12/07/2013
arlier this year, we addressed the ongoing
"calendar debate" regarding when a Scriptural year
begins.
Does it begin on or after the spring equinox as recorded by ancient
Judaism, including first century Jew Philo? Or does it begin when
man deems a field of barley to be in a sufficient stage of maturity? The bottom
line is, many are willing to take a man's word over truth. This is the
case when it comes to an overall state of barley maturity in time for
the Feast of Unleavened Bread. In ancient times, no one performed an
"Abib barley search" to determine the overall state of barley maturity
because all they had to do was monitor their own fields. Today we read
reports of "Aviv Searches" that bring to mind "Easter Egg Hunts," and
when their Passover observance is set to begin, they show photos of
fields containing a mixture of ripened and unripened barley, dubbing it
"harvest ready." This is the calendar promoted by those who claim to go
by the "Aviv." When the "Fall Harvest Festivals" that these "Aviv
barley" folks recognize rolled around this year (September 2013), summer
was still in full swing. My brother, who farms in Illinois, hadn't even
begun harvesting yet. Moreover, two weeks after the "Aviv barley" folks'
Sukkot observance had ended, a report dated October 11, 2013 in the
Kansas City Star headlined, "Despite
slow start, fall colors starting to change across Kansas, Missouri."
It wasn't until November 7th that the same newspaper reported, "The end
is near. Fall colors across most Kansas and Missouri have peaked and are
starting to fade." Is it a coincidence that the fall colors weren't
reported until what June and I regard as the Scriptural 7th month of the
year -- the month of the "Fall Harvest Festivals"?
By the time Sukkot occurred, at least by our
calendar's reckoning, the fall season was by all standards well
underway. Do those who claim to go by the "Aviv barley" know how to
interpret the seasons? Yeshua the Messiah was One who understood the
art of recognizing seasons by the signs of the season:
Matthew 16:1-4 – The Pharisees and Sadducees came to
Yeshua and tested him by asking him to show them a sign
from heaven. He replied, “When evening comes, you say,
‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red, and in the
morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red
and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance
of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the
times. A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a
miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the
sign of Jonah.” Yeshua then left them and went away.
I rather imagine that Yeshua would tell
today's "Aviv barley" crowd that they don't know how to interpret the
seasons. I was not really surprised this year when we received a
newsletter from a feast-keeping assembly whose Sukkot festival was
observed in warm and sunny September, but no mention was made about the
missing fall colors, which were obviously not present during their "fall
festival." Ironically, this same assembly's September/October magazine
featured a photo of brightly-colored fall foliage titled "Valley in
Autumn." Photos from their actual feast, betraying their photo, revealed
leafy green trees. 
For those of you who are interested in knowing what we believe
to be the Scriptural calendar,
here
is a link to our online study.
Hanukkah Too Early?
There are still a few folks out there who
memorialize a "minor festival" called Hanukkah. Of those few, most
observed it in late November/Early December this year, whereas June and
I will observe it later this month and into January 2014. Of course, the
reason we are observing it a month later stems from the fact that we do
not go by the alleged "Aviv calendar." Certainly, if we initiate a
sequence too early, the ending will come too soon. However, instead of
making an issue out of the timing of Hanukkah, with this newsletter, I
would like to address the growing number of folks claiming that it
shouldn't even be memorialized at all.
Should Hanukkah
be Memorialized?
I'm writing this essay on December 7, 2013, a
day that many memorialize as "Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day," the day the
Japanese perpetrated an attack on Pearl Harbor, killing more than 2,400
Americans. I don't mean to seem harsh, but those who express opposition
to memorializing Hanukkah may as well also express opposition to
memorializing Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day. There are many sources you
can turn to for information about Hanukkah, so a study that June and I
authored ten years ago is only one of many that brings out the fact that
Hanukkah memorializes a Jewish triumph over an evil tyrant named
Antiochus Epiphanes, who was responsible for massacring 40,000 Jews
within the space of three days and selling 40,000 others for slaves to
neighboring nations (2 Maccabees 5:11-14). We are persuaded that Yahweh
used a man named Yehuda (the Maccabee) and his 3,000-man unit (I Macc.
