Racist Jewish Festaval (was: Re: HELLENIC NEWS UPDATES)

[Agamemnon]

Tuesday, December 30, 1997 Published at 11:37 GMT

Special Report
Hanukkah: festival of lights
Eighteenth century English brass Menorah (Jewish Museum, London)
On the night of December 23, millions of Jews around the world light the
first candles in the week-long Jewish festival of lights known as
Hanukkah.
The festival commemorates the victory of the Jewish Maccabees against
the Syrian Greeks more than a thousand years ago. It also symbolises the
light of religious, national and cultural freedom won by the Maccabee
family for the Jewish people.
Britain's Chief Rabbi, Jonathan Sacks, goes as far as to say that if the
Jews had been defeated at this time and their monotheistic religion
obliterated, Christianity would never have been born.
"That decision to resist and fight back ended in victory. Without it,
Israel might have remained a Greek province, its religion extinguished.
There would have been no Judaism, indeed no Christianity," writes Rabbi
Sacks, in his book Faith in the Future.
Uprising and victory
Hanukkah is the only Jewish festival that commemorates an event not
mentioned in the Bible. The story behind the celebration is related in
the Book of the Maccabees, a volume in the Apocrypha, a series of 14
books added as an appendix to the Old Testament.

The Maccabee revolt began in the village of Modi'in, now in modern-day
Israel
Hanukkah celebrates the first major rebellion in ancient Jewish
history - the victory of the Maccabee Jews over the Syrian Greeks in
161BC.
Israel was at that time under the control of the Seleucid dynasty, which
inherited the country from Alexander the Great's Greek empire. King
Antiochus IV wanted to force all the people in his empire to worship
Greek gods. Jewish rituals such as the Sabbath and circumcision were
outlawed.
The Jewish rebellion was sparked off in the village of Modi'in when a
detachment from King Antiochus' army came to set up an altar and
commanded the Jews to sacrifice a pig on it. Mattathias, an old priest,
killed the Jew that was about to obey the order and then retreated into
the mountains with his five sons. They began a guerrilla war against the
Greeks and their Jewish allies.
Mattathias' son, Judah the Maccabee, took up the fight when his father
died and led his forces to victory, liberated Jerusalem and reclaimed
the Temple of Solomon from the Hellenists. Judah's soldiers rededicated
the temple by lighting the temple oil-lamp, but they could find only one
cruse of oil to keep it alight. By some miracle, the oil lasted eight
whole days, long enough to obtain further supplies.
Judah decreed that this miracle and the rededication of the Temple
should be celebrated by a national holiday. Ever since that time, Jews
around the world celebrate Hanukkah by lighting the Menorah - a
candelabra with up to eight branches.
The festivities
Hanukkah falls on the 25th Kislev, a date in the Jewish lunar calendar.
This year, Hanukkah happens to coincide with Christmas but it can begin
any time from the end of November to the last days of December.

Children play 'spin the dreidel'
The Menorah became not only the symbol of Hanukkah but also the emblem
of Judaism itself.
Menorahs come in all sorts of shapes and sizes but usually have eight
branches and a ninth servant candle in the middle to light the others.
The festival is commemorated both at home and at the synagogue. On each
of the eight nights of Hanukkah, a member of the family lights one
candle until the whole Menorah is alight by end of the week. As the
candle is lit, a blessing is recited and everyone sings special Hanukkah
songs.

Ma'oz Tzur Yesh'uati sung by the Habonim Choir (Dur:1'23")
Ashkenazi Jews - those from Germany and Eastern Europe - sing a hymn
called Ma'oz Tzur Yesh'uati (Mighty Rock of my Salvation). Sephardi
Jews - of Spanish, Portuguese or North African descent - recite Psalm
30.
Like Christmas, Hanukkah is best loved by children. They play games with
a special Hanukkah spinning top, called a dreidel .
This cube-shaped toy bears a Hebrew letter on each side. Whichever
letter is visible when the top stops spinning wins or loses them the
stake - usually a pile of sweets. Children also receive small gifts or
gelt - Hanukkah money.

Potato Latkes: a favourite Hanukkah snack
Hanukkah is a time for feasting and some dishes have a special
significance.
People eat fried food like Latkes (potato fritters), pancakes and
doughnuts - "oily" dishes to remember the miracle of light. It is no
coincidence that doughnuts are also sold for Christmas celebrations in
Poland (where they are called ponchiki )and Germany (Berliners).
Message of resistance and tolerance
Hanukkah is celebrated in different ways all over the world but the
message behind the story is the same - the victory of the few over the
many, the courage of the Jews to assert themselves as a people and
initiate a national and cultural renaissance.

