prayer book in hand
and melody in heart.
Since the justly-heralded tri-
umph of the Maccabees about
167 B.C.E. the twenty-fifth day
of Kislev (this yem Dec. 7) has
come to mean many things to
many Jews. To most, the eight
day period has been symbolized
as: The Feast of Lights, The
Feast *of the Maccabees, The
Feast of Dedication. To all, the
festive Chanukah has meant in-
spiration, invincibility, the tri-
umph of the human soul.
• • •
STIRRING EPOCII
SCURRYING BACK thr .ough
the avenues of history, one finds
few epochs in the annals of man
so stirring, so valorous as that
of the Maccabees.
The breath of freedom which
today sustains twentieth century
man was first exhaled by the
modest priest Mattathias of Mo-
din, who with his five sons
struck the first blow of resistance
against the imperial fascist, Anti-
ochus Epiphanes, king of all
Syria.
Incensed by the invasion of
Syrian hordes who sought to
be reckoned with in their world.
This, the rededication of the
Temple, was a powerful religious
victory, thought others who saw
in it that Israel's mission was
only to live unmolested on the
holy soil in accordance with the
Torah.
But to the present day heir of
this Jewish epic who stands on
the banks of time and proudly
observes the stream of Jewish
tradition, there is a noticeable
; undercurrent which swells the
,; tide and lends dirtction. The
1 Maccabean revolt, he sees, signi-
i •••
fies the first instance in human
history of men taking up arms
to defend freedom of conscience
and the invoilable right of little
people everywhere to live as
they will.
YET IT IS MORE than that.
The Maccabees not only resisted
oppression, they battered down
the sickening cowardice of furry.
minded Jews who, thinking the
"melting pot" their salvation
wished Israel to cast off its tra-
ditions, lose its identity and be
reduced to an amorphous clot in
the human bloodstream.
CHANUKAH GREETINGS
Clyde Hornung
CHANUKAH GREETINGS .. .
322 Fisher Bldg.
LAFIEB BIROS.
2416 Hubbard Ave.
CHANUKAH GREETINGS
Gunsberg Star Kosher Sausage Co.
. 1743 Pingree Ave.
CHANUKAH GREETINGS
Gorman & Thomas
Insorance
2nd Floor Majestic Bldg.
TEL. CA. 6946
CHANUKAH GREETINGS
Lewis Artist Supplies
6408 Woodward Ave.
TR. 1-0150
ROBERT E. IIEBZOG of Chi-
cago, who has been appointed
assistant director of the Na-
tional Federation of Temple
Youth, an affiliate of the
Union of American Hebrew
Congregations.
execrate the Jewish religion and
spirit to impose their decadent
Hellenic culture and cult upon
tiny Judea, the Maccabees organ-
ized guerilla bands and assaulted
the formidable Syrian flanks un-
til they reeled back in hasty
flight.
But before going down in de-
feat, the Syrian pagans triumph-
antly chalked up one achieve-
ment; they violated the stiff-
necked Jews' sacred shrine in
Jerusalem where they set up a
pagan altar in the Temple.
But the achievement was short-
lived. Three years later, on the
twenty-fifth of Kislev, the Tem-
ple was thoroughly cleansed,
then solemnly dedicated. The
dedicati6n ceremonies lasted
eight days. The splendor ' of
lamps and torches, songs of tri-
umph and tribute, the offering
of sacrifices and the kindling of
lights in the homes made the
occasion memorable.
• • •
RELIGION TRIUMPHS
AND AS TIME slipped by, the
Feast of the Maccabees, the
Feast of Lights, the Feast of
Dedication delighted the palate
of the ballad singer and the ra-
conteur who delicately wove the
legend into the tapestry of Jew-
ish history.
Each in his own time and
place found new meaning, laid
different stress on the story of
the Maccabees. This was a great
military triumph, thought those
who dreamed of Palestine as a
re-emerging political power to
CHANUKAH GREETINGS
•
Blaine Restaurant
8737 12th St.
CHANUKAH GREETINGS...
Mason & Mason
1007 Woodward Ave.
Detroit, Mich.
Chanukah Greetings To All .. .
The Richmond & Backus Co.
603 Woodwaid Ave.
SEASON'S GREETINGS
Marshall & Renehard
Merchant Tailors
CHANUKAI-i GREETINGS
CHANUKAH GREETINGS
Established 1898
408-412 David Whitney. Building
Robinson Steel Co.
17384 CONANT
TW. 2-7305
Aetna Smelting and
Refining Co.
1826 ILLINOIS
TE. 1-3266
Chanukah Greetings To All .. .
e
CHANUKAH GREETINGS
.
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SEASON'S GREETINGS
BEST WISHES TO OUR MANY
Enduro Products
Progress Bedding Co.
FRIENDS and PATRONS
United Products Corp.
•
4460 Lawton
Enduro Polishes, Waxes and
Cleaning Sundries Sold by
J. L Hudson's and Better
Dealers Everywhere
TE. 1-4462
TE. 1-9530
Makers of the Restokraft vMattress
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2760 WEST WARREN