4:6) to defeat an army of 65,000 (I Macc. 4:28) in retaliation for that
massacre and other atrocities inflicted on their fellow Jews. Yehuda and
his men then cleansed the temple from the swine's flesh that had been
sacrificed there and rededicated it to the worship of Yahweh on the 25th
day of Casleu. According to II Maccabees 10:6-8,
6 And they kept
eight days with joy, after the manner of the feast of the tabernacles,
remembering that not long before they had kept the feast of the
tabernacles when they were in the mountains, and in dens like wild
beasts.
7 Therefore
they now, carried boughs, and green branches, and palms for Him that had
given them good success in cleansing his place.
8 And they
ordained by a common statute, and decree, that all the nation of the
Jews should keep those days every year.
We
are persuaded that Casleu 25 answers to
December 29 in the year 2013
and
that the 8-day observance stems from the fact that they most certainly
were not able to properly celebrate that year's Feast of Tabernacles
while hiding in the mountains like "wild beasts." We should point out
here that "ordaining by a common statute and decree" should not be
construed as meaning that they added a "commanded observance" to
Yahweh's Torah. If so, Judaism never got the message. Please take note
of the fact that no one commanded any sacrificial offerings to made for
Hanukkah, no one took it upon themselves to designate any of the eight
days as "set apart" or otherwise forbid any work to be done on any of
those days, nor has anyone
ever said, "You must travel to Jerusalem for this observance."
The "ordaining" was simply a proclamation to, year after
year, set aside that time to remember those days and rejoice in the
freedoms that were achieved in the triumph of righteousness over evil.
You would think that there would be no
opposition to memorializing such an emotional event as the one described
above. Nevertheless, it seems that at every turn June and I are
confronted with either letters or articles expressing opposition to
memorializing the events of Hanukkah. In our study, June and I offered a
comparison between the events of 9/11 and Hanukkah. We provided quotes
from the families of victims, who support activities to memorialize that
tragedy as a means of not only remembering the victims who perished, but
also as a reminder for us to perform acts of kindness to further the
cause of peace. We also pointed out
that we need to look back at the horrific tragedy to remind ourselves
that we should not take the freedoms we have for granted. The Maccabees’
triumph over the Syrian army could not replace the thousands of lives
that had been taken away, yet it signaled an end to the tyrannical
persecutions and a beginning to the restoration and healing process.
Good had triumphed over evil, and when the righteous are in authority,
the people rejoice (Proverbs 29:2). Hanukkah is a time to remember what
Yahweh’s people experienced at the hands of wicked men, and to rejoice
in their triumph.
Is Hanukkah
Observance Commanded?
In 2001, June and I
mailed Hanukkah cards to some of our closest friends, unaware that one
of those friends was vehemently opposed to memorializing Hanukkah. Her
chief objection was that of not finding its observance included among
the commands of Yahweh. That objection continues to this day, even
though no one who memorializes Hanukkah (to our knowledge) has ever
suggested that doing such a thing is "commanded"! It's simply a matter
of voluntarily taking some of our free time that might otherwise be
spent watching a TV program and reading/discussing the Hanukkah story
instead. We had no idea that this act of remembrance would prove to be
such a source of criticism and yes, even resulting in the charge of
sin! Nevertheless, that is what has ensued. If taking an hour or so out
of our evening to remember the horrors that man is capable of inflicting
on others while simultaneously rejoicing in the triumph of righteousness
over evil and counting our blessings for the freedoms we have is to be
considered imitating pagan rituals or otherwise a sinful waste of time,
then I beg to differ. The woman who criticized us back in 2001 offered
other points that she felt validated her stand. We decided to respond to
each of her remarks in our 2004 study titled
Should Believers Observe Hanukkah?
which is now available online.
Is Hanukkah
Observance Spiritual Idolatry?
Somehow June and I found ourselves on the
e-mail distribution list of a man named Joseph Dumond. I'm sure he's a
very nice person, which we found to be true when we met him on one of
his speaking tours for The Prophecy Club. Nevertheless, we found that
each year at Hanukkah time he makes a point of writing an essay that is
essentially designed to mock and deride its observance. Since June and I
are persuaded that Hanukkah is strictly a voluntary observance anyway
and since we respect the decision of others to voluntarily not recognize
it, we ignored each of Mr. Dumond's essays -- until 2012. In an e-mail
to his reading constituents dated 11/23/2012, which he titled "The
Festival of Lights; Do we have to deal with this again?" he wrote the
following:
As you hopefully noted from his commentary,
Mr. Dumond proceeded to compare Hanukkah observance to spiritual
idolatry. Although he framed his words above in the form of a
question, he omitted the customary question mark at the end of his
sentence. Nevertheless, I took the above phrase as a question. Since he asked the question, I decided to give him our answer,
explaining that of course, if we are not observing the directives found
in Leviticus 23 while observing Hanukkah, then there is an obvious
problem. However, is there still a problem if one observes the commands
found in Leviticus 23 while also memorializing Hanukkah? I believe our
study, which I forwarded to him, effectively explains that there is
nothing wrong with memorializing Hanukkah.
