Merry Christmas to everyone! Make the most of the memories that you will create today!
Archive for December, 2008
Merry Christmas
Thursday, December 25th, 2008Happy Chanukah
Sunday, December 21st, 2008I would like to wish a happy holiday season to any Jewish readers that I might have. Many people, I would guess, do not know the story of Chanukah. I will add the story as told from http://mazornet.com
Chanukah is a Jewish holidays in which we celebrate our survival as a nation and the triumph of light over darkness. It is a celebration of a past that seems so relevant and contemporary - a thousand years later.
The following is the historical background that brought upon the Jews of Israel the wrath of the Hellenistic Era. In the 7th century BCE (Before the Common Era), King Cyrus gave the Jews, who had been exiled to Babylonia, permission to return to the land of Israel and to rebuild the holy Temple.
Alexander the Great 4th century BCE massive conquering campaign pushed across the Middle East. To unify his conquests, Alexander the Great encouraged the adoption of Hellenistic ideals. Some Jews eagerly co-opted to the Greek’s admiration of the body, their penchant for philosophy and literature. But most Jews rejected the Greek ideals of beauty and remained loyal to Judaism and its practices.
After Alexander the Great died, his vast kingdom was divided into three mini-empires. Two of them, the Ptolmies of Egypt and the Selucids of Syria, fought over Judea.
This brings us to the reign of Antiochus IV.
Around 175 BCE Antiochus IV, who gave himself the name Epiphanes – “God made manifest,” rose to power and ruled the Selucids. Seeking to prevent the Ptolmies from annexing Judea, Antiochus Epiphanes invades Judea and attempts to march into Ptolemy territory.
175-172 BCE Antiochus retreats to Judea in defeat. To strengthen his hold on the territory Antiochus attempts to smooth over the stubborn Jewish people. In an effort to do that Antiochus enforces Hellenistic culture in Judea. He builds a gymnasium next to the holy Temple in Jerusalem. He selects the pro-Greek Jew, Jason, for the high priesthood and establishes an ally in the highest Jewish office.
172 BCE some Jews were happy to absorb Greek culture, a ticket to their acceptance by high society. However, it is apparent that many Jews embrace the Greek culture, as Antiochus perceives the need to tackle the situation, invades Jerusalem, demolishes many of the city’s walls, and destroys the holy Temple.
Around this time, Antiochus enforces anti-Jewish laws. His decrees forbid Sabbath observance, Torah study, circumcision, and Rosh Hodesh - the proclamation of the new Jewish month. These acts restrict the observances that shape the Jewish concept of time (Sabbath and Rosh Hodesh), mind (Torah study), and body (circumcision). These harsh proclamations, along with other important details about the Maccabees, are recorded in I Maccabees, a book that is part of the apocrypha or Sefarim HaChitzoniyim, literally “outer books” or accounts that were not included in the biblical canon.
In I Maccabees, Antiochus’s harshness was recorded. Mass Torah scroll burnings are commanded. Those who dared to study Torah and women who circumcised their sons flirted with death.
Jew vs. Jew
The struggle Jews faced at the time of Chanukah is in full swing today. Judaism has always been a minority culture. It sets its adherents apart from majority beliefs and practices but to what extent? Then, as now, there were Jews who saw advantages in blending in with the general culture. They appreciated the beauty, art, philosophy, and new political ideas espoused by Greek society. On the other side were Jews, like the Maccabees, who saw Greek ideals and the shunning of faith and Godliness as a danger to Jewish survival.
The struggle Jews faced at the time of Chanukah is in full swing today. Judaism has always been a minority culture. It sets its adherents apart from majority beliefs and practices but to what extent? Then, as now, there were Jews who saw advantages in blending in with the general culture. They appreciated the beauty, art, philosophy, and new political ideas espoused by Greek society. On the other side were Jews, like the Maccabees, who saw Greek ideals and the shunning of faith and Godliness as a danger to Jewish survival.
Who was right?
Freedom vs. Oppression
Jews were willing to pay the ultimate price for their right to worship, study, and live as faith and tradition dictated. Greeks, then the superpower, saw Jewish belief as a corrosive link in their already overextended empire. Despite the odds – 47,000 well-trained, well-armed warriors vs. 4,000 ill-equipped Jews – the Jews persevered. Jewish history reverberates with Jews who fought for what was right against the odds. In recent years, the Maccabee spirit lived on in the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, Israel’s Independence War, the Jewish refuseniks behind the Iron Curtain, and among every person who does not sacrifice what is right in the face of might.
