Happy Hanukkah to the new Maccabees





The Jews realized that it was one thing to be barred from a building, and another thing to be barred from their faith entirely.  The smoldering tinder of Jewish resistance was lit when Greek soldiers in the village of Modiin gathered Jews together, and tried to force the Jews to bow to an idol and eat pork.  Realizing that where the leader goes, the others will follow, a Greek officer focused his efforts on Mattathias, a High Priest.  Mattathias refused to acquiesce to the Greek demands.  In fear, another villager offered to violate Jewish law on Mattathias’ behalf.  Mattathias, rather than being grateful, was outraged.  He killed first the appeasing villager and then the Greek officer.  Mattathias, his five sons, and some other villagers then came together and killed the remaining Greeks.

Outlaws now in Greek-controlled Israel, Mattathias, his sons, and their followers hid in the m0untains and began a guerrilla campaign of resistance against the Greek occupiers.   The fight was a deadly one.  Mattathias and several of his sons died in battle, leaving one of his sons, Judah Maccabee to carry the fight to its conclusion.  As was the case with the American revolutionaries fighting their seemingly insane battle against the might of the British Empire (the most successful military in the world at that time), it seemed impossible to believe that the Maccabees (or Hasmoneans) could win — but they did, driving the Greeks from their lands and restoring the Temple to its rightful glory.

Of course, once the Maccabees first re-took the Temple in Jerusalem, it had been completely defiled by Greek religious practices, including the slaughter of swine on the altar.  The Jews believed that they could purify the Temple by burning the ritual oil in the Temple’s menorah for eight days and eight nights.  To their dismay, however, they discovered that they had only enough oil left for one day and one night.  Nevertheless, they lit the menorah and a great miracle happened there:  the menorah burned for eight days and eight nights.  It is this miracle that the Jews celebrate when they light the menorah every night for the eight days of Hanukkah.

The Hanukkah story is a wonderful story of faith, commitment, and bravery.  It is also a reminder that tyrannies, despite their power, are fundamentally unstable.  A committed band of people can come together to topple them.

We are blessed to live in a republican Democracy.  Obama is not a tyrant, but he is creating an infinitely more powerful federal government that has the seeds of tyranny in it (as all too-powerful governments do).  For many of us, the 2008 election was the equivalent of the Jerusalem Temple takeover.  It was a fearsome thing, but we did not yet feel that our lives and beliefs were being fundamentally transformed.

This 2012 election, however, has made us realize that Obama can follow through with vigor on his Big Government initiatives.  All too soon, we may be forced to bow down.  Now is the time for us to fight.  We won’t slay people and take to the hills, though.  Instead, we’ll run for elected office, refuse to let our children’s public schools use our tax dollars to indoctrinate them, boycott anti-American Hollywood products, invest in conservative businesses and news sources, assert our beliefs without apology, and in every way we can, become a conservativism that’s resurgent.

We are the new Maccabees.

Happy Hannukah!