RABBI WEIN ON CHANUKA

Timing is everything. This is true in financial matters, personal choices, national decisions, as well as in historical events. Nevertheless, we are able to see that the present is not necessarily the past and that options and opinions that are currently relevant and popular once held no sway. Our ancestors the Hasmoneans engaged in the same type of struggles, physical as well as spiritual, that challenge us today. Surrounded by enemies meant to destroy the Jewish state and faith, and beset by a substantial amount of internal enemies willing to become Greeks, the Hasmoneans fought both enemies strongly and successfully. But they were fortunate that in the second century before the Common Era there were no NGOs, EUs, no media bias and a plethora of do-gooders. The Hasmoneans would undoubtedly have been accused of war crimes, aggression, and of becoming occupiers of the land that in truth belonged to them. However, their timing was impeccable. By current day standards, there could never be a Chanuka holiday. This is not to say that hypocrisy and double dealing did not exist in the days of the Hasmoneans. Human nature has not changed significantly since Adam and Eve were driven from the Garden of Eden. However, with the development of civilization, technology and the wide dissemination of information – both true and false- we must agree that the implementation of hypocrisy and false and unfair judgment has reached a new high in our time. And unfortunately, our small state and great people are the primary victims of this new, exalted perfidy.