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...

2,000 years after Judah the Maccabee fought against the decrees of Greek ruler Antiochus, the descendants of the Hasmoneans and the ancient Greeks are cooperating militarily. For Hanukkah, the IAF Website featured these pictures of Greek-Israeli cooperation in joint maneuvers of the countries' air forces. Cooperation with Greece has tightened following the deterioration in relations between Israel and Turkey...

MOSCOW, December 19 (Itar-Tass) - President Vladimir Putin, at a meeting with Russia's chief rabbi Berl Lazar on Friday, congratulated the whole Jewish community with the Hanuka holiday. "I'm congratulating the whole Jewish community, everybody who professes Judaism and treats this tradition with care," the president said. For his part, Berl Lazar noted that the Jewish community was developing fruitfully. The Hanuka holiday was bringing good, respect and mutual understanding between all peoples. "When we have this kind of understanding and this kind of respect, it will be a different perception of life," the rabbi said. He also noted that...