Everybody wants spirituality. To be a good person means to walk in G-d's ways. How does that translate to reality? The only guidebook to spirituality that has stood the test of time is the Hebrew Bible. The Bible says that the Jews will be a light onto the nations. But if you are not a born Jew, you have to convert, which is not so easy!! If you do convert, it is a lot of work to be a Jew (three times a day prayer, keeping kosher, observing the Sabbath).
This blog will show you how to be Jewish without the work!!
Saturday, November 27, 2021
SHOCKING: Hamas Should Aim Rockets at ‘Legitimate’ Israeli Targets, Says UK Lawmaker and Israel Launches Cautionary Measures for New COVID-19 Variant B.1.1529By Hana Levi Julian and Exposed! Magic Tricks Played by Arabs in Judea and Samaria By Sheri Oz and Yehuda Katz sings and bad real estate jokes and How to Light the Menorah with Chanukah starting tonight! and a brief summary of The Story of Chanukah and President Herzog to Light 1st Hanukkah Candle in Hebron, Angering Leftist Meretz By Hana Levi Julian
Yehuda Lave is an author, journalist, psychologist, rabbi, spiritual teacher, and coach, with degrees in business, psychology and Jewish Law. He works with people from all walks of life and helps them in their search for greater happiness, meaning, business advice on saving money, and spiritual engagement.
According to Jewish tradition, after the Maccabees' victory over the Greeks, there was only enough oil to burn for one day in the Temple. Miraculously the oil burned for eight days. Lighting the Hanukkah menorah commemorates this miracle.
Step 1: Know Your Timing You're supposed to light the menorah just after dark each night of Hanukkah. (However, many families wait until everyone is home together, and light it then.) On Fridays, the menorah is lit before dark to avoid lighting on Shabbat.
Step 2: Find Its Spot The menorah is meant to spread light to others and is traditionally placed in a window, on a table or outside your door. (Just make sure it is far from active kids and flammable materials.)
Step 3: Light the Shamash The candle that is raised or in the center of the menorah is the shamash (helper candle). It's the one you use to light the other candles. Light it first. (Don't use any of the other candles to light the others.)
Step 4: Say the Hanukkah Blessing You recite the Hanukkah blessing now, once the shamash is lit but before you light any other candles.
Step 5: Light Right to Left, but Left to Right There are eight candles to light. On the first night of Hanukkah, place a candle in the holder on the far right, and light it with the shamash. Then put the shamash back in its spot (leaving it lit). On the second night, light the candle second from the right, then the candle on the far right, and replace the lit shamash. You'll repeat this pattern for each night of Hanukkah, always lighting the newest candle first. On the eighth night, you'll be lighting all of the candles, starting at the far left.
The Hall of Yitzchak and Rivkah in the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron.
President Isaac Herzog will light the first Hanukkah candle this year on the menorah at the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron.
Herzog, whose Labor party affiliation during his years in the Knesset placed him firmly as a center-left lawmaker, has maintained a neutral but passionately Zionist stance since taking office this summer.
The announcement by the president's office on Wednesday angered leftist members of the government coalition, however.
"The president needs to be a unifying figure," Meretz lawmakers Mossi Raz, Gaby Lasky and Michal Rozin said in a joint statement.
"Control of Hebron and the occupied territories in particular is in sharp political dispute," the contended.
"Out of all the settlements, the settlement in Hebron at the Cave of the Patriarchs is the most outrageous."
The Cave is the burial site for biblical patriarchs Avraham, Yitzhak and Ya'akov as well as the matriarchs Sarah, Rivkah and Leah. It is also believed that Adam and Chava (Eve) are interred there as well.
The site is sacred to both Jews and Muslims and both recite their prayers in the halls at the Cave, albeit at separate times in separate areas so as to minimize friction between the two.
Israel Launches Cautionary Measures for New COVID-19 Variant B.1.1529
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett held an additional consultation Thursday night (Nov. 25) to address the risks presenting from the recently-discovered coronavirus variant B.1.1529 identified in South Africa.
