One more thing I've been thinking about religious wars. . .

[xiphias]

So, Egypt has been trying to crack down on an Islamicist party -- having their police beat up pro-that-party demonstrators, putting up roadblocks in front of polling places in areas that support that party, and the like.

And that sort of thing. . . I just don't think it works very well in the long run. Which is one of the (many) reasons that I think that what we're doing in Iraq is moronic.

See. . . I'm Jewish. And because of that, I can name a half-dozen religious fundamentalist fighters and clerics that are revered in my religion for their opposition to invading forces. And some of them could be argued to be terrorists. Bar Kochba, Akiva, Mattathaias, Judah Maccabee and the rest of his brothers. . .

I mean -- think how it would have been reported:

"Radical cleric Mattathaias ben Yochan today killed [insert name here] and a Roman officer as they attempted to perform a ceremony to show their desire for peace with Rome. He and his followers then fled, and are believed to be hiding in the mountains outside the city."

That would be a fairly unbiased report, frankly.

These are people that we revere. People who went through the rural villages forcibly circumcising boys, against their parents' consent.

Look: as Jews, we can point to the Maccabees, the Zealots, the Hagganah and the Irgun as organizations, deemed as terrorist organizations by the rulers of Israel at the time -- that we have at least SOME reverence for (okay -- the Talmudic rabbis weren't wholly thrilled with either the Maccabees or the Zealots, nor are modern Jews totally thrilled with the history of the Hagganah or the Irgun in British-Mandate Palestine -- but they all have a certain amount of reverence and respect).

This is more-or-less the situation we find ourselves in Iraq. Fundamentalist clerics gaining more and more popular support -- that they would normally never get, because nobody LIKES fundamentalists except during times of perceived oppression -- against an invader of a different religion.

And it amazes me that Bush couldn't see this coming. I mean, I know he doesn't study history, but he's presumably a Christian -- at least, he always says he is -- so I wonder that he never read the Books of Maccabees. I mean, as a Jew, they're not actually part of my Bible, but they are part of his.

Comments

[elynne.livejournal.com]

Of course he hasn't read the Book of Maccabees. He's Amurrikan - why should he have to read about a bunch of Scots?

... sorry, couldn't resist. *sigh*

[beardedone.livejournal.com]

I think he does lip service to his faith. By being born again and going to the various services, he gets around the fact that he is an alcoholic with a drunk driving record, and manages to get the religious right to be his voter base.

Had Edwards and not Kerry been the candidate, the backing for Bush would have not been as strong, as many would have backed Edwards.

Of course, this is just getting off topic. Bush wants oil, and doesn't care that he is repeating history.

[elisem.livejournal.com]

Maccabees isn't in the Bible I grew up with. Dunno if other Christian churches vary, but the Lutherans got no Maccabees.

[aranel.livejournal.com]

Yup, Maccabees is part of the Apocrypha (split into two books), so it's in the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Bibles, but not the Protestant one.

[elisem.livejournal.com]

Yeah. And as far as I know, Bush is Protestant. If he's anything, that is. Which I should not speculate on, in this mood. Grr.

[cafemusique.livejournal.com]

Yes, the only other denomination I'm aware of that somewhat regularly reads from the Apocrypha is the Anglican/Episcopal church. Not terribly often, but they are recognised (albeit in a somewhat different category than the rest of the Bible).

[shmuelisms.livejournal.com]

Bush is precisely the type of fool that insists on NOT learning from history. He, himself, belongs to that particular class of zealous Christians, who have always had a great deal of difficulty seeing Reality as it is, rather than how they want it to be. He is so sure that he's acting in the Name of [his] God, that he can't go wrong, so don't bother him with the facts.

[rebmommy.livejournal.com]

Are you going to teach this view of Hanukkah to your Hebrew School class? I am leading a Rosh Hodesh Kislev gathering next Sunday eve. Would be interesting to explore the Maccabbees as fundamentalist zealots rather than freedom fighters. There are always at least two sides to every story aren't there?

Not to mention

[shmuelisms.livejournal.com]

that the Maccabees killed far more Hellenized Jews, than they did Greeks, who weren't here in that large numbers. I probably should not egg-on xiphias, by asking who would the Maccabees consider Hellenized today?

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

Well. . . probably not exactly. I do teach them that the story of the oil was made up, though.

[sproutntad.livejournal.com]

What?? It's made UP??? *I didn't know that :( * I think the Maccabees would have considered me a Hellenized Jew - what with my Channakah Stocking that I hang on the fireplace (It's blue with white trim and a silver star on it) This goes along with the blue and white lights that I put on K's X mas tree :)

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

Oh, and I've also mentioned once or twice that Yom Nicanor was deliberately superceded by Tanis Esther.

[roozle.livejournal.com]

Yom Nicanor??? I missed this one, explain.

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

That's because it's not a holiday anymore.

See, "Yom Nicanor" was the celebration of the anniversary of the one significant straight-up military victory of the Hasmodeans -- Nicanor was, I think, a Selucid general or some such, on the 13th of Adar.

Anyway, you'll note that Purim is the 14th of Adar. And that the 13th of Adar is the Fast of Esther. . .

