Intro to ‘Chanukah - Christmas, 2016’
John R. Houk, Editor
Posted December 25, 2016
By Ari Bussel
I am a Christian Zionist. A person decried by the American
Left, many if not most Progressive Christians (typically Mainline Christians)
and a lot distrusting Jews (I’m guessing among the Jewish Left and distrustful
Observant Orthodox Jews.
Being a Christian Zionist means I believe in the sovereign
existence of the Jewish State of Israel. AND since I’m a Right Winger that
believes Israel is the Promised Land to the Jews, I also fall on the side of
the Greater Israel as the Land of the Jews. That belief steps on the toes of a
lot of current sovereign Muslim nations and not just the Arabs pretending to be
the non-existent Palestinians.
I say all this because I am quite appreciative of my online
friends Ari Bussel and Norma Zager who often share the Jewish perspectives on
current events affecting Israel and the Jews still spread around globally.
In this case Ari sends a Christmas message to Christians
which includes a very succinct explanation of Chanukah which should bring at
least a little self-musing by non-Jews of how God Almighty’s hand is upon the
Jews – the Twelve Hebrew Tribes – and their God-given Land.
From a Christian perspective, without Jews there would be no
Redeemer Jesus the Christ come to save humanity from the curse bequeathed by
Adam and Eve to their descendants.
JRH 12/25/16
********************
My father,
Capt. Dr. Bussel, second from left, with friends for life
Chanukah
in the Sinai Desert, Yom Kippur War, 1973
Chanukah - Christmas, 2016
By Ari Bussel
Sent 12/23/2016 7:04 PM
In Israel, especially in Orthodox neighborhoods, there
are candelabra at the balconies, protected by glass structures, illuminating
the surroundings. For eight days, Israel is lit by light, laughter, play
and song.
Candelabra
on Balcony
In Israel, freshly cut Arizona cypress trees are being
distributed for a symbolic price for the Christian community (and foreign
diplomats and the foreign press) to utilize and enjoy.
This year, terrorism hit with widespread forest
fires. The headlines read, “Israel is burning.” Yet, all that terrorism
achieved is to galvanize the spirit, reignite the determination and conviction
and remind us what is really important.
As he called to wish Chag Samech (Happy Chanukah), my
friend Brad Greenberg said: “Be thankful there is Christmas; be grateful
that you can celebrate Christmas!”
The joy of the season is magnified this year in light of
what is happening all around us. The mere ability to worship, celebrate
and enjoy the spirit of Christmas - something we take so readily for granted -
is like the light of candles in the darkness: fragile, uncertain, yet
with immense potential to conquer the darkness.
1) Baluza
Post - 14 (002)
In Europe, Christmas is being ushered by terrorist attacks
(and if last year is any indication, women beware during New Year). There
are entire areas under Sharia Law with no access to Christians, and there are
countries where the name “Christ” is no longer allowed.
Europeans are dying, and their birthrate is approaching
negative territory, whereas the immigrant Muslim population is exploding.
Europe is being replaced by Eurabia.
In Israel, the birthplace of Christianity, any connection
between the Temple Mount and the Holy Temple with Judaism and Christianity has
been conveniently erased by a UN body: UNESCO declared the place to be a
Muslim heritage site. It may seem inconsequential, but it is not.
The poison is percolating the global mindset. Another victory has been
achieved.
The process of erosion has accelerated: First,
physical evidence has been destroyed when hundreds of truckloads of “dirt” from
Solomon Stables on Temple Mount were removed by the Muslim Wakf that manages
the place and dumped like trash to a ravine. Then, the spiritual
connection is being destroyed, thus leaving humanity with a mere memory of what
once were Judaism and Christianity.
Nine centuries before the appearance of Muhammad, Jews in
Judea and Samaria fought the Greeks and prevailed. Today we are told
these areas of Zion Jerusalem are “occupied” by “settlements,” and the UN is
planning to send observers and to segregate any product from there by special
markings. (Some eighty years ago, the Nazis used a Yellow Star to
identify Jews. Today, the UN is marking Israel, in preparation to what
may come next.)
We already hear the voices that call the Jews to pack their
belongings and return to the places from where they came. Stripped of any
connection to the land, Jews may once again become unwanted guests in
lands-not-theirs. The craving of two millennia “for next year in
Jerusalem,” the promise “If I forget you, Oh, Jerusalem,” praying toward
Jerusalem and the fact that wherever Jews are buried, they always face
Jerusalem, are all ignored, as is the Bible, archeology and any historical
records.
Once before, the Nazis tried to do something similar.
First they started burning books, then they burned the Jews, apparently
refusing to acknowledge history: Empires rose and fell, and the Jewish
people are still here. The Jews are not vermin or cockroaches; the Jews
are a Light Unto the Nations.
The two centuries leading to the Common Era saw the rule of
the Greeks. From 175 to 164 b.c., Antiochus IV (also known in Judaism as
“Antiochus the Evil”) was in charge, and the Jews of Israel were being
Hellenized. The Greeks did not want to eradicate the Jews or erase them
off the map. Quite on the contrary, they had a great respect to the
Jews. But they expected the Jews to become one of them, in behavior and
thought.
