Jewish Collaborators

Chanukah 2016: A New Antiochus, The Same Bloody Ground

December 26, 2016 by Robert J. Avrech Leave a Comment

A Chanukah message from Simon the Maccabee:

“We have not taken a foreign land, nor did we take the property of others — for this is the inheritance of our fathers, which was for some time unjustly possessed by our enemies. But we, having the opportunity, returned to us the inheritance of our fathers.”

— First Book of the Maccabees, 15:33-34.

“לא ארץ נוכריה לקחנו ולא ברכוש זרים משלנו, כי אם נחלת אבותינו, אשר בידי אויבינו בעת מן העיתים בלא משפט נכבשה. ואנחנו כאשר הייתה לנו עת, הושיבונו נחלת אבותינו” (ספר מקבים א, טו’ לג-לד) [Read more…] about Chanukah 2016: A New Antiochus, The Same Bloody Ground

The Old-New Chanukah War 2014

December 17, 2014 by Robert J. Avrech 13 Comments

cohn chanukah — Somewhere in Queens, a Jewish family makes public their joy in Chanukah. Hey, Glenn and Karen, now you’re famous! (Click photo to enlarge image)

On December 5, 2012, The New York Times filed this story: Cheering U.N. Palestine Vote, Synagogue Tests Its Members.

Congregation B’nai Jeshurun, a large synagogue on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, is known for its charismatic rabbis, its energetic and highly musical worship, and its liberal stances on social causes.

But on Friday, when its rabbis and lay leaders sent out an e-mail enthusiastically supporting the vote by the United Nations to upgrade Palestine to a nonmember observer state, the statement was more than even some of its famously liberal congregants could stomach.
“The vote at the U.N. yesterday is a great moment for us as citizens of the world,” said the e-mail, which was sent to all congregants. “This is an opportunity to celebrate the process that allows a nation to come forward and ask for recognition.”

Some things never change. And of course now we have European states recognizing a so-called Palestinian state. Are they recognizing and embracing the IslamoNazis of Gaza, or the IslamoNazis of the PA? The truth is, the Europeans are using the Arab Muslim war against the Jews to default to their age-old legacy of poisonous Jew-hatred.

Thanksgiving, Chanukah 2013

November 27, 2013 by Robert J. Avrech 30 Comments

Studio photographers shot millions of still photos of their contract actors, often with holiday themes. This is the one of the few religiously inclined Thanksgiving stills I have come across. The actress is Paula Corday, an RKO contracts player who starred in a few forgettable programmers. — Studio photographers shot millions of still photos of their actors, often with holiday themes. This is the one of the few religiously inclined Thanksgiving stills I have come across. The actress is Paula Corday, an RKO contract player who starred in a few forgettable programmers, and then retired. This photo might be the best role of her brief career.

The problem with liberty is, once achieved it becomes like oxygen — something taken for granted.

Said John Adams, “There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.”

For the first time, and never again, the first day of Chanukah will be celebrated on Thanksgiving. This is a moment in time we should all treasure.

Thanksgiving and Chanukah both celebrate religious freedom. The Pilgrims fled religious oppression to make a new life on foreign shores. The Jewish revolt against the Assyrian empire was a battle for religious freedom against a tyrannical government.

The early Pilgrims so closely identified with the Jewish people that they considered making Hebrew the language of this new land.