Will America Learn the Lesson of Hanukkah?

According to Jason Bedrick and Daniel Flesch, America needs to learn the lesson of Hanukkah. This week marks the beginning of Hanukkah and the lighting of menorahs in “what may be the most explicitly Zionist holiday in the Jewish calendar.” The authors explained their belief in their article published at The Daily Signal. 

The story of Hanukkah recounts the Maccabean Revolt of the second century B.C.E. After the Seleucid Greeks sought to suppress Jewish religious practice and identity, Jews fought to reclaim sovereignty in their homeland.

The Maccabees wanted the Jews to have independence in the land of Judea so they could worship God according to the dictates of their conscience.

In other words, Hanukkah is a celebration of religious liberty and Jewish national liberation.

The Jewish people survived two millennia of statelessness, persecution, pogroms, expulsions and a holocaust by maintaining a deep connection to these biblical roots – a lesson America must heed in its times of political turmoil.

Even in times of darkness – including in defiance of the Nazi regime – the menorah’s light served as a beacon of hope and resilience, a reminder of the miracle of Jewish endurance against all odds.

Today, just as the Jewish state draws strength from its ancient connections to the Land and God of Israel, America will flourish only if we remain committed to the Judeo-Christian heritage that forms our nation’s foundation….

… the Zionist aspiration is as old as the Jewish people itself and foundational to Judaism.

It begins with God promising the Land of Israel to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, which was fulfilled in the wake of the Israelites’ Exodus from Egypt.

Following the Roman destruction of the Second Temple in 70 C.E., the yearning to return to home and rebuild the Temple has been woven into the fabric of Jewish ritual and liturgy.

Every Passover seder and Yom Kippur service conclude with “Next year in Jerusalem.” Jews also pray facing Jerusalem.

Despite nearly 2,000 years of exile, the Jewish people’s enduring commitment to their foundational story and principles provides the foundation for Israel’s resilience today.

This same story of Jewish perseverance inspired the men and women who built America.

As our Heritage Foundation colleague Katie Pavlich recently observed, the “history of America and Israel didn’t start in 1948. It goes back to 1776 when American rebels looked to the Promised Land, its foundational story, and were inspired to reject the British Empire in pursuit of their own nation.”

Authors cite: (1) “Benjamin Franklin’s proposal for America’s Great Seal” to be “Moses extending His hand over the Red Sea.” (2) A letter from President George Washington to the Hebrew Congregation of Savannah in 1790 drawing “parallels between America’s founding and the Israelites’ exodus” to their Promised Land. (3) John Adams’ letter to Mordecai Manuel Noah, Jewish American patriot, pledging his “support for Jewish restoration to their homeland.”

Indeed, the concepts of covenant, rule of law, limited government, human dignity and justice that shape the American constitutional order stem from the biblical tradition. They are not arbitrary human constructs, but principles derived from the understanding that human beings are endowed by our Creator with inherent dignity and purpose….

The parallel between Israel and America is instructive. The Jewish state flourishes because of its people’s connection to their ancient heritage and founding principles. Similarly, America’s strength depends on our faithfulness to the principles that shaped our founding.

Those who seek to cut America off from its Judeo-Christian roots would destroy the tree of liberty itself. Just as a tree severed from its roots cannot long survive, nor, too, can a nation that abandons its founding principles….

The founding principles of America are found in Christianity, an off shoot of Judeo roots. Ancient American prophets, as taught in the Book of Mormon – Another Testament of Jesus Christ, testified that those people who live in America must worship the God of this land, even Jesus Christ, or be swept off the land. America must stay true to its foundation of Jesus Christ.