A Hanukkah Lesson for America: Without Our Roots, the Tree of Liberty Dies |
As Jews around the world light Hanukkah menorahs this week, they commemorate what may be the most explicitly Zionist holiday in the Jewish calendar.
The story of Hanukkah recounts the Maccabean Revolt of the second century B.C.E. After the Seleucid Greeks sought to suppress Jewish religious practice and identity, Jews fought to reclaim sovereignty in their homeland.
The Maccabees wanted the Jews to have independence in the land of Judea so that they could worship God according to the dictates of their conscience.
In other words, Hanukkah is a celebration of religious liberty and Jewish national liberation.
The Jewish people survived two millennia of statelessness, persecution, pogroms, expulsions and a holocaust by maintaining a deep connection to these biblical roots—a lesson America must heed in its time of political turmoil.
Even in times of darkness—including in defiance of the Nazi regime—the menorah’s light served as a beacon of hope and resilience, a reminder of the miracle of Jewish endurance against all odds.
During Hanukkah in 1931, Rabbi Akiva Posner’s family placed a menorah in the window—an outward sign of their faith. Through the panes, a swastika flag is seen on a Nazi Party office. The family fled Nazi Germany in 1933 with the candleholder. Their descendants still light it. pic.twitter.com/VmEJ8RiNkQ
Today, just as the Jewish state draws strength from its ancient connections to the Land and God of Israel, America will flourish only if we remain committed to the Judeo-Christian heritage that forms our nation’s foundation.
At its core,