God had to cease, so no circumcision, no Shabbat observance
and no other acts unique to Judaism. The men were to join gymnasiums and
dress like the Greeks, and God was to become one of many, reduced to
non-being. Many Jews in Israel followed suit, fully assimilating, but a
small group stood firm.
A Jewish high priest from Modi-im rebelled. Matityahu
and his five sons, also known as the Hashmonaim or Maccabim prevailed and ruled
until 32 b.c. (the Maccabiah Games are derived from the same word, that
abbreviates four words from Moses Song, Exodus 15:11: “Who is like unto
Thee, O Lord, among the might?”).
It was that rebellion that is considered a miracle. A
few against many led by Judea the Maccabi. Two millennia later, a handful
rose again, in the Warsaw Ghetto, and for almost an entire month stood their
ground against the Nazi war machine.
The miracle of God’s greatness – of a few against the many –
is thus remembered and celebrated to this very day.
Another miracle is highlighted. When the Hashmonaim
cleared the Temple (the one that is now controlled by the Muslim Wakf and has
apparently no connection to Judaism), the olive oil there used to light the
Menorah was not sanctified, and it would have taken time to prepare new olive
oil suitable for worship.
Only a tiny tin was found with olive oil that could be used,
enough to last for one day. Another miracle happened, and the olive oil
lasted for eight full days (until new olive oil was available to continue the
work of the Cohanim – priests – at the Temple).
Thus, to this very day, we light candles for eight days,
starting with one on the first night and adding an additional one each
night. These candles are to be watched and enjoyed but not used, so we
are not allowed to use them to light one another. A separate candle is
used, “The Server,” or Shamash.
Candelabra
Eight indicates transcendence from the orderly world (the
seven days of creation) to the spiritual. (Circumcision, for example,
takes place on the eight day.)
Thus came about Chanukah, the holiday of miracles. It
is also known as the Festival of Lights, or Festival of Inauguration
(re-dedication of the Temple). We are told (Maccabim Book II) that it was
really the Festival of Tabernacles postponed (as it could not be celebrated
before the rebellion). For eight days, we eat potato pancakes (“levivot”)
and doughnuts (“sufganiot”), all reminding us the miracle of the oil.
Latkes for
Chanukah - Potato Pancakes
Chanukah is not included in the Jewish Bible, but it is
mentioned in the New Testament (John 10:22): It was now winter, and
Jesus was in Jerusalem at the time of Hanukkah, the Festival of Dedication.
(New Living Translation)
Chanukah is celebrated starting the 25th day of
the Hebrew month of Kislev for eight days: 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31st,
1st. While the Hebrew calendar is a lunar one, the fact that Christmas
later evolved to be on the 25th of December, “in the middle of
winter,” just eight days before New Year, is not a coincidence.
Nor is it a coincidence that this year, when the two
calendars (Jewish and Gregorian) identically overlap, we celebrate Christmas
Eve and the eve of the first night of Chanukah at the same time.
It is a signal to all of us – Jews and Christians
alike – that we are one; we must stand together lest “a house divided
falls.” Our roots are one and the same, making us inseparable.
Also, our enemies do not differentiate between us – to them, we are all one
enemy, the army of non-believers, composed of “pigs and apes,” the Saturday
and the Sunday people.
So let us celebrate Christmas; let us celebrate the eight
days of Chanukah, for miracles happened at that time so long ago and in these
very days. Let us celebrate the Glory and Might of God, Lord of Hosts,
for He is our Salvation, our past, our future and our present.
Here is Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Christmas
greetings (2016):
To all of our Christian friends
around the world, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
I send you these greetings from
Jerusalem. I'm standing in the courtyard of this magnificent International
Christian Embassy. I'm so proud of our relations with our Christian brothers
and sisters. I wonder for many of you if you remember the experience you had
when you first visited Israel, when you saw the Church of the Holy Sepulcher or
the Via Dolorosa or the Sea of Galilee or Nazareth. I'm sure it moved you
deeply.
And it moves us deeply to have
this bond with you because we all know that this land of Israel is the land of
our common heritage. It changed the story of humanity, it changed civilization.
What a magnificent heritage it is. Yet, we also know that it is under attack
these days, that the forces of intolerance, of barbarism that attack all
religions attack Christians with particular vehemence. We stand with you and
I'm proud of the fact that in Israel, this is the one place in the Middle East
that the Christian community not only survives but thrives and it's no
accident. It’s because of our commitment to religious freedom; it's because of
our embrace of our heritage; it's because of our embrace of our common
future.
So please come to Israel. Come
and visit me, I'm waiting for you. It will be a great experience for you. Merry
Christmas, Happy New Year.
_____________________
This is the latest
in the series “Postcards from America – Postcards from Israel,” a collaboration
between Zager and Bussel, a foreign correspondent reporting from Israel.
Ari Bussel and Norma
Zager collaborate both in writing and on the air in a point-counter-point discussion
of all things Israel related. Together, they have dedicated the past decade to
promoting Israel.
© Israel Monitor,
December, 2016
First Published
December 23, 2016
Chanukah’s Chanukiah
(candelabrum)
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