Jews were willing to pay the ultimate price for their right to worship, study, and live as faith and tradition dictated. Greeks, then the superpower, saw Jewish belief as a corrosive link in their already overextended empire. Despite the odds – 47,000 well-trained, well-armed warriors vs. 4,000 ill-equipped Jews – the Jews persevered. Jewish history reverberates with Jews who fought for what was right against the odds. In recent years, the Maccabee spirit lived on in the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, Israel’s Independence War, the Jewish refuseniks behind the Iron Curtain, and among every person who does not sacrifice what is right in the face of might.
The Greeks Admired Jewish Culture but Despised the Jewish Faith
The Greeks were all for the continuation of indigenous culture in the territories they conquered. Antiochus did not forbid the observance of Jewish laws that were part of Jewish culture, like Passover and Sukkot which celebrate milestones in Jewish history.
The Greeks were all for the continuation of indigenous culture in the territories they conquered. Antiochus did not forbid the observance of Jewish laws that were part of Jewish culture, like Passover and Sukkot which celebrate milestones in Jewish history.
What disturbed the logical Greek mindset was the Jewish tendency to keep commandments that were not rational. Jews performed mitzvot (commandments) like circumcision (abhorrent to the Greeks who venerated the human form) simply because God said so. To keep these commandments surges beyond the limitations of logic and touches infinite wisdom that is understood only by the Divine mind.
Jews fought to express a commitment to God that transcended the limits of human understanding, an approach that irked the rational, logic-loving Greeks.
168 BCE - Antiochus’s takeover of Jerusalem turns obnoxious. On the 15th of Kislev, the third month of the Hebrew year, an idol, some say it was the uber-god Zeus, was forced atop the Holy Temple’s altar.
167 BCE - Greek forces in Modi’in, a village about 40 km from Jerusalem, set up an altar for idol worship in the middle of town and demanded a pig sacrifice from the local Jews. The Greeks were not prepared for the anger of Mattithias, a kohen-priest from Jerusalem, who fled the decadence of the big city to live in Modi’in.
A local Hellenist Jew volunteered for the abominable rite, signaling he was lockstep with Greek culture even when it called for deeds abhorrent to Jewish values. The aged Mattithias, like Pinchas of Numbers 24, killed the traitor and the offending soldiers. Knowing his deed would sure be avenged, Mattithias fled to the hills. Mattithias’ five sons, passionate for Judaism, joined in his flight, and together, sheltered by the mountainous terrain, plotted the uprising.
The name Maccabbees was attached to the father and sons group, according to some versions of the story, as a result of Mattithias declaration of “Mi Camocha B’Alim Hashem” Who is like You, God? The phrase’s acronym spells out the word “Maccabee.” With a rallying cry of “Me l’Hashem aylai,” Whoever is for God, come with me! - Mattithias gathered a following of fellow Jews ready to fight for religious freedom.
166 BCE - A ragtag bunch of Jewish warriors, mostly farmers, headed by Mattithias’ sons Judah, Simon, Elazar, Yochanon, and Jonathan, battle Syrian-Greek General Apollonius and win. This is an incredible victory is just a beginning.
165 BCE - The fighting continues. Around this time, Mattithias dies. Judah Maccabeus takes over the family’s quest. His name, Maccabeus, is similar to the Hebrew word for “hammer” and may be a reference to Judah’s hammer shaped-head or his willingness to strike out like a hammer.
General Judah leads 4,000 poorly trained and poorly armed Jews to victory against 47,000 battle-wise Greek troops. Even if the Maccabees’ use of guerilla warfare tactics are factored, the Jewish victory is nothing short of miraculous.
On the 25th of Kislev, the date the modern Chanukah celebration begins, the victorious Maccabees reclaim the Temple Mount and the Temple. They find the glorious edifice in shambles. Walls have been destroyed. Once-proud altars and Temple ware have been defaced and used for profane purposes. Idols and their foreign, pagan trimmings litter the courtyard. Purifying the Temple to its original state is a demanding but proud task. Working carefully and quickly, the Temple is soon ready for rededication – except for one thing – the Menorah, candelabrum, must be lit.
