NationStates Jolt Archive

We see so many damn Christmas threads that I thought it was time for us have a thread for Jewish Christmas!

Okay, seriously, that's all Hanukkah really is. It's gotten so much hype purely to compete with pomp and flare of Christmas. Want to know the story of Hanukkah? Here we go.

Long long ago the Syrian Greeks rule the Jews (Okay, has anybody not ruled the Jews? Seriously, it's like every single nation kicked us over at one time or another). They declared Judaism illegal and forced the Jews to convert to the Greek religion. The Jews rebelled and, like we always do, kicked the crap out of the Greeks and gained our independence. We wanted to celebrate but, for the festival, we could only find a one day supply of oil for the Holy Menorah. Wait, let me re-phrase, we only found a one day supply of pure oil, the Greeks had made the rest un-pure. Thankfully, in a miracle from Heaven, that one days worth of oil burned for eight days which was long enough for new oil to be obtained. That's what Hanukkah is about. Celebrating the oil burning for eight freaking days. Not our independence from the Greeks, not our survival as a religion, not for the freedom to worship who we please, but for freaking candles.

I am proud to be Jewish, I really am, and I believe whole-heartedly in God. But Hanukkah is just ridiculous, it is a minor miracle and the only reason we celebrate it with such enthusiasm is because it falls on the same time as a major Christian holiday.

But hey, at least it's eight days of presents!

We see so many damn Christmas threads that I thought it was time for us have a thread for Jewish Christmas!

Okay, seriously, that's all Hanukkah really is. It's gotten so much hype purely to compete with pomp and flare of Christmas. Want to know the story of Hanukkah? Here we go.

Long long ago the Syrian Greeks rule the Jews (Okay, has anybody not ruled the Jews? Seriously, it's like every single nation kicked us over at one time or another). They declared Judaism illegal and forced the Jews to convert to the Greek religion. The Jews rebelled and, like we always do, kicked the crap out of the Greeks and gained our independence. We wanted to celebrate but, for the festival, we could only find a one day supply of oil for the Holy Menorah. Wait, let me re-phrase, we only found a one day supply of pure oil, the Greeks had made the rest un-pure. Thankfully, in a miracle from Heaven, that one days worth of oil burned for eight days which was long enough for new oil to be obtained. That's what Hanukkah is about. Celebrating the oil burning for eight freaking days. Not our independence from the Greeks, not our survival as a religion, not for the freedom to worship who we please, but for freaking candles.

I am proud to be Jewish, I really am, and I believe whole-heartedly in God. But Hanukkah is just ridiculous, it is a minor miracle and the only reason we celebrate it with such enthusiasm is because it falls on the same time as a major Christian holiday.

But hey, at least it's eight days of presents!

NO we do it because of PIRSUM HaNES(display of the miricle.)

Chanukah is one of the minor holidays, but a very meaningful one.

THE JEWS FOUGHT AGAINST A DANGER TO THEIR SOUL not against their lives. This is significant because they put their lives on the line for an idea.

Any questions on this or any other hanukah things should just ask. Ill be happy to help

Yes, but we're not celebrating the fight. If we were I'd be gung-ho for Hanukkah. We're not celebrating the fight against the Greeks because it was not a miracle. It was an amazing and triumphant victory and I am damn happy that it happened, but it wasn't a miracle. The miracle itself was the candles staying lit for eight days.

Yes, but we're not celebrating the fight. If we were I'd be gung-ho for Hanukkah. We're not celebrating the fight against the Greeks because it was not a miracle. It was an amazing and triumphant victory and I am damn happy that it happened, but it wasn't a miracle. The miracle itself was the candles staying lit for eight days.

I'm not sure about either of them. It may be both at once.

I go to orthodox religious school...I'll check tommarow, whats your education/affiliation?

Jewish born, raised, and practicing. Conservative.

Jewish born, raised, and practicing. Conservative.

raised conservative or orthodox?

1.Mostly all holidays are passed of pagan religons...it's a simple fact...
2.The Romans influenced Catholics, not Protestants...The Robes, The speech, Costantine changed the gods into the saints about a 1000 years after Jesus and the disciples died, so what did u expect to happen.
3.Christians take thier beliefs from Jews(as Jesus was a Jew) not Romans.
4.I was never raised to believe St. Claus is some religous figure, but he is made to allude to St.Nicolas, the CATHOLIC saint of giving...
ASi-ASi

Was this the rebelion involving the Macabees(Sp) or am I thinking of a diferent rebelion.

Yep, it's that rebelion. I've heard that the military victory can be called a hidden miracle, or something like that. The war was won by the Hebrews against such great odds that it seems like a miracle, but could just be due to really kick-ass tactics.

The oil, however, was clearly a miracle and so we celebrate it. But we do celebrate the victory as well. Don't we sing Ma'o Tzur (Rock of Ages), the song that talks about Hebrew military victories and G-d acting as a sheild, on Hannukah?

I agree with Klonor. The holiday has been blown way out of proportion because of American consumer culture. A hugh amount of people think it's a big holiday for Jews while knowing little or nothing about Passover or Yom Kippur. That's how it goes, I suppose. I think that Christmas has been blown into different, if not bigger proportions by the same system.

So let's all gather around the Tree, or Hannukah Bush and celebrate money, beautiful, beautiful money!

Yup, Judah Maccabbe (The Hammer) was the leader of the Rebellion.

Sclica, huh?

Socalist Peoples, raised Conservative. I think it's actually a good fit for me, cause I love lobster. ;)