JPFO ALERT: WHAT YOU ABSOLUTELY NEED TO KNOW ABOUT HANUKKAH

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ALERT FROM JEWS FOR THE PRESERVATION OF FIREARMS OWNERSHIP
America's Aggressive Civil Rights Organization

December 22nd 2008

JPFO ALERT: WHAT YOU ABSOLUTELY NEED TO KNOW ABOUT HANUKKAH


Producer, The G.Gordon Liddy show (at http://www.radioamerica.org)


By Franklin Raff


Hanukkah is a time for lighting the menorah, for playing games,
giving gifts, and celebrating G-d's trans historical blessings and
miracles. But it is also a time for sober remembrance, a holiday
whose history calls upon all of us to rededicate ourselves to Him,
and to muster and redeploy our prayers, efforts, and assets in the
fight against government tyranny, cultural assimilation, and
secularization.

At Hanukkah we celebrate the re dedication of the Second Temple in
Jerusalem. It was desecrated by the forces of Antiochus IV
Epiphanes, who was obsessed with de-Judaizing the Land of Israel
(then part of his Greco-Syrian empire). Antiochus banned the
Jewish religion, forbade circumcision, shabbat observance, and
possession of the Torah, disarmed and slaughtered Jews (and
children) as a warning to others, and converted their ancient
temple for pagan worship. But in a bloody revolt at around 160BCE
led by Judah Maccabee ("The Hammer") and his brothers and father, a
few remaining un assimilated Jews successfully - some say
miraculously - drove Antiochus' forces from Jerusalem, and rescued
the temple.

Once the city had been secured, imagine what it would have been
like, as a Jew, as a warrior, to finally stand, caked in blood, in
the threshhold of the ancient temple. Before you, where the Ark of
the Covenant once lay, is now an an altar to Zeus, stained with
the smoke and fat from burning pigs. None of the ancient, once
familiar sounds, the soft hum of prayer and study, the tender
singing of passages from the Five Books of Moses: most of the high
priests had been massacred years ago, many cut down by Antiochus'
assassins as they sang and prayed in that very spot. Now, only
silence, exhaustion, and perhaps, bewilderment.

According to the Bible, the remaining Jews immediately set about
cleaning the place up, re-sanctifying and rededicating every inch
of the holy temple. It was surely a matter of urgency to rekindle
the 'eternal flame' of the seven-branched menorah, symbolizing
both the eternality of G-d as well as Moses' encounter with the
burning bush, that pivotal moment in Jewish history which catalyzed
our exodus from slavery.

But there was a problem: most of the sanctified olive oil used to
fuel the menorah had been destroyed or tainted. According to
legend, only one cask of oil, sealed by a priest, could be found,
and it only contained enough oil for one days' flame. It would take
eight days to manufacture, purify, and bless any additional supply
of oil.

Trusting in G-d, and with a sense of worshipful urgency, they lit
the menorah anyway, and a miracle ensued: the one days' supply of
oil kept the menorah alight for the full eight days needed to
replenish the supply, and ensure the uninterrupted eternal flame.
This is how the festival commemorating the re dedication of the
Second Temple came to be known as the "Festival of Lights." A
special nine-branched menorah is used on Hanukkah, eight branches
to commemorate the eight miraculous days, and a ninth branch, the
"shamash" or servant-branch, whose flame is used to light the other
branches and symbolically guard against utilitarian, secular use
of the lights.

The Hanukkah menorah is also symbolic of a lesser known event: both
the Talmud and the Book of Maccabees depict the story of the seven
sons of Hannah, who were tortured and executed in that time
because of their refusal to renounce their faith, eat pork and bow
to pagan statues. Hannah committed suicide after the death of her
sons. The eight lights of the Hanukkah menorah bear witness to the
fate of Hannah and her family, their steadfast faith in G-d and
and their refusal to assimilate.

Hanukkah's observance is linked, inextricably, with a profound
reverence for the memory of all those who have fought against
impossible odds for the freedom to worship G-d and to preserve the
religious traditions which enable us to follow His commandments.
It is a time to re-tell the story of the siege of Masada, to
remember the Bar Kochba and Great Revolts against Rome, to revere
the memory of generations upon generations of martyrs and warriors
since who have fought and died in the name of Abraham's legacy -
individual liberty, (indeed the notion of "individualism" under
G-d), self-determination, and freedom of worship.

If you love your G-d but fear your government, tell others about
the destruction of the Second Temple by the hitlerian Antiochus
Epiphanes, and help your children internalize these lessons of
Hanukkah.

If you would be reminded of the importance of preserving
second-amendment freedoms, recall this chapter in the long story
of the disarmament of the Jews. Honor the memory of Hannah and her
sons by kindling the lights of Hanukkah with firm resolve.

If you should ever doubt that righteousness will always prevail so
long as we love G-d and fight for his spiritual and physical
territory, let your heart be filled with the spirit of Judah and
his Maccabees. Put on their armor, symbolically, and celebrate the
victory which Hanukkah commemorates.

If you believe in individual and religious freedom, if you believe
in self-determination, and if you believe in miracles; if you
truly have faith in G-d, light the Hanukkah menorah this year, and
thank G-d for His enduring faith in us.

Hanukkah is a time in which all of G-d's warriors - ideological,
cultural, and otherwise - are spiritually united. This, in itself,
is cause for contemplation, fraternization, and celebration.

Happy Hanukkah!


Franklin Raff
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The Liberty Crew
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