Rabbi's Message

RABBIS’ MESSAGE: 

THE VICTORY OVER TYRANNY

          History seldom repeats itself in precise patterns, and analogies drawn from historic parallels are usually misleading and fruitless.  National characteristics, however, often endure through the centuries and express themselves with remarkable consistency.

          Jewish history reflects an unbroken chain of resistance to tyranny in whatever form that tyranny manifested itself.  In ancient Egypt, it was physical enslavement that threatened the integrity of the Israelites. It was a slavery that endured for several centuries but did not crush the spirit of our people.  The yearning for freedom remained alive and finally burst the bonds of the oppressor in a national act of self-deliverance.   The Israelites marched through the Sinai desert as a free people.

          Many centuries later, in ancient Judea, our ancestors faced the tyranny of spiritual and cultural enslavement.  An external force sought to impose upon them a way-of-life that threatened the integrity of their own unique civilization.  The Chanukah story tells of the attempt to eradicate Judaism and impose Hellenism at the point of the sword.  Again, the light of freedom burned strongly within Judean hearts.  Though few in number and weak in military power, they turned the edge of the tyrant’s sword and cleansed their land from his idolatrous filth.

          The victory of modern Zionism represents the climax of a century old struggle of our people against a dual tyranny of the body and the soul. The physical oppression of our people, first in East European lands, then in the nightmarish cauldron of Nazi Germany, threatened the continued existence of the Jewish people.  In the free western countries, it was the cultural integrity of Judaism that was threatened as the powerful forces of assimilation corroded the Jewish way-of-life.  Modern Zionism came as the Jewish response to this two-fold danger.  The State of Israel came into being as a physical refuge and as a sanctuary for the Jewish spirit---as a flaming torch of freedom for all Jews everywhere.

          This is the meaning of the ongoing struggle in Israel and in the heart of Jews throughout the world.  The Jew is still resisting tyranny; the Jew is still strong and resolute in his/her determination to be free.  The Jew is still kindling the Chanukah light as a symbol of belief in the ultimate victory of the cause of freedom...both physical as well as spiritual. “Praised by You, Adonai, our G-d...Who has instructed us to kindle the light of Chanukah...Who has performed the miracle of liberation for our people in all the days that have gone before as well as bahz-mahn ha-zeh, in this our day!”