Judah Maccabee – Son of Mattithias who took over the fight once his father died. He specialized in guerilla tactics and ambushes. Known in Greek as Judah Maccabeus, his name is recalled to represent the entire Jewish fighting force that rose up against the Syrian-Greek troops.
Elazar – Brother of Judah who was killed in battle when an elephant, then a state-of-the-art war vehicle, crushed him.
Shimon, Yonatan, and Yochanon – Three other sons of Mattithias who joined in the battle.
Post-Miracle Maccabees
The Maccabees went on to become heads of state. In an unprecedented move, the Hasmonean Maccabee family donned the high priest’s garments and held the royal scepter. At first the Hasmonean rulers were righteous, and Judea rejoiced in its restored autonomy. A handful of successions later, the royal Hasmonean line was waylaid by internecine fighting, assassination, and internal strife. They lived in thrall to Greek powers and later generations admired the same Helenist ideals the original Maccabees struggled against.
The Maccabees went on to become heads of state. In an unprecedented move, the Hasmonean Maccabee family donned the high priest’s garments and held the royal scepter. At first the Hasmonean rulers were righteous, and Judea rejoiced in its restored autonomy. A handful of successions later, the royal Hasmonean line was waylaid by internecine fighting, assassination, and internal strife. They lived in thrall to Greek powers and later generations admired the same Helenist ideals the original Maccabees struggled against.
The corrupted Hasmonean dynasty declined in power and public reverence, and their rule ended when Herod, a Hasmonean son-in-law, seized power and killed off the rest of the Hasmonean line
According to the Talmud (Shabbat 21b), once the victorious Maccabees reached the Temple, they could only find one oil jug with the high priest’s seal intact. Worse still, the oil in the jug was only enough to last one day. A great miracle occurred and the light lasted for eight days.
The Talmud doesn’t emphasize the miraculous victory as the reason for celebrating Chanukah but focuses on the long-burning oil as the basis for the holiday.
What the Miracle Signified
When the Greeks plundered the Temple, they defiled the holy oil, an act that is explained by Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson (1903-1995). The notion that oil could be pure or impure just because someone touched did not make sense to the Greeks. And the Jewish tendency to imbue physical matter with spiritual qualities was offensive to logical Greek sensibilities. Like a younger brother who brushes his younger sister’s shoulder with his pinky after his sister cries, “Don’t touch me!” the Greeks took special measures to spoil the Temple oil.
The Maccabees found one oil flagon with its seal of purity untouched and used it to light the menorah. And with that, the victorious Jews resumed their mission of bringing spiritual light to the darkness around them.
Mattithias – Father of the five Maccabee brothers and Temple kohen-priest fled to Modin to escape Greek influence and pressure in Jerusalem. He began the Chanukah revolt when Mattithias (known in Hebrew as Matityahu) killed a Hellenist Jew sacrificed a pig to a pagan god at the command of a Greek soldier. Before he fled to the hills with his sons to escape Greek revenge, he called likeminded Jews to join him in a fight against Greek oppression. He died soon after the revolt began.
“#dontgo Launches First State Movement” Tennessee News Platoon is Launched!
Monday, December 8th, 2008On Monday, December 8th www.dontgomovement.com will unveil the Tennessee News Platoon. The website, www.Tennessee.NewsPlatoon.com, will work to promote local government transparency and accountability, provide a news platform for local activism networks, and aggregate the top news stories happening across the state.
State Representative Stacey Campfield (TN-18) states, “I look forward to #dontgo getting together; we’ll be able to finally get out our clear concise message that will push for open government and good conservative values. Now more than ever we need people out there rallying conservatives to get more involved and to spread our message. I strongly feel that #dontgo will be able to help in making this happen.”
#dontgo originally began as a simple Twitter tag that the founders used to track the energy debate by the US Congress on August 1st. Hundreds of activists, including members of Congress, began using the tag not just to track the energy bill, but to energize supporters and champion fiscal conservative values. Soon thereafter the site www.dontgomovement.com was created and to date has over 30,000 opt-in email subscribers.
The #dontgo Revolution uses web-based strategies and tactics to advance free-market values. Its mission is to develop a fifty state strategy of blogs and internet social networks that would activate more free market conservatives in their communities leading into the 2010 elections.