The following decisions were made:
• The following countries have been declared at this stage as "red countries": South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia and Eswatini.
Foreign nationals from the above countries will not be permitted to enter Israel, Israeli officials decided.
• All those returning from these countries, including those vaccinated with a third vaccine, will be required to undergo isolation in coronavirus hotels for seven days, and will be released after undergoing two PCR tests that have a negative result.
Incoming travelers who refuse to be checked will be obligated to undergo 14 days of isolation at the coronavirus hotel, the Prime Minister's Office said in a communique.
"Prime Minister Bennett will carry out regular situation assessments on the B.1.1529 variant together with professionals from the Ministry of Health, with the aim of closely monitoring the outbreak of the new variant and prevent its spread in Israel," the PMO said in its statement.
Exposed! Magic Tricks Played by Arabs in Judea and Samaria
The curtain has been pulled back on a certain trick played by anti-Israel activists operating in Judea and Samaria, and we see the "Wizard of Oz" as he really is. I don't know whose idea this was: that of the Arabs or of their Jewish anti-Israeli co-conspirators or of the European countries footing the bill for anti-Israeli activism. But I think it is just brilliant. And I wonder what magic tricks they are brainstorming this very moment in the ongoing war against the Jews living there.
In a previous article (here), I described a not-very-well-publicized violent day-in-a-shepherd's-life in Area C. In this current article, I am writing about one single detail in the Arab narrative.
The Story of the Agricultural Structure
In his tweets about the violence, B'Tselem activist Basel Adra claimed that the Jews set afire an agricultural structure the Arabs built where they graze their sheep. In the darkness, you cannot see much more than a bit of flame and smoke in the background. On the video you can hear him complaining that the army did not respond to requests to help them put it out.
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Screenshot from Basel Adra video showing fire from a distance.
Adra could have got closer to the burning building and taken clearer pictures of it but then we all might have seen what Haaretz was kind enough to show us in their article on the incident: the same building in the light of day following the supposed attempted burning.
In my earlier article I wondered about this structure, writing:
It does not look like the brick structure was one that would lend itself to being set on fire. If a fire did start, it was likely tires that were aflame. . . . one must wonder what tires are doing around this "agricultural" (?) structure. Is this a junk yard pile? Is this a collection of flammable materials to be used for nefarious purposes? If this is agricultural land, what are they doing here like this? I turned to Regavim spokeswoman, Naomi Kahn, and her answer deserved a separate article in order not to make this one too long.
This is that separate article.
An anonymous and reliable source informed me that erection of the structure began in early summer 2021. At that time, it was composed of corrugated aluminum, wood and other scrap materials. With time, a layer of bricks and the window were added, and finally, the walls were covered with old tires. By mid October 2021, just over three weeks before the violence erupted near Mitzpe Yair, the structure was complete with three rows of tires along the walls, looking like rows of doughnuts.
Kahn told me that this structure has been used as a base for violent operations against the Jewish communities, with Arabs shooting from there and throwing rocks.
Why the tires? Could they be forming a layer of insulation against possible retaliation? No. The tires are weapons. According to Elhanan Gruner, flaming tires were rolled toward the Jewish shepherd and his sheep. I suppose that when rolled from the higher positions on the wall they can achieve quite a respectable velocity.
This means that the incident on 10 November was premeditated on the part of the Arabs. And that is why Jewish leftist activists were there. They knew what was going to happen and they were on site to report on it for Israeli media who do not feel the need to investigate the veracity of such claims. Itai Feitelson's presence, for example, was mentioned in the Haaretz article in which I found the image that forms the basis for this piece.
It is irrelevant who set the wall of tires on fire, Jewish gunshot or the Arabs themselves. And this explains why the soldiers did not help put it out — why should they?! The tires were there to attack Jews with.
Kahn remarks that, had the illegal construction been taken down when first noticed in the summer, there would have been no structure from which to so viciously attack the Jewish shepherd and his sheep last week. But its presence was ignored by the Civil Administration.