In my e-mail to Mr. Dumond, I concluded that
with all the world's problems facing us today, I am persuaded that we are
better served seeking areas of unity and focusing on them instead of
pointing accusatory fingers at folks who truly seek to honor the
Almighty and His Son. At the same time, if setting aside an hour of
time each evening for eight days to reflect on the bitter struggles of
those who came before us, while giving Yahweh thanks that we can at
least observe and practice Torah without fear of government retribution,
-- if this should be regarded as spiritual idolatry, then I want to know
how and why so I can immediately make the decision to stop.
To his credit, Mr. Dumond took the time to
respond to my e-mail, but it turned out to be one of those non-productive,
circuitous discussions that went nowhere. In my e-mail to him, I had
explained that Judaism has never, ever sought to elevate Hanukkah
observance to the level of the feasts outlined in Leviticus 23:
Jewish national
assemblies had the authority to proclaim a day of gladness, but never
the power to raise such a day to a sacred status. Proof that they never
intended Hanukkah as a commanded observance can be found in the fact
that Judaism has never regarded Hanukkah as a commanded festival.
Rather, it is a "minor festival" that many choose to keep as a
remembrance of the miracle that happened in Jerusalem, combined with a
celebration of the victory of good over evil.
Mr. Dumond replied, "Again
this is good. BUT.. many Ephramites come out of pagan christmas and now
use Chanukah as a replacement for it. MAny Jews use Chanukah to pretend
to be normal with the pagan festivals going on. I reject this. The Book
of MAcabees is not an ordained book of the bible. Yet some will use it
as such."
Thus, on the basis of the fact that some
folks will misuse and misappropriate the observance of Hanukkah, it
becomes "spiritual idolatry" and therefore means that anyone
memorializing Hanukkah automatically gets lumped in with the "spiritual
idolater" crowd? Yes, that is what Mr. Dumond means. In spite of my
repeated objections, it all came down to June and me now being spiritual
idolaters. This would be akin to making a decision to discontinue
observing the Passover memorial due to the fact that Judaism has added
such unscriptural rituals as a roasted hard-boiled egg to the "Seder
plate."
Our decision to observe Hanukkah during the
winter of 1991 came five years after our having rejected the celebration
of Christmas, a fact that we pointed out in our study. Joseph Dumond
attempted to interpret our decision to observe Hanukkah as a desire on
our part to find a "substitute for Christmas":
We have far too many replacing xmas as even you
stated in the beginning you were looking for something to replace it
with.
I don't think anyone likes it when others
impute motives for the things we do, and I did not and do not appreciate
Mr. Dumond's approach to turn our Hanukkah observance into a replacement
for Christmas, as though we were seeking something akin to pagan worship
with which to replace Christmas observance. No, "replacing Christmas"
doesn't mean incorporating Christmas rituals into another observance
that has another name, but it does mean looking for an alternative
celebration that has righteous underpinnings with no pagan trappings.
As it turns out, the only similarities between the two observances are
the proximity insofar as the time of the year and the fact that they
both employ the use of lights. In fact, our research leads us to believe
that the "Festival of Lights" came well before anyone dreamed up
"Christmas lights," so if it's a question of who is imitating who, I
would build a case that Christmas lights were contrived in imitation of
the original Hanukkah lights. I feel it is stooping rather low to impute
motives of Hanukkah observance as a desire to find something to replace
Christmas, but that is the approach that folks like Joseph Dumond take.
It is true that some believers, apparently
seeking to either compete with Christmas or identify with it, put up a
"Hanukkah bush" instead of a Christmas tree. They also replace Christmas
gift-giving with eight days of gift-giving. Shall we mention that June
and I have no part with such pagan imitations? If it is true that the
closest that June and I come to imitating Christmas is lighting a
menorah during Hanukkah, and especially if this custom pre-dates
Christmas observance, then is it fair to lump us in with "spiritual
idolators" seeking a pretext to observance Christmas under the guise of
a Hanukkah memorial?
