By SETH GROSSMAN
Political Columnist

“After Alexander, the Macedonians defeated Darius, king of the Persians… he fought many battles, advanced to the ends of the earth, and plundered many nations… After 12 years, he died. Then his officers began to rule, each in his own place.

“Antiochus Epiphanes began to reign in the 137th year of the Greeks. He invaded Egypt with a strong force, with chariots, elephants, cavalry, and many ships. After conquering Egypt, Antiochus went up against Israel and came to Jerusalem…

“The Jewish priest Mattathias and his sons fled to the hills and left all that they had in the city. Then many who sought righteousness and justice left to live in the wilderness . The king’s officers and many soldiers pursued them…. They attacked the Jews on the Sabbath...

“But the Jews did not hurl a stone at them or block up their hiding places on the Sabbath. They said, let us die in our innocence…. A thousand Jewish men died that day with their wives and their children.

Mattathias and his friend said to themselves, “If we fail to fight on the Sabbath for our lives and our laws, they will quickly destroy us. They said let us fight against every man who attacks us on the Sabbath. Then they organized themselves into an army…”

– First Book of Maccabees

When Jesus lived, this story of Chanukah was part of the Jewish Bible, and Chanukah was a major Jewish festival. But after a Jewish revolt against the Roman Empire 34 years later ended in disaster, Jewish rabbis kicked the Book of Maccabees out of the Jewish Bible. They also turned Chanukah into a very minor holiday to remind us only of how a one-day supply of oil miraculously burned for eight days. The rest of the story was forgotten.

It was Christians, not Jews, who copied, translated, and carried books telling the story of Chanukah all around the Roman Empire. At that time Christians were denounced as enemies of Rome, and had to meet secretly. Christians were routinely rounded up, and publicly tortured and killed as halftime entertainment at the Roman gladiator games. In those dark days, the Chanukah story of the Jews inspired Christians to believe that God would help them overcome the pagan Romans, as God helped the Jews overcome the pagan Greeks. Early Christians lit candles of hope in their hiding places on Chanukah, the 25th day of Kislev, the Jewish month when winter began – before Dec. 25 became Christmas.

It is good to enjoy holidays like Thanksgiving, Chanukah, and Christmas with our families. But it is also important to learn from them.

We Americans, Jews and Christians today are dealing with many issues of the Chanukah story. Most of us know America is a good country, created by good people, and based on self-evident truths. We are all created equal, and endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights. That among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, government is instituted to exercise its just powers with the consent of the governed.

We Americans know that for 200 years, the system of liberty created by our ancestors and defended by every generation since gave us more freedom, prosperity, safety, and opportunity than any other people in human history.

But our entire way of life is now under attack by powerful and arrogant enemies inside and outside of our country.

But like the ancient Jews who lived the Chanukah story, and the early Christians who were inspired by it, we can overcome any enemy, as long as we are willing to know the truth and defend it, regardless of the consequences.

And, like the ancient Jews who fought on the Sabbath, and organized, trained, and disciplined themselves to fight just like the Greeks, we Americans today must learn to adopt many of the skills and tactics of our enemies, so we can defeat them.

Which brings us to the most important lesson of the Chanukah story. The ancient rabbis had good reasons to take Chanukah out of the Jewish Bible.

When Jews later revolted against Rome, they gave up so many of their Jewish principles to win the war at all costs that they were soon fighting and killing each other for no good reason.

Chanukah is should also teach us to never lose sight of our basic values, even as we fight to defend them.

Somers Point attorney Seth Grossman appears on 1400AM talk radio 3-4 p.m. Mondays and Tuesdays and on 92.1FM 9-10 a.m. Saturdays. For information see www.libertyandprosperity.org, email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or call (609) 927-7333. Breakfast discussions are held 9:30-10:30 a.m. every Saturday at the Shore Diner on Fire and Tilton roads in