How is grazing possible in a military firing zone?
I asked Kahn how it is possible that the state leases land to a Jewish shepherd when that land is in a military firing and training zone, the famed Area 918. She informed me that Arabs are also provided with permits to graze their flocks in Area 918, in fact on all state land and JNF land around the country, just like the Jews.
It is well recognized that grazing requires large stretches of land and that the shepherd moves across the land as the animals seek edible plants. The permits allow the army to be aware of where the shepherds are at all times. This way they can contact the shepherds in advance of training so that they stay away from the intended practice zone and are not harmed in any way. That makes sense to me. When shepherds take upon themselves to graze wherever they want, without concerning themselves with permits or leasing the land, they put themselves and their animals at risk of serious harm.
The permit does not provide a license for the erection of any permanent or semi-permanent structures. This means that the shomera, or shepherd's booth, that is commonly put up in grazing areas to provide protection for the shepherd from the elements, is not allowed.
Cunning, planning and patience
Just think of the ingenuity in devising this plan: putting up what could possibly be mistaken for a legitimate (if illegal) shomera, built by and for Arab shepherds (on land on which they had no grazing permits) and which was intended to serve as a base from which to attack a Jewish shepherd who does have a permit to graze his sheep in that spot.
The innocent shomera was never meant to be a camouflaged storage space/ launching pad for weapons of war. Will every shomera across the land now be suspect? Should they all be taken down?
What other magic tricks are they thinking up at this very moment?
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TERRIBLE REAL ESTATE JOKES OF THE WEEK
A landlord in Brooklyn has three shops in a row, all for rent. The first prospective tenant shows up, and says he wants to rent the shop on the left.
The landlord says, "Fine, what kind of shop do you have?" The guy says, "A men's wear shop." The owner tells him he gets free signage and asks what he wants on the sign. "Men's Wear," says the man.
A second guy comes along and wants to rent the right hand shop. When asked he says he wants "Men's Wear" on his sign. The landlord tells him that the left hand shop will be the same. "No problem," says the man.
Finally a little Jewish fellow named Moishe Applebaum comes along to rent the middle shop. The landlord is most concerned because this guy also has a men's wear shop. The landlord asks him what he wants on his sign. Moishe replies: "MAIN ENTRANCE."
Feivel was an Ehriliche Kollel Rabbi who had a wife and 12 children and needed to move into a new home as his rental agreement was coming to an end but was having difficulty in finding a new home. When he said he had 12 children, no one would rent a home to him because they knew that the children would destroy the home.
He could not say that he had no children, he could not lie, after all he was an ehrliche yid..
So, he had an idea: he sent his wife for a walk to the Bais Ha'Chayim cemetery to daven at the grave of his Rebbe with 11 children. He took the remaining one with him to see homes with the Real Estate Agent. He liked one of the homes and the agent asked, "How many children do you have?"
He answered : "12 children."
The agent asked "Where are the others?'
Feivel answered, with a sad look, "They are in the cemetery with their mother."
And that's the way he was able to rent a home for his family without lying.
Chaim Yankel decided to try his hand at being a real estate agent and he was thrilled when he got his first listing. He wrote an ad for the house which had a beautiful second-floor in-law suite that could be accessed using a lift chair that slid along the staircase.
The homeowners were upset that Chaim Yankel didn't get them any showings and Chaim Yankel himself was confused so he showed them his advertisement. Trying to make the in-law suite sound enticing he wrote: "Mother-in-law suite comes with an electric chair."
I tried bidding on a shopping center in a real estate auction, but I was outbid at the last minute. I guess the old saying is true: You can't win a mall.
" I want you to know something," Chaim Cohen, a New York real estate agent said to some potential clients. "I've been studying with my Rabbi and he's given me some guidelines about what I can and can't say when I am showing a house. He said that I have to be completely honest so I have to disclose a home's negatives, but I can also highlight the positives."
"OK…" said the prospective buyer.
