Chankuah's lessons for today (hint: it isn't a Jewish version of Christmas)

Most people assume that Chanukah is the Jewish holiday equivalent to Christmas, just as Passover is the predecessor of Easter. South Park had some fun with this here.

But Hanukah Harry (Rabbi Moshe Parry of L.A.) teaches us that the story of Chanukah (which translates as re-dedication) is more about conservative dedication to Torah (bible) principles in the face of pressure to assimilation to multiculturalism among the Syrian Greeks for personal aggrandisement.



(Glossary: Torah= Biblical law; Eretz Yisoel = The land of Israel; Beis ha Migdash = The Holy Temple; Avraham Avinu = Abraham, our father; Shabbos= The sabbath; Bris milah = ritual circumcision; Kashrut= kosher dietary laws; Kohen Gadol= Great Priest; Avodah= devotional prayer; HaShem= the name of G-d).

So you see, remembering Judah and the Maccabees fighting to preserve God-given rights, liberty, and culture is a long-honored tradition we can take inspiration from to protect Israel and Anglo-Saxon culture in our own time.

Melanie Phillips explains how Western liberalism accepts global Jihad because both perceive Israel and Jews as obstacles to their respective 'utopias'

How "rational" progressive ideologues irrationally ostracize (socially and professionally) reasonable arguers.

Melanie Philips exposes myths of progressive psychology in book, "The World Turned Upside-Down" speech in Los Angeles.

The David Horowitz Freedom Center and the Wednesday Morning Club presented Melanie Phillips elucidating the dogmatic, liberal-adopted, Muslim myths against Westernism, the hierarchy of nations, and Zionism (emanating particularly within Britain) from her new book, "The World Turned Upside Down". She describes how liberal ideologues have become inimical to reason and suppress debate.  She assesses how "progressives" morph contrarians into "enemies to humanity."

In two-segments - a speech and question-and-answer videos from November 15, 2010.



Video of Ms. Phillips' audience' question and answer session:

Obama Admin's latest "change?" Driving U.S.' "tectonic rift" from Mid-East ally - Israel, Amb. Mike Oren denies disclosing to Israeli diplomats who allegedly leaked it to newspaper

Despite Obama's uncharacteristic charm-offensive towards PM Netanyahu, Israel's Amb. Oren says of Washington: "Relations are in the state of a tectonic rift in which continents are drifting apart!"

Ha'Aretz newspaper's Barak Ravid reports that: "Israel's ambassador to Washington, Michael Oren, denied painting a dark picture of U.S.- Israeli relations during a briefing at the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem last week. Israeli diplomats say Oren described the current situation as a "tectonic rift" in which Israel and the United States are like continents drifting apart." 

Jennifer Rubin interprets in Commentary:

And yet, he (Amb. Mike Oren) is neither deluded nor dishonest, so he concedes — he thought, privately — that Obama is pulling the relationship apart, replacing a robust alliance based on shared values, interests, and, yes, affection with an arms-length, if not antagonistic, one, in which Israel is treated as an encumbrance to Obama’s foreign-policy objectives.

There is a weird bit of play acting going on. The Israeli government, the Obama team, and the American Jewish groups publicly declare that things are “much improved” between the two countries and that Obama is really, honestly, a stalwart defender of the Jewish state. But, in fact, none of them believe this to be so. Bibi’s government walks a tightrope, attempting to defend its country’s interests but wary of enraging the American president, who is all too eager to look for excuses to demonstrate to the “Muslim World” that he’s not four-square behind Israel. The Obama team thinks that a “charm” offensive will be sufficient, and looks to do the least possible in defense of Israel without provoking American Jewry. And Jewish leaders privately grumble and rage over Obama’s assaults on Israel, but dare not make their fury public — for they might lose access to the White House, as well as their liberal members.

The Kabuki dance, however, matters less than reality. Israel’s foes see the separation between the U.S. and the Jewish state. Iran sees Obama’s unwillingness to consider military force to thwart its nuclear ambitions. The Arab nations see that America is an unreliable ally, and consider lining up with the Iran-Syria axis, which is growing in prestige as ours diminishes. In sum, Israel’s foes and ours are not fooled; they understand all too well the “tectonic rift” between the U.S. and Israel. 

