My spirits were lifted today when I saw the Hanukkah decorations at the entrance of the sports club that I attend in Jerusalem. Knowing that the club is owned and run by a non-religious kibbutz reaffirmed what I like about my choice to leave the US and move to the Jewish homeland. We are all Jews and share a wonderful common denominator. We share the same historical memory and identity with the same national symbols.
Then I walked into the building and was stopped in my tracks. For the first time since attending this club, I saw Christmas decorations. I was shocked.
I asked the kibbutz member at the desk about it. She smiled and proudly said," We are "eclectic" and embrace all traditions."
Are we going to see Ramadan decorations as well I asked.
"Maybe. Why not"?
I asked her if she knew why we celebrate Hanukkah. Did she know that our ancestors in this city gave their lives to battle the influence of foreign cultures that she humorously embraces?
She was not impressed.
I told her that she might feel differently if she were taught what Hanukkah is and why being Jewish is meaningful.
She laughed and scoffed, "I did not receive a good Jewish education" with an air of superiority.
That would be the same attitude that drew Jewish youth to spend Simchat Torah night dancing around a giant golden Buddha statue. It is not their fault. They, too, did not receive "a good Jewish education." They were victims of an education and social system engineered and run by "elites" whose main aim was to empty Israel of its Jewish content. The Maccabees were fierce opponents of the Jewish elites - in their time, that was the pro-Greek Hellenists. It was the Hellenists who brought the Greek armies to fight their brothers. They wanted to turn the Jewish state into another Greek polis at any cost.
We stand in amazement as we watch history repeat itself today. Ron Pundak was one of the engineers of the Oslo Accords(1993) who welcomed ( and armed) Yasser Arafat and the PLO into Israel. He made an honest observation: He said that the Oslo Accords were ultimately not about peace but rather about the "Israelization of the state; to thwart its Judaization." He, a modern Hellenist, like those the Maccabees faced, gambled with the enemy to destroy Torah Judaism in Israel.
Former prime minister Yair Lapid wrote that the mass expulsion from Gush Katif and giving it to our enemies was all about showing the Torah observant Jews who settled the land who the real boss was.
Even after the Oslo and Gush Katif fiascos demonstrated their bloody results, members of the Hellenistic elites, like former deputy head of the Mossad, Ran Barak, said with solemn certainty, "The Jewish hilltop youth are more of a threat than Hamas." Even after the Hamas Holocaust of October 2023, this sentiment was embraced by the Hellenistic elites.
On the eve of the current war, the elites who have always dominated the Air Force and Intelligence branches threatened not to serve what they term the current "Messianic" (majority elected) government unless the right bows to their political and cultural demands.
The war cry was: Do not even think of any kind of reform of the elitist-owned judicial system!
The elites in Industry, Labor, and Academia joined the call and closed down the country in a warning strike.
The government gave in, but it was not enough
Either the elite minority rule or there will be no state.
And relying on our disunity, thousands of Islamo-Nazis easily swarmed across our "High tech Maginot Line" and, beheaded, immolated, raped, and mutilated Jews for an entire day.
The question that everyone is asking is: where were our vaunted planes and helicopters that day?
We all heard the elitist pre-war threats loud and clear, and then experienced the results, but we did not dare to voice the horrible conclusions.
Equally unprecedented, on Yom Kippur, a few days before the Hamas invasion, a mob of "elites" prevented Jews from traditional public prayer in Tel Aviv, "their" bastion of Hellenism. The Jews fled their attack and the mob won the day.
The elites continue to fanatically pursue their non-negotiable goal: the de-Judiasing of the state.
"Elite" judges visit prisons to make sure that Hamas killers are receiving a proper menu and living conditions. They order tens of millions of shekels spent to make the murderers comfortable.
At the same time, Jewish soldiers were arrested and accused of "murdering" Hamas killers and rapists on Oct 7. Judges never visit Jewish prisoners. Jewish soldiers were incarcerated, accused of mistreating Hamas monsters. To gather evidence against these soldiers they contacted Hamas terrorists in Gaza to hear their testimony!
The finest officers were dismissed from the army because they dared raise the morale of their soldiers through quotations from the Torah.
Today the abuse of powers that in the past were done in the shadows have become the norm. With the strategic levers of the state in their hands, this dwindling demographic minority frantically uses those levers indiscriminately as if in a frenzy. No holds are barred to hold onto their hegemony and battle the idea of a Jewish state in favor of a "state of all its citizens".
When I first came to Israel in the 1970s, I noticed a strange sign on the Hebrew University campus where I studied. It was about a "Sylvester" party and I had no idea what that was.
I learned that it was a New Year's party.
I was surprised then that the New Year was celebrated in Israel. I told myself it was just a few campus partygoers looking for an excuse to party. It was all a bit amusing to me.
The "Sylvester" revelry of the few was confined to the campus. In those days, the elites were sure that time was on their side and Torah Judaism was a fading phenomenon. Israel will be just like all the Nations.They were patient.
Fast-forward to today. It is not amusing to them anymore. The anti-religious elites are anything but complacent about their future hold on power and their ability to mold the state in their image. Just as in the days of Hanukkah, when the Hellenists stopped at nothing, they are back, with the same zeal.
But in the current multi-front war, a new generation of Maccabees, observant and non-observant, has surfaced filled with sacrifice and dedication. They will no doubt lead us to victory over the haters from without and protect Judaism from Hellenists from within.
Shalom Pollack is a well known tour guide and author of "Jews, Israelis, and Arabs". He can be reached at shalompollack613@gmail.com