"So in this home", continued Chaim, "the disadvantages are that there is a chemical plant one block south and a slaughterhouse a block north."
"What are the advantages!?" inquired the prospective buyer.
"The advantage is that you can always tell which way the wind is blowing."
What does a british real estate agent care most about? His proper tea
What do you call a detective in the real estate business? Sherlock Homes
A frog goes into a bank. "What can I help you with?" asks the Teller.
"I'd like to apply for a loan" says the frog.
"Oh" says the Teller "you need to speak with our Loan Officer, Miss Whack".
The Teller leads the frog to Miss Whacks office and, informs her that the frog wants to apply for a loan. "What kind of loan are you in the market for?" asks the Loan Officer.
"Any loan will do" says the frog "I want to buy a Lilly pad."
"I see." says the Loan Officer "Well, in order to apply for a loan, I first need to know your name. What is your name?"
"My first name is Kermit" answers the frog.
"Your first name is Kermit?" asks the Loan Officer.
"Correct," answers the frog "and my last name is Jagger".
"Your name is Kermit Jagger?" The Loan Officer asks incredulously.
"Correct," says the frog "my mother was a frog and my father is Mick Jagger."
"I see" says the Loan Officer "Well, in order to secure a loan, the bank needs some type of collateral. Do you have any real estate, bonds, precious metals, etc?"
"No," answers the frog "all I have is this." The frog produces a miniature, pink elephant and holds it up to her face.
Flustered, the Loan Officer (whose first name is Patty) snatches it from the frog and storms off to the Bank Managers office.
"Sir!" she says as she barrages into his office "there's a frog out there who wants a loan for a Lilly pad, and he says his name is Kermit Jagger."
"Kermit Jagger?" Asks the Bank Manager.
"Yes," she says "his mother was a frog and his father is Mick Jagger. Anyway, all he has for collateral is this tiny, pink elephant thing. I don't even know what this is!"
The Bank Manager exclaims:
"That's a Knick-Knack, Patty Whack, give that frog a loan. His old man's a Rolling Stone!"
SHOCKING: Hamas Should Aim Rockets at 'Legitimate' Israeli Targets, Says UK Lawmaker
K lawmaker Crispin Blunt was indeed blunt in his suggestion that Hamas rockets could be legitimate if they target only particular Israelis.
By United with Israel Staff
At the British House of Commons on Wednesday afternoon, Conservative Member of Parliament Crispin Blunt said the Hamas terrorist organization's firing of rockets is "plainly…stupid, illegitimate, immoral."
However, the reason for the condemnation was not because Israelis were being attacked. It was because the attacks were random and not at specific Israeli targets. He did not specify who those targets should be.
From his words, it appears that Crispin justifies the terror group's "resistance."
"You can't tell what the targets are simply by flying weapons over the wall," he said, "because you don't have the capacity to engage in that targeting of what would be legitimate targets under international law as resistance."
Conservative MP Mark Harper, apparently shocked by his colleague's remarks, asked: "Did I correctly hear him when he was talking about the indiscriminate Hamas attacks that they send into Israel that he seemed to be saying the only problem with them is that they weren't more accurately targeted to kill certain Israelis and that they indiscriminately killed other Israelis, and if they targeted the weapons more accurately that would be sort of okay?
"Now, I fear I may have misunderstood him but could he put me right? Because if so, I find that offensive and an extraordinary thing to say."
Blunt's answer indicated that the only problem he has with the Hamas violence is the tactic, which would end up being detrimental to the terrorists.
"You have, under international law, a legal right to resist," he said, but it's "fantastically stupid because you then give the Israelis their whole raison d'etre for their argument about the threat they are facing from the Palestinian people.
"That's why I deplore violence from the Palestinians of any kind. Because they're going to get smashed."
In October 2019, Blunt accused Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis of demanding a "special status" for Britain's Jews and backed calls for "eliminating subsidies" to the Community Security Trust in order to "save taxpayers' money."
