spirituality
Antiochus IV
Epiphanes And
Gen. Ulysses S. Grant:
A lesson for Chanukah.
the New Moon capital
t this time of
offenses. Similarly, prac-
year, when the
ticing circumcision was
joyous Jewish
punishable by death.
holiday of Chanukah is
Jewish worship was
celebrated, we need to
decreed to be replaced by
acknowledge not only
idolatry, worshiping the
the Macabean defeat of
pagan gods.
anti-Jewish tyranny, but Rabbi Herbert A.
Under this oppres-
also the defeat of anti-
Yoskowitz
sive burden of cruel
Jewish tyranny in the
tyranny, in the winter of
166 B.C.E., in the town
United States during
of Modin, the Priest Mattathias
the Civil War.
Ironically, both of these events, led a revolt against the Greeks.
He was joined in this leadership
centuries removed from each
by his five sons: Judah, Yohanan,
other, occurred in the month
Simon, Eleazar and Jonathan,
of December. The Maccabean
who chose as their battle
defeat of Syrian tyranny
cry words from Exodus
is well known to us.
15:11
“Who is like You
In contrast, the anti-
Lord
among
the mighty,”
Semitism expressed by
(“Mi chamocha b’elim
Union Gen. Ulysses S.
Adonai”) whose acronym
Grant is not.
is “Macabee.” These war-
The Maccabean
riors became known
Revolt was a response
as Macabees. Each
to the tyrannical and
December, we remem-
cruel acts of Antiochus Gen. Ulysses S.
ber and celebrate their
Grant
IV Epiphanes, King of
successful revolt against
Syria and ruler of the
tyrannical cruelty.
Jews in the second century B.C.E.
On Dec. 17, 1862, some 2,000
He ruled Judea as a tyrant with
years after the Maccabean revolt
an iron fist. His cruel decrees
and victory, the epithets “tyran-
and their enforcement imperiled
nical” and “cruel” were used
Jewish spiritual existence even
by a little-known United States
as it imperiled the physical exis-
senator from Kentucky, Lazarus
tence of the Jews.
W. Powell, to describe the anti-
He demanded the desecra-
Jewish acts of Grant. The gen-
tion of the Holy Temple on Mt.
eral’s cruel actions and Powell’s
Zion and issued decrees making
response to them are passion-
observance of Shabbat and of
A
ately described by Ron Chernow
in his recent best-seller, Grant.
The author cites these epithets
offered by the Kentucky senator
in response to Grant’s Dec. 17,
1862, issuance of General Order
No. 11 that expelled all Jews
from Kentucky, Tennessee and
Mississippi. Powell responded
to an act that Chernow called
“the most sweeping anti-Semitic
action undertaken in American
history.”
What precipitated this devas-
tating order? Chernow describes
the order as Grant’s act of ven-
geance against his father, Jesse
Grant, and three of Jesse’s Jewish
business associates who disre-
garded the general’s orders. The
senior Grant and three Jewish
cotton traders had ignored
orders regarding cotton sales.
Reacting to this defiance,
Grant, in what Chernow called
an “oedipal rage against his
father,” directed his ire against
all Jews in three states where the
cotton trade was a dominant
economic factor.
Grant’s order brought very
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strong responses. Powell’s pow-
erful words led to a motion to
censure Grant, which was defeat-
ed 30-7 by Senate Republicans.
The Jewish press vehemently
denounced Grant, as did the
mainstream media. Grant’s wife,
Julia, told her husband General
Order No. 11 was an obnoxious
order. In her memoir, she wrote
that her husband eventually
agreed that criticism of him on
this matter was deserved.
A Jewish captain in the Fifth
Ohio Calvary resigned from the
Army, writing in his letter of
resignation that “I can no lon-
ger bear the taunts and malice
of those to whom my religious
opinions are known, brought on
by the effect that,that order has
instilled onto their minds.”
In Paducah, Ky., 30 Jewish
families received notice to leave
the city within 24 hours. Several
Paducah Jewish merchants
wrote to President Lincoln that
Grant’s order made the Jews
“outlaws before the entire world.”
Lincoln revoked the order and
permitted Paducah Jews to
return to their homes.
Eventually, the rebuke of Grant
did some good. When Grant
became president, he incorpo-
rated more Jews in his adminis-
tration then did his predecessors.
He also introduced “a crusading
spirit in perfecting Jewish rights
abroad.” To American Jewish
leader Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise,
these actions showed “President
Grant has revoked Gen. Grant’s
notorious Order No. 11.”
This December, as we observe
Chanukah, let us celebrate the
defeat of the tyrannical cruelty
of Antiochus by the Macabees
and the defeat of the tyrannical
cruelty of Grant’s Order No. 11.
Let us simultaneously remem-
ber and honor Sen. Powell
of Kentucky, Julia Grant, the
general himself, who eventu-
ally admitted that he made a
mistake, and President Lincoln,
who all played a part in making
American Jews feel safe in our
great country. •
Herbert A. Yoskowitz is a rabbi at Adat
Shalom Synagogue in Farmington Hills.
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