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Israel is not a typical noun, which refers to a person, place or thing. Israel refers to all three at once - the people of Israel, the land of Israel, and the G-d of Israel. The enemies of the Jewish people, who say they must destroy Israel, understand this. If they didn't, they wouldn’t be attacking non-Israeli Jews and Jewish institutions across the Diaspora, trying to cut Israel’s connection between its land and people. Because those two things together are the life force of the G-d of Israel, and this has been a problem for any religious group that is threatened by the existence of another god.
As we enter Hanukkah, we remember one such example and the small army of Jewish warriors who fought to resist the dissolution of Israel. In 168 BCE, King Antiochus IV Epiphanes outlawed Jewish practice and defiled the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, installing an alter to Zues and sacrificing pigs. The Maccabees led a miraculously successful revolt and rededicated the Holy Temple in Jerusalem to the Jewish faith.
If we want to continue celebrating Hanukkah and any other Jewish holiday, we must always remember that the fight to defend Israel is ongoing.
"Freedom is a fragile thing and is never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by inheritance, it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation, for it comes only once to a people. Those who have known freedom and then lost it have never known it again."
- U.S. Pres. Ronald Reagan, 1967
Hanukkah is known as "The Festival of Lights." The light represents Jewish faith; a flame that continues to burn because it is kept alive by the Jewish People. We wish you and your loved ones a Chag Hanukkah of fierce celebration and pride.
Am Yisrael Chai - The Nation of Israel Lives!
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