#dontgo was created by Eric Odom and Allen Fuller.
###
Sarah Palin Has More Political Muscle than Obama?
Thursday, December 4th, 2008I have to question how strong a President Obama will be after he already lost the Senate battle in Georgia on Tuesday. Obamamania seems to be subsiding as we get further from the election. His supporters did not turn out in Georgia as the run-off vote turned out to be a 16-point win by Saxby Chambliss. Obama seemed to know he did not have the muscle to take on this battle, but Sarah Palin jumped in feet first as she helped Chambliss retain his Senate seat.
I am sure that someone will say that Obama just decided he had more important things to do in preparation for his Presidency, but he would have to be brain-dead or afraid to actually lead if he did not want a filibuster proof Senate. I wonder if this means that the Democrats will ease off of trying to steal Minnesota.
May Obama’s Presidency be a short four years.
I share many of Mark Albertini’s sentiments on this race.
Speaker Pro-Tempore Causes Worry
Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008For the past several years, the GOP has show us how not to lead. As a Republican, I feel that it is my duty to speak out when I see things that potentially damage our party. I take it upon myself from time to time to aggressively pursue (attack ?) those responsible as I did with Carter County State Representative, Kent Williams. As you may remember, Williams was one of the Naifeh Republicans (a Republican turncoat whom voted for the worst of the worst, Jimmy Naifeh, as the Speaker of the House. Don’t give me all that David Davis voted for Naifeh drivel. When there is an Iraqi or Iranian type election where you vote for the only candidate available, you really don’t have much of a choice do you?) that faced scrutiny in the Republican Caucus. I took him to task for that. Then, there was a certain rumor concerning Williams that I called him out on through e-mail. No, that e-mail is no longer posted on my website since the Great Website Deletion of only a short time ago. Yes, I do still have that e-mail.
These examples show that I am willing (and sometimes maybe more than willing) to take my own party to task. (FYI, I am always more than happy to take the Democrats to task.) This is now another time that I am going to take my party to task. This one, I thought long and hard about.
The Republican Party took everyone by surprise by going against the stream in electing a majority to the State House this November. Democrats were making big gains just about everywhere else, but our Republican Party took forward a conservative message that resonated with the citizens (except for the dead voters in Memphis) of Tennessee. Now, it seems that the Republican Party is already losing its way.
(Future Speaker of the House?) Jason Mumpower saw a chance at controlling the Tennessee House of Representatives. He needed to make sure that the Republicans stuck together to give him (or another Republican) the 50 votes to remove the tyrannical Jimmy Naifeh from the House’s top spot. I have no problem there when you have most of the self-serving “Naifeh Republicans” still hanging around. Mumpower brought the Republican Caucus to Nashville where each and every Republican signed a statement saying they would vote for a Republican Speaker of the House. Robin Smith, Tennessee Republican Party Chairman, has stated that the members of the Republican Caucus could face political excommunication from the Republican Party if they do not vote with the party on certain votes.
Fast forward to earlier this week… The Republican Caucus got together to choose the high ranking, though mostly ceremonial position of Speaker Pro-Tempore. Two candidates went head to head. On the one hand, you had former Sundquist crony, pro-income tax, “Naifeh Republican,” Steve McDaniel. On the other hand, the party had a choice of the conservative Frank Nicely. Sadly, at least half of the “Republicans” voted for McDaniel as he won the Speaker Pro-Tempore spot.
This choice leaves the Republican Party with a pro-tax, self-serving, “Republican” in a leadership position. I hope this is the worst mistake that the party makes in the majority stage, but I hope that this is not enough to sink this ship from sailing into the Speaker’s Chair.
I will be a little presumptive as I say this, but I will do it anyway. Speaker Mumpower (hopefully I won’t have to edit and strike this through come January), we are looking for conservative leadership. The state is looking for Republicans to lead. We are sick of what Naifeh has tried to pass as leadership. We know YOU can do better than what we have seen for years. However, we conservatives are not finding solace in your first attempt of leadership in the majority. We expect and know we can do great things if leadership leads. As Rep. Campfield has said many times, “It matters who leads.” Lead with honor. Lead conservatively.
- Josh
Read Terry Frank and David Oatney (even if he is just giving ACK fodder, and I do say that in jest, which is not a reference to any e-mails that I received nearly two years ago)