Hanukkah

Hanukkah
Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2007 --Saturday, Dec, 30, 2006
Coming just before Christmas, the history of Hanukkah is enlightening and a message for the whole world. Rabbi Jehuda Levin has an informative website www.jewsformorality.org . Fortunately, we have in our area, traditional talk show hosts, Dennis Prager and Michael Medved on KRLA Radio 870, Mon. – Fri., 9 A. M. to 3 P.M. (Today is the first day.)

Rabbi Levin states that Hanukkah is about the rejection of homosexuality and other pagan forces within Judaism. It was a civil war between traditional Jews, orthodox Jews, and those aping Greek culture. Article by Theresa Smyth, Toronto, Dec.22, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) explains:

“As the Jewish community celebrates its Festival of Lights, Rabbi Yehuda Levin is speaking against the ‘pagan’ acceptance of homosexual rabbi ordination by the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, which troubles him as a reminder of an historical conflict within his faith group.

“As an Orthodox Jew and leader of Jews for Morality, Rabbi Levin is critical of the Conservatives. In an interview with LifeSiteNews.com he said he now wishes to ‘apologize to the inter-religious community for the endorsement of paganism’ by certain Conservative Jews.’

“’I feel that it is important for the purpose of [exposing] religious consumer fraud *to declare to everyone that what they have done is totally antithetical to Judaism to endorse homosexual clergy and homosexual unions,’ said Rabbi Levin. ‘To try to in any way consecrate them or commit them is so antithetical, it’s literally paganism.’

“Hanukkah, or the Festival of Lights, is being celebrated this year from sundown December 15 to sundown December 23, 2006. The holiday is most familiar to contemporary Jews and Gentiles for the eight-night lightning of the menorah.

“This tradition commemorates a miracle when, after three years of fighting, the Maccabees reclaimed the Holy Temple from their Greek-Syrian rulers. As the temple was being prepared for rededication, only enough purified oil was found for one day’s use in the temple light; but the light continued to burn for eight days. That incident is reenacted annually with prayers of blessing offered as the lights are lit in homes.

“More significant than the limited military victory, however, was the underlying victory of traditional Judaism over Hellenistic influences, in the ages-old struggle for fidelity to God’s covenant.

“’Hanukkah was not only a war against the powers of the Greek empire that had overrun and controlled Israel but, importantly, the less well-known [aspect is that] Hanukkah is also a civil war between the traditional Jews, the orthodox Jews, and those who were aping the Greek culture, which included historically an embracing of homosexuality,’ said Rabbi Levin.

“’Hanukkah wasn’t so much a victory over the Greeks, the Greeks continued to occupy major parts of Israel historically for a full half-century after the Jews started to celebrate Hanukkah,’ Rabbi Levin told LifeSiteNews.com. ‘So the main celebration of Hanukkah was the defeat of pagan forces within Judaism, those who were attempting to paganize Judaism by aping the Greek culture, and endorse all kinds of pagan rituals and pagan ideologies including the practice of homosexuality. The Greeks said at time in history, ‘A woman for bearing children, a boy for true love.’ That was their idea.

Rabbi Levin wants to label the Conservative action, ‘for what it is. This is not Judaism - it’s
Paganism.’”
George H. Kubeck, Posted in the early mornings - www.cinopsbegone.blogspot.com