Hanukkah as the Messy Middle: Elana Stein Hein, Times of Israel, Dec. 7, 2023
The Meaning of the Menorah: Seth Mandel, Commentary Magazine, Dec. 7, 2023
The Battle Cry of Hanukkah: Arynne Wexler, Tablet, Dec. 5, 2023
The Self-delusion of Secular Jews: David Mamet, Unherd, Dec. 7, 2023
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FOR FURTHER REFERENCE:
Hanukkah Celebrations Are Being Cancelled Due to Explicit and Implicit Antisemitism: Gidon Ben-Zvi, Algemeiner, Dec. 7, 2023 — Anyone still clinging to the belief that there is a difference between hating Jews and wanting Israel to disappear now needs to explain away another inconvenient truth: Why scheduled Hanukkah celebrations across the United States, Canada, and elsewhere are being canceled.
The Maccabees, the Greeks, and the Origins of the Conflict Between Hellenism and Hebraism: Philologis, Mosaic, Dec. 21, 2022 — In the days of Matityahu, . . . the wicked kingdom of Greece rose up against Your people Israel to make them forget Your Torah,” begins Al ha-Nisim, the “For the Miracles” prayer that is said during these days of Hanukkah. The revolt of the Maccabees was of course not a revolt against the country we call Greece, nor did “the wicked kingdom of Greece,” malkhut Yavan ha-r’sha’ah in the Hebrew of the prayer, rule that country.
How Judith Became a Hanukkah Heroine: Sarah Ogince, JNS, Nov. 18, 2021 — Holding a sword in one hand and a severed head in the other, she is terrifying and beautiful, a personification of the feminine power to entice, destroy and redeem.
Why Let Anti-Semites Define Jewishness?: Daniella Greenbaum Davis, WSJ, Dec. 15, 2023 — For Hallmark consumers, Hanukkah is a familiar and uplifting story: A subjugated people (the Jews) rise up against their tyrannical oppressors (the Seleucid Greeks) and prevail against all odds with grit and God’s help. It’s a made-for-TV narrative. But it’s also incomplete.