Yom Nicanor was a nationalist, militarist celebration -- we assume it was basically something of a jigoistic holiday. And the Rabbis smooshed things around to require a FAST on that day, killing that holiday, and putting in a holiday the very NEXT day which celebrated, in effect, working WITHIN the system rather than overthrowing it.

Hanukkah in History

[(Anonymous)]

Depending on a Jew’s degree of religious identity, geographic location or historical sense of the holidays, he adheres to one of the following versions of Hanukkah.



Around 164 B.C.E. Antiochus IV, Epiphanes, a Hellenized Syrian king, who ruled Jerusalem and banned Jewish worship, Sabbath observance, kosher eating, imposed idol worship and defiled the Temple, was defeated in a guerilla war led by the Maccabees. The following year an eight day festival was established that included the recitation of special festival day psalms of thanksgiving to God.



The Macabees were heroic defenders of the Torah, the Land of Israel and Jewish independence. Their Triumph over a numerically superior enemy is an inspiring symbol for both the birth and the preservation of the small modern State of Israel,

The Festival of Lights, a contemporary commemoration of the awesome winter solstice. Celebrated in antiquity with bonfires from Rome to Persia and in agrarian-pastoral societies, with limited artificial light, it may well have influenced later Hanukkah and Christmas celebrations. In the United States, where religious freedom is universally accepted, then it is a slight shift for Hanukkah to be changed into a holiday celebrating the principle of religious freedom.



The problem with all these versions, especially the last one is that they ignore the political and spiritual tensions – the Maccabees military victory versus the eight day miracle of the oil that has transformed and reshaped Hanukkah throughout the ages.



The historical Hanukkah events are told in Maccabees I and II, written in Greek and attributed to a heretofore unknown source named Jason of Cyrene, who exhorts his readers to “enjoy the tale.” And what a story! A chronicle of internecine strife detailing the Maccabees revolt against Hellenized-Syrian persecution from 169-165 BCE, it includes advances, retreats, truces, an apparent civil war, religious martyrdom, partial victory and the rededication of the Temple.



The story never appears in the canonized Hebrew Bible. For centuries the Church Fathers preserved the Books of the Maccabees, including them in their sacred New Testament. Hannukah is mentioned only in passing in the Talmud and completely ignored in the Mishna, its earlier layer. The rabbis were uncharacteristically reticent about the nature of Maccabean Judaism or the significance of their military victory. Instead they create out of whole cloth the classic tale of divine intervention enabling a single bottle of ritually pure oil-intended for a day to burn for eight days.



Why do ambivalence and varying interpretations about Hannukah persist to this day? The rabbis of the Talmud were writing in a period after the destruction of the Temple by the Romans and the loss of national sovereignty in 70 CE. The Maccabees military exercise of power and focus on the Temple sacrifices seemed to them an anachronism and surrender to the ways of the gentiles. Their path to Jewish survival, in the face of physical powerlessness focused on prayer, study and an innovative interpretation of the Oral Law.



Today this is a minority view in Israel. In the modern state the “holidays” refer to the period from Rosh Hashanah, the Jew New Year, thru Sukkot, a bible based harvest festival and not the Thanksgiving Day thru New Year’s Day continuum. – is a period of entertainment, gift giving and parties where the Maccabees military prowess and spirit of self sacrifice are celebrated in song and national symbols.



Fifty years ago Elias Bickerman, a profound historian of the Greco-Roman world demonstrated that the Maccabean rebellion was directed less against Hellenistic overlords than against Jewish-Hellenistic sypathizers among them. In 21st century America, the wealthiest and second largest concentration of Jewry, Hanukkah is the single most celebrated holiday. Yet for twenty centuries of Jewish dispersion and political marginality, Hanukkah remained a beloved, but secondary festival. All the while it has been celebrated, reshaped and enjoyed.





Ben Fireman lives in Hollywood and writes about Jewish History and Education.


"AUDIO"

[hangedwoman.livejournal.com]

As others have pointed out, as a Protestant, Bush would actually not have been exposed to the Maccabees in the normal order of things. But hey, isn't that going to be one of Mel Gibson's next movies? Bush'll certainly see that.

[deerdancer22.livejournal.com]

As far as I can tell Iraq is Cheney's policy and Bush is just a puppet. Cheney is evil and i almost never use that word. He knew just what would happen in Iraq and the idea was that Iraq a mess would mean US controls it and the oil. That's why not enough troops, that why we let the looting happen and weapons stockpiles vanishing.

Unfortunately for Iraq but fortunatley for the world as a whole, an Iraq mess is an Iraq out of US control.

Has anyone noticed a similarity between Bush's incessant bike rides and a hamster in a cage with it's wheel? sorry can't help myself.

[deerdancer22.livejournal.com]

I meant the whole thing, however it came out, is awful for Iraq. I just read that there is even more torture going on now than when SH was in power. I think there is a special place in hell reserved for Cheney.

[navrins]

Just so you know, I find your actual post far more interesting than the resulting discussions of what's in whose Bible or how much Bush cares. I have nothing in particular to add, but I think it's a point well worth making, and like rebmommy I wonder if you plan to discuss it in Hebrew school. (Or elsewhere. The Hebrew schoolers might be a little young to get it in the same depth that adults would - which is not to say the discussion isn't worth having with them, but it might be differently worth having with adults.)