You can read the entire e-mail exchange
between myself and Joseph Dumond by clicking
here. A year after the e-mail
discussion, I found that things have only gotten worse. It isn't so much
that Joseph Dumond prefers to simply avoid memorializing Hanukkah out of
a personal preference; rather, he makes it very clear that he outright
detests Hanukkah and will go to any lengths to persuade others to join
in his rant against its observance. In 2013, in an article titled "'YEAH BUT… JESUS KEPT
CHANUKAH!' SEE JOHN 10:22," Mr. Dumond presented his teaching that the
Feast of the Dedication referred to in John 10:22, which is universally
accepted as being a reference to a Hanukkah observance at the temple
(where the original Hanukkah event occurred), was not in fact a
reference to a Hanukkah observance. Although Mr. Dumond's commentary is
exhaustive, his reasoning is flawed on all counts. Due to the exorbitant
length of his essay (20,000 + words), it would take an equally lengthy
amount of space to answer each of his points. Nevertheless, here are a
few of his comments:
This false notion that this is referring to
Chanukah on the 25th of the 9th month is so not true it is sickening. To
know so many have taken John 10:22 and twisted it and misapplied it as
they now do- all in order to justify themselves to keep something that
was invented by the Pharisees in the Talmud. Those things in the Talmud,
were not written down until after 200 C.E. long after the Temple had
been destroyed in 70 C.E.
What Mr. Dumond does here is attempt to
present a new teaching that is so new that no one in the history of the
world was ever aware of it until he came along. Commentators down
through the ages, who themselves never observed Hanukkah, have long
recognized John 10:22 as a reference to a specific Hanukkah observance.
Take, for example, Adam Clarke, in his Commentary on the Holy Bible:
22. The
feast of the dedication - This was a feast instituted by Judas
Maccabeus, in commemoration of his purifying the temple after it had
been defiled by Antiochus Epiphanes. This feast began on the
twenty-fifth of the month Cisleu, (which answers to the
eighteenth of our December), and continued for eight days. When
Antiochus had heard that the Jews had made great rejoicings, on account
of a report that had been spread of his death, he hastened out of Egypt
to Jerusalem, took the city by storm, and slew of the inhabitants in
three days forty thousand persons; and forty thousand more he sold for
slaves to the neighboring nations. Not contented with this, he
sacrificed a great sow on the altar of burnt offerings; and, broth being
made by his command of some of the flesh, he sprinkled it all over the
temple, that he might defile it to the uttermost. See Prideaux's Connection, vol. iii. p. 236, edit. 1725. After this, the whole of
the temple service seems to have been suspended for three years, great
dilapidations having taken place also in various parts of the buildings:
see 1 Maccabees 4:36, etc. As Judas Maccabaeus not only restored the
temple service, and cleansed it from pollution, etc., but also repaired
the ruins of it, the feast was called τα εγκαινια, the renovation.
Does Joseph Dumond know something that Adam
Clarke and other eminent scholars didn't know? I'm sure he thinks he
does. In fact, if you don't see Mr. Dumond's "truth," you are in effect
working for Satan:
It is time we admit it; so are some of you working
on Satan’s behalf. You would rather follow the traditions of men than
the word of Yehovah. You “yeah but…” yourselves into justifying
everything and fight against those who expose the truth. Those of you
who used to be of the Christian faith and are now keeping Torah, sort
of, justify the keeping of Chanukah based on John 10.
So what does Mr. Dumond
believe the Feast of Dedication referenced in John 10:22 means? He
believes it is a continuing reference to the feast previously mentioned
by John (c.f., John 7:2), i.e.,
the Feast of Tabernacles. We are thus expected to believe that John
simply switched the wording around, referring to the Feast of Tabernaces
as such in John 7:2, but then referring to the same feast with another
name in John 10:22. Why did the Apostle John change up the name for the
Feast of Tabernacles? Joseph Dumond gives this answer:
It is my strong opinion that
Yehovah allowed John to state that it was the 'Dedication'
and 'winter' in order that Yehovah could test you in these
last days as to whether or not you would profane His Sabbath
by adding to it other holidays. He is proving those who are
to be Kings and Priests in the Kingdom. King David will rule
over them during the Millennium and King David has never
heard of the 'Chanukah' festival.
That's right, Joseph Dumond thinks
the Almighty gave an alternate name for the Feast of Tabernacles in John
10:22 in order to test whether or not we would be so naive as to believe
that it could be something other than the Feast of Tabernacles.