Perhaps, it is time, at least in the U.S., for Israel’s friends to be candid about the depth of the problem and to devise a strategy for challenging the president, whose foreign policy is so antithetical to Israel’s interests that its ambassador can only reveal his true sentiments in private.

First Persian-American mayor commemorates 150th birthday of Theodore Herzl, forefather of Jewish nationalism, to advocate for vigilance against religious persecutors

The City of Beverly Hills honored the memory of Theodore Herzl, the forefather of re-establishing Jewish self-determination in Judaism's homeland (known as Zionism).  Mayor Jimmy Delshad calls the Obama administration to prioritize America's protection of the Israeli and Iranian peoples from Islamist imperialists, especially the government of Iran.

Beverly Hills Mayor Jimmy Delshad, the first Iranian-born elected official in America,  renamed the block of Clark Street adjacent to the Temple Emmanuel Jewish Day School as "Herzl Way" to be an inspiration to the public and students of this historic civil rights figure.

 

On what would be Theodore Herzl's 150th birthday, Beverly Hills (the sister-city of Herzl's namesake city in Israel - Herzliya)  on Sunday, May 2nd, the City held a dedication ceremony, addressed by Israel's Consul General to Los Angeles, Mr. Jacob Dayan.  Israel's former Minister for Public Security, Avi Dichter, also attended the ceremony. 

Temple Emmanuel's school choir entertained the audience, singing an inspirational, original composition about Israel's significance as a refuge from contemporary anti-Semitism. Mayor Delshad and Mr. Dayan joined the estimated 300 attendees for Israeli folk dancing and singing.  

 

In the 1890's, in response to perpetual Jew-hatred in Europe, Theodore Herzl catalyzed the concept of seeking refuge for persecuted Jews by re-establishing sovereignty over Judaism's homeland - where Jews have been residing for 3,000 years - Israel.  Israel is the only country Judaism considers holy, and Jerusalem (the capitol of Judaism) was re-established as Israel's civic capital in Mr. Herzl's movement - called Zionism.

'To survive, in view of Arab rejectionism, Israel should already annex the lands promised her by the British in 1922'

A vision for maintaining Jewish destiny in Israel which relies on maintaining the contiguity of the Land of Israel, including Judea and Samaria, the historical heritage of Judaism, professes Rabbi David Algazi. (Another DemoCastTV-filmed, exclusive video story).

Tens of thousands of Jews and gentiles march to Salute to Israel in NYC Parade

Tens of thousands of gentiles and Jews united to marched up Fifth Avenue on Sunday in the annual Salute to Israel Parade celebrating the 1948 founding of the Jewish state. Parade Grand Marshalls inclded actress Lainie Kazan, Broadway's "Golda's Balcony" star, Valerie Harper, Ron Rifkin, and television actor, Richard Hand. Organizers called it the largest gathering of Jews outside of Israel. Marchers lauded Israel's accomplishments in science, technology, innovation, social and spiritual quality of society.

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"The Fight for Jerusalem" Author, Dore Gold

Author, Israeli former Ambassador to UN, Dore Gold, addresses the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in historical perspective in new book, "The Fight for Jerusalem."
Nessah Synagogue, L.A., Standwithus.com.

Jews for Judaism: Resource Against Proselytizing of Jews

Action and educational resource, Jews for Judaism, honors leaders Sara Cannon (pictured) and Babette Weber at their annual banquet.

Reformed proselytizing missionary, now orthodox Jewish, Mr. Gavriel Aryeh Sanders, revealed a cunning, "Jews for Jesus" missionary crusade aiming to subvert secular Jews (including Israelis) away from their religion and heritage.

Anniversary of Women's Devotional Prayer Confronting Destruction of Their Jewish Gaza Civilization

Covenant-keeping, pilgrim Jewish women pray their unswerving devotion to God's will in the face of the failure of their resistance against the destruction of their temple and civilization in Gush Katif's Neve Dekalim, August 2005. Moving.



Israelis withdrew themselves as a step for the Palestinian Arabs to reciprocate and show their willingness to co-exist in peace. Instead, the Muslims burned the synagogues and launched ongoing rocket attacks from closer to Israeli population centers, requiring the Operation Cast Lead incursion of 2008.  Updated from Jul 2006 to Aug 2014.