The Story of Chanukah
Under Syrian Rule
More than 2000 years ago there was a time when the land of Israel was part of the Syrian-Greek Empire, dominated by Syrian rulers of the dynasty of the Seleucids.
In order to relate the story that led up to Chanukah, we shall start with Antiochus III, the King of Syria, who reigned from 3538 to 3574 (222-186 B.C.E.). He had waged war with King Ptolemy of Egypt over the possession of the Land of Israel. Antiochus III was victorious and the Land of Israel was annexed to his empire. At the beginning of his reign he was favorably disposed toward the Jews and accorded them some privileges. Later on, however, when he was beaten by the Romans and compelled to pay heavy taxes, the burden fell upon the various peoples of his empire who were forced to furnish the heavy gold that was required of him by the Romans. When Antiochus died, his son Seleucus IV took over, and further oppressed the Jews.
Added to the troubles from the outside were the grave perils that threatened Judaism from within. The influence of the Hellenists (people who accepted idol-worship and the Syrian way of life) was increasing. Yochanan, the High Priest, foresaw the danger to Judaism from the penetration of Syrian-Greek influence into the Holy Land. For, in contrast to the ideal of outward beauty held by the Greeks and Syrians, Judaism emphasizes truth and moral purity, as commanded by G‑d in the holy Torah. The Jewish people could never give up their faith in G‑d and accept the idol-worship of the Syrians.
Yochanan was therefore opposed to any attempt on the part of the Jewish Hellenists to introduce Greek and Syrian customs into the land. The Hellenists hated him. One of them told the King's commissioner that in the treasury of the Temple there was a great deal of wealth.
The wealth in the treasury consisted of the contributions of "half a shekel" made by all adult Jews annually. That was given for the purpose of the sacrifices on the altar, as well as for fixing and improving the Temple building. Another part of the treasury consisted of orphans' funds which were deposited for them until they became of age. Seleucus needed money in order to pay the Romans. He sent his minister Helyodros to take the money from the treasury of the Temple. In vain did Yochanan, the High Priest, beg him not to do it. Helyodros did not listen and entered the gate of the Temple. But suddenly, he became pale with fright. The next moment he fainted and fell to the ground. After Helyodros came to, he did not dare enter again.
The Madman: Antiochus
A short time later, Seleucus was killed and his brother Antiochus IV began to reign over Syria (in 3586 - 174 B.C.E.). He was a tyrant of a rash and impetuous nature, contemptuous of religion and of the feelings of others. He was called "Epiphanes," meaning "the gods' beloved." Several of the Syrian rulers received similar titles. But a historian of his time, Polebius, gave him the epithet Epimanes ("madman"), a title more suitable to the character of this harsh and cruel king.
Desiring to unify his kingdom through the medium of a common religion and culture, Antiochus tried to root out the individualism of the Jews by suppressing all the Jewish Laws. He removed the righteous High Priest, Yochanan, from the Temple in Jerusalem, and in his place installed Yochanan's brother Joshua, who loved to call himself by the Greek name of Jason. For he was a member of the Hellenist party, and he used his high office to spread more and more of the Greek customs among the priesthood.
Joshua or Jason was later replaced by another man, Menelaus, who had promised the king that he would bring in more money than Jason did. When Yochanan, the former High Priest, protested against the spread of the Hellenists' influence in the Holy Temple, the ruling High Priest hired murderers to assassinate him.
Antiochus was at that time engaged in a successful war against Egypt. But messengers from Rome arrived and commanded him to stop the war, and he had to yield. Meanwhile, in Jerusalem, a rumor spread that a serious accident had befallen Antiochus. Thinking that he was dead, the people rebelled against Menelaus. The treacherous High Priest fled together with his friends.
