Of all the Jewish holidays, the one that best captures the contemporary Jewish zeitgeist, the one that is the most relevant to the current and possibly the last chapter in Jewish history, is Hannuka. Hannuka is, of course, the story of Jewish national liberation. It is the story of the military victory of the few against the many, of the champions of Judaism against the pagan barbarians. But more than this, it is the saga of the heroic struggle of Jewish survivalists (those you would today label "Zionists") against the assimilationist and self-hating Hellenists of the second century BCE. Hannuka is less about the battle against the Greeks than it is about the battle against the predominant assimilationist paradigm among the Jews of the time. It is about the battle against the anti-survivalists, those who hated themselves for being Jews and so sought to be progressive and modern and "in" by rejecting and disgracing and degrading themselves in their struggling against Jewish survival. In other words, it is about the battle against the Oslo of Hannuka past.
At this stage in Jewish history a convergence has occurred between the main Diaspora Jewish community (in the US) and the Jews of Israel. It is a convergence towards self-derogation and self-denial. While it takes different forms, in both cases it is about Jews who are embarrassed by their being identified as such by the barbarians. They are ashamed of themselves and seek to gain acceptance in the Greek world by overtaking the anti-Semites in attacking their own people. They grovel before the enemies of their people. They demand that their people abandon their archaic and backward religion, traditions and values.
History books will recall the second half of the twentieth century as that era in which the Jews lost their will to survive. First in the Diaspora and now in Israel. Whether or not Jewish history ends in the next decade or so depends on the unlikely proposition that the small numbers of Maccabees still fighting against Hellenism will triumph. They appear to be losing this war. It is not 200 BCE. One should not take a miraculous intervention for granted. The next decade will see whether the Hellenists are successful and Israel collapses. If it does, Jewish history will effectively end. All that will be left will be some Orthodox pockets in the Diaspora and these will become small quaint curiosities for the nations, something like the "Pennsylvania Dutch" or the Shakers.
In the United States, the dominance of the Jewish Hellenists is in the form of the assimilationist liberals (the "asslibs" for short). These are the Jewish leaders and organizations who dominate the non-Orthodox segments of American Jewry and promote the view that all of Judaism can be reduced to the pursuing of this week's liberal political fads. They practice the "Political Liberalism as Judaism" form of Hellenistic paganism. They reduce all of Jewishness to the support for the "progressive" agenda of the left wing of the Democrat Party. They even endorse all forms of politically correct wackiness - from radical feminism to extremist environmentalism to affirmative apartheid to militant heterophobia. They will only support Israel as long as it is pursuing self-destruction, lest it embarrass them in front of their progressive gentile friends by defending itself.
In Israel, the country's politics - particularly its cultural/educational elite and its chattering classes - are now almost entirely dominated by those motivated by the desire for their country to commit national suicide. These are people who dislike their country and dishonor their own people. They scorn themselves the same way that the Hellenised Jews did at the time of the Maccabees. Like the Hellenised Jews, they are convinced that traditionalist Jews are reactionary and primitive, and that the greatest national priority should be renunciation of Jewish peculiarity and the striving to assimilate amongst the cosmopolitan progressive Greeks of the world. They are ashamed of their Jewishness and convinced that the only path to peace is to renounce their Jewishness. They insist that a Seleucid "narrative" should replace the Jews' own reactionary national one.
Israel's universities are by and large the Occupied Territories of these Hellenists. As is the Israeli media, to almost the same extent. Hellenists dominate much of the Israeli military and intelligence services. At the head of the Hellenists is the Israeli Left, led by the Israeli Labor Party, now even more extremist with Amram Mitzna at its helm, which maintains its power bases even when the Likud holds office. Hellenists have also attempted to rewrite the school curriculum to teach Israeli Jewish children to despise themselves. Their message is that Jews must feel ashamed because they are mean, selfish, evil and immoral people, while the truly superior people are the barbarian anti-Semites and of course the poor suffering Palestinians. Their aim is to convince the Jews that the only way they may become accepted in the world is to adapt to paganism, to stop seeking to exist as a separate national entity, and to commit national suicide.
Moreover, their campaign is aimed at challenging the moral existence of the Jews. They realize this is the weakest chink in the armor of the Jews. If Jews can be convinced that they are morally in the wrong, then no Maccabees will arise. The aim of the Hellenists is the de-legitimization of the Jews as a nation, discrediting the moral position of Jewish survivalism. They insist over and over that Jews are evil, immoral, brutal people who must cease to exist as Jews if they want peace.
The message of the contemporary Hellenists is unambiguous: Those who wish to purify the Temple, who seek pure oil for the Temple lamp, who wish to evict the barbarians from Jerusalem, are the enemies of peace. The Maccabees must be arrested for incitement. The Jews must provide Antiochus with concessions, arms and funds. Under no circumstances should the Jews seek to defend themselves from the Seleucids. If the barbarians murder the Jews, it is because the Jews are evil, selfish people and because they have been too reluctant to abandon their primitive survivalism. The era of national separateness is over; all must join in the great Hellenistic politically correct pagan enterprise. The Post-Hasmonean era is upon us. Dip the latkes in lard.
