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For at least two and a half thousand years, virtually all educated people believed that knowledge was the savior of humanity. Even Maimonides wrote in his “Guide for the Perplexed” that once all of humankind had knowledge, the world would be at peace. Then came the 20th century. The most educated nation in world history—a land to which all other nations looked for science, psychology, culture, philosophy, reason, and ethics—applied its knowledge to commit crimes against humanity that no barbarian could have imagined. “Does calling for the genocide of the Jews violate your institution’s code of conduct concerning bullying and...

CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts — Embattled Harvard president Claudine Gay attended a campus menorah lighting Wednesday — a day after it emerged she was retaining her job at the Ivy League school despite widespread antisemitism backlash. The under-fire president was among the roughly 100 people to gather at the daily lighting ceremony, organized by the Harvard Chabad, at the campus’ Harvard Park. Gay, who attended alongside her colleague Professor Jeff Bussgang, was spotted lighting the first candle. Despite a slew of anti-Israel protests being held on campus of late, the lighting went ahead calmly without any interruptions. Gay’s appearance came after the...

NOW - MP Grzegorz Braun extinguishes Jewish Hanukkah candles at Poland's parliament.

It was like a scene in downtown Tehran orchestrated by Iran's ruling mullahs, one of those "spontaneous" protests in Ramallah on the West Bank, or from 1938 Germany as the Nazis whipped up antisemitic hate in preparation for Kristallnacht — and worse. But it was modern-day Los Angeles on Friday night, the second night of Hanukkah, when a mob marched through a largely Jewish neighborhood chanting death threats to Jews. According to StopAntisemitism, the mob also defaced several buildings, including synagogues. Here's a short clip of the mob in action. CLICK ABOVE ARTICLE LINK FOR THE VIDEO People who still...

Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, tried to explain the Hanukkah story on Monday — and failed spectacularly. Emhoff, the first Jewish person in his position, who is helping to lead the White House antisemitism “strategy,” posted a now-deleted explanation that combined elements of several different stories, none of which connected to the other — or made any sense. He wrote: The story of Hanukkah and the story of the Jewish people has always been one of hope and resilience. In the Hanukkah story, the Jewish people were forced into hiding [sic]. No one though they...

Several family members of US citizens believed to have been taken hostage by Hamas had asked to attend a Hanukkah reception at the White House Monday night but never received invitations, the father of a 19-year-old missing Israeli American told CNN. Ruby Chen, whose son Itay is a reservist missing since the militant group’s October 7 attacks on Israel, said a number of the families of American hostages were in Washington, DC, this week, and had reached out to the White House asking to attend the reception but were not invited. ... There are still seven American men and one...

138 Hanukkah Menorahs: Lighting candles for each of our hostages who won't make it home for first candle 💔🫶Chag Hanukkah Sameach! ❤️📍Western Wall 🕎 pic.twitter.com/iLSVZZSsOL— Adam Albilya - אדם אלביליה (@AdamAlbilya) December 7, 2023

Minister Gallant met with the Minister of Defense of the United Kingdom and had a candle lighting ceremony with him. The Defense Minister told his British counterpart at the end of the meeting: "Mr. Secretary of Defense, thank you for coming here in crucial days for the State of Israel. This is a historic visit, which comes more than 25 years after the last visit of a British defense minister to Israel." "Two months ago the citizens of Israel were brutally attacked by Hamas terrorists - now we fight and are determined to continue until a crushing victory." "Israel and...

The law did not require Jews to be at the Temple in Jerusalem, as this was not one of the pilgrimage festivals. Every one observed it in his own place, not as a holy time. Jesus was there that He might improve those eight days of holiday for good purposes. Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon’s porch when the Sadduciens asked him “How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ tell us.” They pretended to want to know the truth, as if they were ready to embrace it; but it was not their intention....

A public menorah lighting has been canceled by an arts festival in Williamsburg, Virginia, over concern that observing the Jewish holiday would amount to endorsing Israel’s policies in its war against the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in Gaza. The Virginia Gazette News reported: A menorah lighting was scheduled for the 2nd Sundays Art and Music Festival on Dec. 10. Each month from March to December, the community event hosts artisans, street performers and food vendors, and Jewish leaders were told that the board was not comfortable allowing the lighting at the festival. …

Were it not for its proximity to Christmas, Hanukkah would be unknown to most non-Jews and it would not be celebrated by most non-religious Jews. The proof is that the other post-Hebrew Bible holiday, Purim, while very popular in Israel, where it is sort of a Jewish Mardi Gras, is essentially unknown to non-Jews and largely ignored by most American Jews. Too bad. Hanukkah is actually of seminal importance both to Judaism and to the world. SNIP To understand why Judaism so bothered Antiochus, one needs to understand that no pagan religion completely rejected Hellenism. Judaism did. If Antiochus wanted...