The Martyrs
Antiochus returned from Egypt enraged by Roman interference with his ambitions. When he heard what had taken place in Jerusalem, he ordered his army to fall upon the Jews. Thousands of Jews were killed. Antiochus then enacted a series of harsh decrees against the Jews. Jewish worship was forbidden; the scrolls of the Law were confiscated and burned. Sabbath rest, circumcision and the dietary laws were prohibited under penalty of death. Even one of the respected elders of that generation, Rabbi Eliezer, a man of 90, was ordered by the servants of Antiochus to eat pork so that others would do the same. When he refused they suggested to him that he pick up the meat to his lips to appear to be eating. But Rabbi Eliezer refused to do even that and was put to death.
There were thousands of others who likewise sacrificed their lives. The famous story of Hannah and her seven children happened at that time.
Antiochus's men went from town to town and from village to village to force the inhabitants to worship pagan gods. Only one refuge area remained and that was the hills of Judea with their caves. But even there did the Syrians pursue the faithful Jews, and many a Jew died a martyr's death.
Mattityahu
One day the henchmen of Antiochus arrived in the village of Modiin where Mattityahu, the old priest, lived. The Syrian officer built an altar in the marketplace of the village and demanded that Mattityahu offer sacrifices to the Greek gods. Mattityahu replied, "I, my sons and my brothers are determined to remain loyal to the covenant which our G‑d made with our ancestors!"
Thereupon, a Hellenistic Jew approached the altar to offer a sacrifice. Mattityahu grabbed his sword and killed him, and his sons and friends fell upon the Syrian officers and men. They killed many of them and chased the rest away. They then destroyed the altar.
Mattityahu knew that Antiochus would be enraged when he heard what had happened. He would certainly send an expedition to punish him and his followers. Mattityahu, therefore, left the village of Modiin and fled together with his sons and friends to the hills of Judea.
All loyal and courageous Jews joined them. They formed legions and from time to time they left their hiding places to fall upon enemy detachments and outposts, and to destroy the pagan altars that were built by order of Antiochus.
The Maccabees
Before his death, Mattityahu called his sons together and urged them to continue to fight in defense of G d's Torah. He asked them to follow the counsel of their brother Shimon the Wise. In waging warfare, he said, their leader should be Judah the Strong. Judah was called "Maccabee," a word composed of the initial letters of the four Hebrew words Mi Kamocha Ba'eilim Hashem, "Who is like You, O G‑d."
Antiochus sent his General Apolonius to wipe out Judah and his followers, the Maccabees. Though greater in number and equipment than their adversaries, the Syrians were defeated by the Maccabees. Antiochus sent out another expedition which also was defeated. He realized that only by sending a powerful army could he hope to defeat Judah and his brave fighting men.
An army consisting of more than 40,000 men swept the land under the leadership of two commanders, Nicanor and Gorgiash. When Judah and his brothers heard of that, they exclaimed: "Let us fight unto death in defense of our souls and our Temple!" The people assembled in Mitzpah, where Samuel, the prophet of old, had offered prayers to G‑d. After a series of battles the war was won.
The Dedication
Now the Maccabees returned to Jerusalem to liberate it. They entered the Temple and cleared it of the idols placed there by the Syrian vandals. Judah and his followers built a new altar, which he dedicated on the twenty-fifth of the month of Kislev, in the year 3622 (139 B.C.E.).
Since the golden Menorah had been stolen by the Syrians, the Maccabees now made one of cheaper metal. When they wanted to light it, they found only a small cruse of pure olive oil bearing the seal of the High Priest Yochanan. It was sufficient to light only for one day. By a miracle of G‑d, it continued to burn for eight days, till new oil was made available. That miracle proved that G‑d had again taken His people under His protection. In memory of this, our sages appointed these eight days for annual thanksgiving and for lighting candles.
The brightness of the first Chanukah light had dwindled down. But the holy fires on the altar burnt again in the Beit Hamikdash, from morning to morning, as prescribed by the Law. The priests were again busily officiating in the old customary ways, and day in, day out they prepared the offerings. Order and peace seemed established.