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Steven Plaut teaches at the University of Haifa and is author of The Scout (available from Gefen Publishing House: http://161.58.167.199/shop/indi_scout.htm).
At this stage in Jewish history a convergence has occurred between the main Diaspora Jewish community (in the US) and the Jews of Israel. It is a convergence towards self-derogation and self-denial. While it takes different forms, in both cases it is about Jews who are embarrassed by their being identified as such by the barbarians. They are ashamed of themselves and seek to gain acceptance in the Greek world by overtaking the anti-Semites in attacking their own people. They grovel before the enemies of their people. They demand that their people abandon their archaic and backward religion, traditions and values.
History books will recall the second half of the twentieth century as that era in which the Jews lost their will to survive. First in the Diaspora and now in Israel. Whether or not Jewish history ends in the next decade or so depends on the unlikely proposition that the small numbers of Maccabees still fighting against Hellenism will triumph. They appear to be losing this war. It is not 200 BCE. One should not take a miraculous intervention for granted. The next decade will see whether the Hellenists are successful and Israel collapses. If it does, Jewish history will effectively end. All that will be left will be some Orthodox pockets in the Diaspora and these will become small quaint curiosities for the nations, something like the "Pennsylvania Dutch" or the Shakers.
In the United States, the dominance of the Jewish Hellenists is in the form of the assimilationist liberals (the "asslibs" for short). These are the Jewish leaders and organizations who dominate the non-Orthodox segments of American Jewry and promote the view that all of Judaism can be reduced to the pursuing of this week's liberal political fads. They practice the "Political Liberalism as Judaism" form of Hellenistic paganism. They reduce all of Jewishness to the support for the "progressive" agenda of the left wing of the Democrat Party. They even endorse all forms of politically correct wackiness - from radical feminism to extremist environmentalism to affirmative apartheid to militant heterophobia. They will only support Israel as long as it is pursuing self-destruction, lest it embarrass them in front of their progressive gentile friends by defending itself.
In Israel, the country's politics - particularly its cultural/educational elite and its chattering classes - are now almost entirely dominated by those motivated by the desire for their country to commit national suicide. These are people who dislike their country and dishonor their own people. They scorn themselves the same way that the Hellenised Jews did at the time of the Maccabees. Like the Hellenised Jews, they are convinced that traditionalist Jews are reactionary and primitive, and that the greatest national priority should be renunciation of Jewish peculiarity and the striving to assimilate amongst the cosmopolitan progressive Greeks of the world. They are ashamed of their Jewishness and convinced that the only path to peace is to renounce their Jewishness. They insist that a Seleucid "narrative" should replace the Jews' own reactionary national one.
Israel's universities are by and large the Occupied Territories of these Hellenists. As is the Israeli media, to almost the same extent. Hellenists dominate much of the Israeli military and intelligence services. At the head of the Hellenists is the Israeli Left, led by the Israeli Labor Party, now even more extremist with Amram Mitzna at its helm, which maintains its power bases even when the Likud holds office. Hellenists have also attempted to rewrite the school curriculum to teach Israeli Jewish children to despise themselves. Their message is that Jews must feel ashamed because they are mean, selfish, evil and immoral people, while the truly superior people are the barbarian anti-Semites and of course the poor suffering Palestinians. Their aim is to convince the Jews that the only way they may become accepted in the world is to adapt to paganism, to stop seeking to exist as a separate national entity, and to commit national suicide.
Moreover, their campaign is aimed at challenging the moral existence of the Jews. They realize this is the weakest chink in the armor of the Jews. If Jews can be convinced that they are morally in the wrong, then no Maccabees will arise. The aim of the Hellenists is the de-legitimization of the Jews as a nation, discrediting the moral position of Jewish survivalism. They insist over and over that Jews are evil, immoral, brutal people who must cease to exist as Jews if they want peace.
The message of the contemporary Hellenists is unambiguous: Those who wish to purify the Temple, who seek pure oil for the Temple lamp, who wish to evict the barbarians from Jerusalem, are the enemies of peace. The Maccabees must be arrested for incitement. The Jews must provide Antiochus with concessions, arms and funds. Under no circumstances should the Jews seek to defend themselves from the Seleucids. If the barbarians murder the Jews, it is because the Jews are evil, selfish people and because they have been too reluctant to abandon their primitive survivalism. The era of national separateness is over; all must join in the great Hellenistic politically correct pagan enterprise. The Post-Hasmonean era is upon us. Dip the latkes in lard.
--------------------------------------------------------
Steven Plaut teaches at the University of Haifa and is author of The Scout (available from Gefen Publishing House: http://161.58.167.199/shop/indi_scout.htm).