Hanukkah, O Hanukkah sung in Yiddish by Joy Hyman - 1959 (Dur: 1' 24")
"We should understand that just as the Hellenist Greeks did not defeat
the Jewish impulse neither should we the Jews feel anyone else's impulse
forced upon us," says Rabbi Shlomo Felix speaking from the Office of the
Chief Rabbi in London. "We will be radical in the defence of our
religion against all odds."
Rabbi Felix adds that Hanukkah is not only a time for Jewish pride but
also for tolerance of minorities. "Hanukkah was when we were on the
receiving end of intolerance. So we should treat strangers well," he
says.
And how does the victory of Judah the Macabbee over the Syrian Greeks
bear any relation to the situation of modern Jews today? "Well, here we
are," states Rabbi Felix. "It's worked, we have our own state, our own
country and we have shown we can certainly stand up for what is
rightfully ours."

Tuesday, December 23, 1997 Published at 14:09 GMT

UK
Blair lights a candle for Israel
Mr Blair performed the ceremony at his constituency home
Prime Minister Tony Blair has become the first British leader to light a
candle marking both an ancient Jewish festival and the 50th anniversary
of Israel as an independent nation state.
He performed the ceremony at his constituency home in the tiny former
pit village of Trimdon Colliery, County Durham, with leaders of the
Jewish community at his side.
Mr Blair said: "I am privileged to light a candle for the first time in
Hannukah and with it to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the State of
Israel.
"The festival of Hanukkah and the State of Israel embody the twin
miracles of freedom - the one spiritual, the other physical.
"May this Festival of Light bring the light of freedom and peace to the
Jewish people, to the State of Israel and to the entire world."
Mr Blair was the first of 36 leaders around the world, including United
States President Bill Clinton, to perform similar ceremonies on Tuesday.
It involved the simple act of lighting a candle on a specially-designed
Menorah, the nine-branched candelabra. The seven-branched Menorah is
Israel's symbol.
Acting Israeli Ambassador Amiram Magid told Mr Blair: "The candle
lighting today clearly illustrates the close bond between our two
countries and we look forward to a future of continuing friendship and
co-operation.
"We are proud that Britain is sharing these historic moments with
international leaders, prime ministers and presidents, in all four
corners of the globe."
"As we light the Hanukkah candle, we hope for a future blessed with
progress and prosperity, harmony, tranquillity, friendship and, above
all, peace."
At the end of the ceremony, Marisa Sakol, representing the Union of
Jewish Students, presented Mr Blair with the nine-branched Menorah as a
gift from the Jewish community.