The Jewish farmer longed to return to his land after two years of hardship, privation and danger in the victorious Jewish army. It was high time to break the ground and to till the soil, if the barley was to grow and ripen in time for "Omer-offering" on Passover. The Jewish farmers had left their ploughs to rally about the heroic Chashmonaim. The first victories had drawn even the hesitant into the ranks of the enthusiastic Jewish rebels, led by the sons of Mattityahu. Farmers had forsaken their land, merchants and tradesmen their stores and shops. Even Torah students had emerged from the four walls of the Bet Hamidrash to join the fight against the oppressors.
But the songs of victory, which had filled the reclaimed Holy Temple with praise and gratitude for the merciful G‑d, had ceased. The goal of the battle seemed reached, and Torah again was supreme law in Israel.
One man, though, realized that the time for a return to normal living had not yet come. Israel could not yet afford to relax; it would have to stand ready and prepare to carry on the fight against the overwhelming odds of the enemy. This man was Judah Maccabi. His name was upon everyone's lips and in every Jewish heart. He was admired as a hero, as a man with the heart of a lion and the simple piety of a child; as the one whose mighty armies fought and conquered, yet who never failed to pray to G‑d, the Master of all battles, before he entered the fray.
It was not the spirited warrior's joy that made Judah Maccabi stay in camp. His heart, too, longed to return to his former peaceful life, to Modiin, the quiet town of priests, which held the grave of his adored father. Bloodshed and battle meant a hard and unwanted profession for the men of Judea, who preferred peace to strife. Yet this was no time for relenting. Not only had he to stay, but with all the persuasion of his magnetic personality he had to hold back his comrades-at-arms. His own reasoning and his two wise brothers, Shimon and Yonatan, told him that only the first phase of this war of liberation had passed. Hard and desperate times were yet to come. Clever enemies merely needed an extended lull to prepare new assaults with more troops and better equipment. And there were enemies all about Judea, besides the defeated Syrians. The neighboring countries begrudged the dazzling victories of the small Jewish armies. They would much rather have seen the people of Judea oppressed and humiliated, than armed and spirited, a threat to their own lands. Whence had come the sudden source of strength, courage and fortitude? What was there in this nation that made history in proud seclusion and isolation from other nations? Old hatred was revived. The descendants of Edom (the Idumeans), the Ammonites, the Philistines and Phoenicians, they all revived their ancient jealousies.
Messengers arrived from Gilead. The pagan people joined forces to destroy Judea. From Galilee came the bad news of similar evil intentions and active preparations in Ptolemais, Tyre and Zidon. The messengers found Judah Maccabi already at work. Fortifications had to be thrown up around Zion. Towers, walls, battlements and moat had to be constructed opposite the fort still held by their worst enemies, the Hellenistic Jews, under the leadership of the false priest Menelaus. These hated everything Jewish, and lived in the hope of the return of the Syrian masters. Judah Maccabi prepared Jerusalem against them and against imminent assault by the troops of Antiochus. Under his supervision the Jewish people worked feverishly to refill their arsenals and turn the whole country into a stronghold.
Once this most important task was accomplished, Judah Maccabi led his freshly trained troops to the aid of the regions and villages harassed by the spiteful neighbors of Judea. He drove the Idumeans from Hebron, which they had annexed, and he punished the people who had acted with hostility towards the Jewish settlers. Then he led his army across the Jordan River against the Ammonites. Their capital fell before the furious onslaught of the Jewish troops, and so did their fortress, Yaeser. Judah's brother Shimon led an army north to aid the plagued Jews of Galilee. He defeated the enemy and cleared the Jewish land. At his urging, a great many of the Jewish settlers who had fled to Jerusalem, returned to rebuild in safety what had been destroyed during the years of weakness. Judah Maccabi and Yonatan joined forces and marched against Gilead, where they were met with the toughest resistance. By Shavuot, this campaign was successfully concluded.
Judea was again free, and all parts captured by the neighboring nation had been recovered. Celebrations and festivity transformed Jerusalem and the Holy Temple, hardly half a year after the victories over the Syrian armies. The Jewish people expressed their joy and gratitude to G‑d in the form of psalms and offerings. For He had restored glory and liberty to the Jewish land.
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