Free Republic

Listening to US Vice President – Elect Kamala Harris speak about Hanukkah frightened me more than Rashida Tlaib’s vulgar tweets. As I see it , the danger lies in distorting the meaning and intent of the Hasmonean revolt against the Syrian occupation. If one may paraphrase Churchill’s tribute to the RAF during the battle of Britain, we may say of the Maccabees that never before in the history of human conflict have so many owed so much to so few. Had the Maccabees failed there would be no Judaism, no Jews and no Christianity or Christians. Neither would there be...

The legacy of Chanukah – faith, patriotism, defiance of extreme odds and tenacity in the battle of liberty against tyranny – has underlined the American spirit since the early Pilgrims, enhancing the unique foundation of the US-Israel covenant: shared values. For instance, the statue of Judah the Maccabee, the hero of the Jewish rebellion against the Syrian-Seleucid Empire, is displayed at the West Point Military Academy, the most prestigious US military academy, founded in 1802. The statue of Judah the Maccabee, known for his principle-driven leadership and daring battle tactics, is displayed along with the statues of Joshua, David, Alexander...

"Casting him as a director or perhaps as the star of 'Judah Maccabee' is like casting Madoff to be the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission," says Rabbi Marvin Heir. Prominent Jewish leaders are beginning to speak out against Mel Gibson and Warner Bros. over their planned movie based on the life of religious icon Judah Maccabee. SNIP

Sound too good to be true? It is. First of all, it is a real FBI document -- that's not in dispute. The problem lies in the content of it, all the flying saucer, alien body stuff. In most of the stories published this week about the alien encounter, only a handful have made a big deal of the fact that this is not a "newly released" document or that the story is a hoax. "It was one of the documents I got in the first bunch of documents out of a total of 1,600 that were released by the...

Google Earth is helping Jews in Israel and all over the world understand the miraculous victory of the Jews over Greek invaders 2,000 years ago thanks to the initiative of a rabbi who brings history back to life on the computer.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Mel Gibson (news), whose hit film "The Passion of the Christ" was attacked as anti-Semitic by some critics, says he is now intrigued by the revolt of the Maccabees -- the story behind the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. "The story that's always fired my imagination ... is the Book of Maccabees," the actor and director told ABC Radio talk show host Sean Hannity on Tuesday. "The Maccabees family stood up, and they made war. They stuck by their guns and they came out winning," he said. "It's like a Western." The Maccabees led a three-year war,...