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The inter-city busrides can get long after many times of making the same trip. I decided to pack a book into my bag, so that I could read or study during the hour or so where I’d be sitting still in a chair anyway. My first thought was to take a volume of Plato’s dialogues, some of which we’re studying in one of my university courses. All was good and well, until I was struck by the incredible irony.

That night would be the first night of Chanukah - a festival where we celebrate the Divinely led triumph of the Jews, in their tiny minority, over the Ancient Greeks, in their almost overwhelming majority. Almost overwhelming - but not entirely. The Jews had lived for some years under the reign of the Greeks, which was not a happy situation; however, it was tolerable, and they tried to get on with their lives. This all changed when Antiochus instituted his evil decrees against Torah and Jewish life.

When Antiochus forbade the Jews from keeping Shabbat, Brit Milah (circumcision), and the Jewish calendar system, conditions suddenly became intolerable. And despite the might and majesty of the Greek empire and its proud masses of regiments and units, the Jews stood up proudly, and said, We will not continue to live like this. So began the rebellion of the Makkabim.

Rav Kahane wrote so eloquently (quoted here) that Chanukah, of all holidays, is most out of place in today’s liberalist, post-modern western society. By all logic, Jews whose Judaism is more Marx than Moshe should be up in arms about the zealous, decisive, and violent ideals that Chanukah encapsulates and transmits to our generations. Where is the peace, the tolerance, the understanding, the acceptance of the other with his differences? Where is the equality? How could the Makkabim dare think that their own values were so elevated above those of the Greeks, to the point that they waged a violent war against their occupiers? What of liberalism, what of tolerance?

I heard recently that an Israeli columnist wrote that logically, he should be opposed to Chanukah. I also heard that there are elements within certain communities who are actively opposed to Chanukah for this very reason, tragic and bitterly ironic that it is.

I, who am happy to study Plato, an ancient Greek philosopher*, in the spirit of openness, science, and naturally course credits, am suddenly confronted with what is perhaps one of the most important questions that a Jew must ask himself today: Am I right? Is my religion right? Do I believe in the Torah, know it to be true, to the extent that I would be willing to sacrifice (a lot) for it? If I would suddenly be transported to the days of the Makkabim, would I be with them or against them?

These are questions that need deep reflection: if our answers are not as strongly positive as we’d like them to be, we need to do some thinking and learning. We are blessed with the gift of the festival of Chanukah, which represents standing up in the midst of multiculturalism, foreign influences whitewashed and even brought inside in the name of tolerance and acceptance, and saying, “Enough is enough! I may tolerate you and your own ideologies, but that doesn’t mean that I should be changed in the slightest towards them. I am strong in my traditions, my knowledge of the truth, and while I will not impose them on a harmless passer-by, I will insist that I be accommodated in my dedication to them. And if an enemy will arise, and try to destroy my connection to Torah, in the spirit of evil and hatred of that which is G-dly and good, I will be prepared to fight long and hard to defend myself and my Torah.”

I hope that you and I draw inspiration from the power of Chanukah, learn to be strong and firmly grounded in our faith and knowledge of the truth, and to be proud of our heritage, and active in its propagation. In the end, I left Plato on my bookshelf, and rather chose to take the Laws of Chanukah along on my trip.

Chanukah Sa’mei’ach - Happy Chanukah!

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* While Plato wasn’t a part of the Greek subjugation of the Jews (which came over 100 years later), his centrality in Greek philosophy and culture make him a prominent symbol of Ancient Greece.