A man was arrested Sunday night after Nazi symbols were found carved into the base of a large menorah in Beverly Hills on the first night of Hanukkah. Officers responded to reports of a man vandalizing a menorah near Sunset Boulevard and Foothill Road, according to a statement released by the Beverly Hills Police Department. The suspect, Eric Brian King, of Dallas, Texas, was captured on surveillance cameras hurling objects at the menorah, police said, and is now under investigation for felony, vandalism and a hate crime.

The New York Times is being ripped by social media users for publishing what they deemed a swastika-shaped crossword puzzle on the first night of Hanukkah. The fraught Sunday brain-teaser, titled “Some Theme’s Missing,” had been concocted by Washington, DC-based consulting manager Ryan McCarty, who has formulated 22 other puzzles for the paper. “Thrilled to have my first Sunday puzzle in The Times! This grid features one of my favorite open middles that I’ve made as it pulls from a variety of subject areas,” McCarty gushed in a section of the paper titled Constructor Notes.

***** Tunes For Our Troops ~ FReeper Canteen Music Dedication Presents ~ Hanukkah Celebration ~ *****~ Support The Artists You Hear Throughout The Canteen ! ~ ***** Warning: Not all music may be appropriate for children! Please click with caution. Thank you! Tunes For The Troops This music is provided for the entertainment of our Troops, Veterans, Allies & their families! Enjoy the variety of musical selections that the Canteen DJs provide throughout the thread. Please ping any DJ with your requests for the Troops! All music is removed on Monday.Thanks to all the DJs for their time &...

The holiday season is always a gift for fans of Christmas movies, as cable channels like Lifetime and Hallmark and streamers such as Netflix and Hulu wrap up dozens of shiny new cinematic baubles for viewers. But some of December's other festivities — including a world-famous Festival of Lights — end up getting the short shrift. The paucity of Hanukkah-themed holiday movies has been much remarked upon in recent years, with both Jews and non-Jews (including Stephen Colbert) agreeing that we need at least eight nights' worth of quality Hanukkah fare. If anyone can make that happen, it's screen legend...

Biden Lies Again, Claims He Was Golda Meir’s Liaison During the Six-Day WarMendacious? In the grip of dementia? Or both?Old Joe Biden is a serial liar as well as an elderly man in the grip of dementia, and it was initially hard to tell which one was kicking in on Thursday when he claimed that he served as Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir’s liaison to Egypt during the Six-Day War in 1967. Golda Meir wasn’t prime minister of Israel during the Six-Day War, and Biden was an unknown law student at the time, but Biden did meet with her in...

Police are investigating antisemitic fliers that were left at homes in Beverly Hills on Sunday, hours before Hanukkah began. The Beverly Hills Police Department revealed in a statement Sunday afternoon that it is investigating a “hate incident” that occurred overnight after a resident reported finding a flyer with hate speech in their front yard. The flyer, which was in a plastic bag with rice “for weight,” featured “propaganda style hate speech related to the COVID pandemic and the Jewish people,” according to police. It was a single 8.5 inch-by-11 inch piece of paper.

Join with fellow FREEPERS to pray for AMERICA: For those in Authority in Government, Family, Military, Business, Healthcare, Education, Churches, and the Media.I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone: for kings and all those in authority that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. ~ 1 Timothy 2:1-2Religion Forum threads labeled [Prayer] are closed to debate of any kind. Hanukkah 2021: November 29 – December 6. The Story of Hanukkah The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1:5 (NIV)

NYC Mayor-Elect Eric Adams @ Menorah: ‘We NY’ers Know What the Rebbe Did for Us’ Shares Chanukah message of hope By Dovid MargolinNovember 30, 2021 11:15 AM On the first night of Hanukkah, New York City Mayor-elect Eric Adams helped light the world’s largest menorah at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 59th Street, sharing the message of Chanukah as taught by the Rebbe—Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory. On the first night of Hanukkah, New York City Mayor-elect Eric Adams helped light the world’s largest menorah at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 59th Street, sharing the message...

Can you imagine the blissful orgy of intellectualism that would have accompanied the meeting – for the first time – of the most philosophical peoples the world had ever known, namely, the Jews and the Greeks? Talmudic study meets the schools of Aristotle and Socrates? Kabbalah meets Pythagoras and Euclid? The synthesis of these two cultures should at least have catalyzed a few millennia of wildly inventive literature, mathematics and science. That's not how it turned out, though. Instead of welcoming the Greeks, as almost all others under Hellenic occupation were pleased to do, the Jews were violently defiant. Why?...