Moreover, during the Millennium King David
will be upset to learn that some otherwise strong believers let down
their guard when they paused to reflect on the atrocities perpetrated on
Judaism for refusing to abandon Torah observance and the subsequent
victory of righteousness over evil. Those who are ensnared by Hanukkah
observance are not fit to be kings and priests. At least that's Joseph Dumond's opinion.
Another
Believer Gives "Thumbs Down" to Hanukkah Observance
e met "Apostle" Norman Willis at a weekend seminar
that he gave back in 2012. We put the word "Apostle" in quotes, not as
an intentional derision of Norman Willis' character because he seems
like a very dedicated believer who seeks to emulate the faith once
delivered to the saints. We continue to appreciate Mr. Willis' humble
approach, which is in stark contrast to the approach used by Mr. Dumond. Nevertheless, anyone claiming the title
"Apostle" had better prove himself as one appointed by Yahweh before we
will regard him as such. While there is more than one definition of the
word "Apostle," the most prominent one goes like this: "One of an
authoritative New Testament group sent out to preach the gospel and made
up especially of the Messiah's 12 original disciples and Paul." The word
"Apostle" is actually derived from a Latin word that means "one sent
forth," presumably by Yahweh Himself. I believe we need to be careful
about arbitrarily applying such a title to ourselves unless we can
actually prove that we have been sent by Yahweh and even then, why would
we want to call such attention to ourselves? Jeremiah 23:21 comes to
mind. Mr. Willis, as humble
as he appears to be, has not proven to me that he is an apostle sent by
Yahweh, and his recent article expressing opposition to Hanukkah
observance doesn't help in any way to persuade me otherwise. Even in
his expression of opposition to memorializing Hanukkah, I must
say that I at least appreciate Norman's approach. Nevertheless, he
presents the same flawed reasoning that we've read since at least 2001:
"I don't observe Hanukkah because it isn't
one of the commanded festivals mentioned in Leviticus 23."
But no one, to the best of my knowledge,
has ever claimed that Hanukkah is a commanded observance.
For a believer to come out and say he chooses to not observe
Hanukkah, he might as well say, "I
don't support memorializing those 40,000 Jews who were put to death for
refusing to abandon Torah observance. Yes, it's too bad they had to die,
but I'm going to strictly observe the festivals mentioned in Leviticus
23 while being careful to not reflect on what happened during the reign
of Antiochus Epiphanes. The massacres that he perpetrated on Judaism
probably wouldn't have happened in the first place if Judaism had never
strayed from obeying Yahweh, so there's no point in crying over spilled
milk, or in this case, spilled blood. Yes, it's great that Judah Maccabee and his vastly outnumbered army eventually won the victory and
cleansed the temple, but I'm not going to give that story anything more
than a passing thought." So yes, when believers come right out and state
that they don't observe Hanukkah—it just seems cold to me.
Would Norman Willis say anything resembling the above? I'm
pretty sure he wouldn't frame his words the way I depicted,
yet the bottom line remains the same: He discourages observing a
Hanukkah remembrance. Actually, he does more than simply discourage
a Hanukkah remembrance. The concluding sentence to his "Hanukkah
Reconsidered" article reads, "It is a mistake to
keep Hanukkah."1 The following commentary is taken from Mr.
Willis's online video presentation titled "Torah Calendar Basics -
Nazarene Israel" (04:57 mark to 05:37 mark):
If we keep rabbinical festival days
that Yahweh never commanded, like Hanukkah and Purim, then Yahweh
considers that we are "worth-shipping" and serving the Jewish rabbis
because by our actions we're showing Yahweh that we consider the Jewish
rabbis to be the ones who are worthy to establish our calendar for us.
But in contrast, if we're careful to keep the calendar that Yahweh
Himself says to keep in Scripture, and not to add to it and not to take
anything away from it, then Yahweh considers that we hold HIM to be the
One Who's worthy to establish our calendar for us.