[+=] Dionysios Pilarinos wrote in message
<68dsq3$s...@news9.noc.netcom.net>...
>This article is posted as it appears on the Hellenic Nationalist Page
web
>site. To read this and other articles, please follow the URL
><a href="http://www.hellas.org>www.hellas.org</a>.
>
>http://www.hellas.org/nea-97ad.html
>
><p><center>
><h2><b>New Zionist Attack Against Hellenism</b></h2></p>
><br></center>
><p>It seems that regardless of what the Jews have done in the
>past against the Hellenes, we (or better yet "our"
>politicians and "cultural elite") tend to forgive them. And
>I need not make references to the aid the Jews provided the
>Ottomans to conquer Byzantium, and then to keep the Hellenes
>enslaved for more than four centuries (while they prospered
>in Hellenic urban centers like Thessaloniki).</p>
><p>The efforts of these people to promote the notion that the
>Jews are the only (or at least the most victimized) victim
>in history is in full swing. Other than the costly statues
>that we build to commemorate their "efforts" as "equal
>Hellenes" (like the one unveiled in Thessaloniki), we are
>also promoting Zionist propaganda with regards to the
>"Holocaust", that they are the "chosen people", and that
>their state (of Israel) is something we should try to mimic
>and make alliance with.</p>
><p>Our educated readers of course are aware of the billions of
>dollars that Israel receives each year from the United
>States. Much like they are aware that Hellas lost some
>800,000 people during World War Two, took documented action
>against the Axis powers, and can also document our loses in
>human lives (not some imaginary "6 million" figure).</p>
><p>But even when our "leaders" bow down to their masters, the
>Jews don't hesitate to remind us of what they think of us
>"gentiles". On December 16th, a full page ad (page 47) was
>taken out on the New York Post, paid for by the Jewish Post
>of New York and Talkline Communication Services. Occasion
>for this advertisement was the Jewish celebration of
>"Chanukah" or "Festival of Lights".</p>
><p>Parts of the ad follow:</p>
><p>"
><center><b>WHY CELEBRATE</b></center>
>Why a celebration while still under foreign rule? Because
>Israel knew what the goal of the second Temple era was the
>kingdom of Torah and the commandments - and the kindling of
>small Menorah that could <b>banish the darkness of Greek
>culture</b>. When that happened, it was time to celebrate;
>....
>Merely being alive on the 25th of Kislev (Jewish Calendar)
>is not enough; one must see the flame and remember what it
>represents, and know that we are grateful for the <b>triumph of
>Torah's light over Greece's darkness</b>."</p>
><p>And yet, to some, I would be considered the "anti-Semite"
>since the Jews are "incapable" of racism. Their response is
>already ready since they are not responsible for the "rouge"
>Jews amongst them. They would also fail to mention to you,
>our educated reader, that the New York Post is owned by
>Rupert Murdoch, a Jew that controls numerous media outlets
>throughout the world.</p>
><p>It is up to each and every Hellene to defend his or her
>Nation. Do not be a racist, do not be close minded. But cut
>the head off of every enemy to the nation, regardless of
>what "they" might label you. Above all is the Nation.</p>
><p>Listed below is information if you so wish to contact the
>persons responsible for placing the ad.</p>
><pre>
> THE JEWISH POST OF NEW YORK
> 130 West 29th Street, New York, NY 10001
> Tel:(212)967-7313, Henry Levi, Publisher
>
> TALKLINE COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES
> P.O.Box 20108, Park West Station, NY 10025
> Tel:(212)769-1925 Zen Brenner, President
></pre>
>

[Gregory Dandulakis]

In article Agamemnon <argyros...@nospam.ukonline.co.uk> wrote:
...

>Tuesday, December 30, 1997 Published at 11:37 GMT
>
>Special Report
>Hanukkah: festival of lights
>Eighteenth century English brass Menorah (Jewish Museum, London)
>On the night of December 23, millions of Jews around the world light the
>first candles in the week-long Jewish festival of lights known as
>Hanukkah.
>The festival commemorates the victory of the Jewish Maccabees against
>the Syrian Greeks more than a thousand years ago. It also symbolises the
>light of religious, national and cultural freedom won by the Maccabee
>family for the Jewish people.
>Britain's Chief Rabbi, Jonathan Sacks, goes as far as to say that if the
>Jews had been defeated at this time and their monotheistic religion
>obliterated, Christianity would never have been born.
>"That decision to resist and fight back ended in victory. Without it,
>Israel might have remained a Greek province, its religion extinguished.
>There would have been no Judaism, indeed no Christianity," writes Rabbi
>Sacks, in his book Faith in the Future.

They can say whatever they want, the facts of the Maccabee revolt were
simple and plain:

1. The Jews were for more than 150 years before the revolt the "spoiled
kids" of the Seleucid Empire.

2. The revolt was a result of a bitter battle between fundamentalists/
autistic Jews and reformer Jews. Antiochus entered the picture
in this battle only when at a critical point of the Seleucid histo-
ry (after his defeat in the gigantic battle against the Hellenistic
Ptolemaic Egypt) the intra-Jewish battle threatened to destabilize
the heartland of his empire and spread uncontrollable throughout
it.

3. Antiochus made a minor effort to extripate the fundamentalist
branch of Jewdaism, but left totally untouced Jewdaism as a whole.
Jews outside of Judaea, along with the reformer Jews were either
his supporters or were left totally untouched.

4. The claim that Maccabees "saved Jewdaism and thus permitted Chri-
stianity and Islam" is as laughable as the claim of O.J. Simpson
that saved "Blackness". Its is a simple joke. Jews lived and
flourished in all Hellenistic Kingdoms, with most notably Egypt.

It is annoying to see such historic autism having such huge exposure
in the Western mass media, but. But who else would go to stick his
head in Palestine today in order to serve the interests of the out-
sider dominant naval power? Only self-delusional autists would do
that. The rest are enjoying their New York (or whatever).

Gregory