Hanukkah is a War Festival. Period. It is about the appropriate response to godless tyranny, and that response has always been, and must be contempt, refusal, and if necessary, violence. The Torah is the Constitution of Israel, and fidelity to it is the privilege and obligation of every Jew. That is why the Nazarene set his face like a flint against all enemies of it, both foreign and domestic. The Maccabees were his spiritual predecessors. So it was his custom to be at the Temple during Hanukkah to teach, about their love for Torah, and his sermons drew from their exemplary passion for holiness. At that most critical time, he warned of an even greater destruction than that wrought by Antiochus: Total War at the hands of Imperial Rome, and Judgment at the hands of G-d himself. He said, “I did not come to bring peace, but a sword!” Because of the power of his Torah, he was a threat to the Empire. He still is.
The real miracle is how delicious my friend just made the beef roast, latke’s and chicken taste.
First candle and then it was game on!
I luv Hannukah!