It appears that Mr. Willis
isn't able to distinguish between a simple non-compulsory remembrance
and a mandated one. He then associates such a memorial with
"worth-shipping" Jewish rabbis instead of Yahweh. From our
perspective, Yahweh gave Yehuda the Maccabee and his outnumbered men the
victory, and it was to Yahweh that they gave the honor. To
memorialize that triumph of righteousness over evil, they ordained that
Jews should not only celebrate on that one occasion, but that it should
be remembered year after year (as opposed to recording it as an obscure
paragraph of data in a history book). This occasion is simply a
voluntary opportunity to give Yahweh more honor -- not because one is
commanded to do so, but out of a heartfelt desire to give Him the glory
for delivering His people from the forces of evil. A decision to
solemnize this remembrance, contrary to Norman Willis' remark, does not
in any way "add to the Word" any more attending a memorial service on
Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day. I suppose Mr. Willis would regard
such a decision as "worth-shipping" the United States government?
Here is an excerpt from Mr. Willis's
"Hanukkah Reconsidered" article:
Yahweh indeed gave a miraculous victory to the
Jews in their war against Antiochus Epiphanies and the Seleucids, and
nothing can ever take away from that. Yet there have been many other
miraculous victories in Israel’s history, such as when Yahweh felled the
wall at Jericho (Joshua 6), Gideon’s miraculous victory over the
Midianites (Judges 7), Shimshon’s (Samson’s) slaying of the Philistines
(Judges 16), and many other miraculous victories. However, we do not add
festival days to Yahweh's calendar because of these other miracles; so why
should we add to Yahweh’s calendar because He gave a victory against
Antiochus Epiphanies or because of an alleged miracle with oil?2
Our response to the above is, first of all,
circling the date of Hanukkah on our calendar as a time of special
remembrance does not equate to “adding it to Yahweh’s calendar.”
Secondly, we have always regarded the legend of the eight days of oil
when there was only enough in the temple to last one day as a fanciful
embellishment of the Hanukkah story that has no true historical
foundation. Adding tall tales to an otherwise true account should
not influence one's decision to memorialize the event. Finally,
we would tell Norman, "Please, by all means, celebrate all the victories that you listed! No
one is telling you not to!" Yet, there are folks out there--like
Joseph Dumond and Norman Willis--discouraging us from taking a little
time to memorialize the events of Hanukkah. If there were a Torah
command for us to observe Hanukkah and cease from all labor on the first
and last days, that would be one thing. But since there is no such
command, nor do we know of anyone who celebrates Hanukkah demanding that
others join them, then what’s the issue? It's simply not a commanded
observance, so no one has the right or authority to insinuate that it
is, and to the best of our knowledge, no one is doing such a thing;
nevertheless, in the spirit of the 11-year-old girl whose sister
perished on September 11, 2001 when Flight 93 crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, "People
can make a pledge to do a good deed that will help mankind in some small
way. Even if it's a hug, kiss, smile or wave, prayer or just a silent
thought of those we love, it will make people feel good and the
remembrance of our loved ones will not be forgotten." We encourage
others to remember the struggles of those who came before us, rejoicing
that their efforts were not in vain and praying that Yahweh deliver us
and our children from the difficult times ahead. Certainly, Hanukkah
can be used as a time to give someone a special hug or to perform simple
and random acts of kindness in memory of those who gave their all so we
can enjoy times of freedom to practice our faith without fearing for our
lives.
I don't mean to come across as harsh, but the
harsh reality is this: Folks like Joseph Dumond and Norman Willis do not
support remembering or memorializing the events of that first Hanukkah
from so long ago, and they present their reasoning with a pious show of
strict, completely faithful Torah observance, whereas those who don’t
share their way of thinking are “adding to the Word” (as though taking
an hour to read about these events and ponder how great a sacrifice was
made somehow constitutes adding to the Word). How ironic that
remembering those who refused to bow down to man's commands to abandon
Torah observance is now regarded as obeying the "words of man" over
and above the Word of Yahweh. Nothing
could be further from the truth.
The month of September will always be a difficult time for the United States
and especially for those who lost loved ones in the attack on the World
Trade Center. December is a rough month for those who lost loved ones
at Pearl Harbor, but we are now living in a generation removed from that
tragedy - a generation that is even now largely unaware of what happened
on that fateful day in 1941 -- and if the self-righteous, Pharisaic
Torah adherents have their way, Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day will join
Hanukkah in the list of forgotten tragedies that don't merit even taking
a little time to remember, let alone rejoice in the freedoms that those
who lost their lives so arduously paid for us. For those of you who
choose to remember and count your blessings for the freedoms that we
have, while simultaneously praying for Yahweh to deliver us from the
suffering that most certainly lies in store for this world, we wish you
a blessed Hanukkah Remembrance.
