Censored Letter

Letter to the Editor of Inspires, sent 10th December 2015:

The article by Rabbi David Rose in the December issue is deeply problematic. He writes that the Hanukah lights “brighten the world of those encased in the darkness of war and persecution”, and suggests that Hanukah represents an assurance of the “triumph of freedom over oppression” – and proceeds to associate this with the state of Israel. Perhaps the events which Hanukah commemorates need to be considered with rather more care and honesty. The issues of religious freedom and fidelity to the one God may or may not have been the only motivation of the Maccabees. What we do know is that not all godly Jews supported their methods, and perhaps with good reason. The triumphant Maccabees lost no time in becoming the Hasmoneans, an oppressive and exploitative dynasty, who not only alienated many Jews but used their power to subjugate and forcibly convert neighbouring people. So much for “It warns us that the desire to impose our own culture and beliefs on others is wrong and ultimately futile.” Ironically, among those conquered and forcibly converted were the Herodian family, who soon became a dynasty of tyrants over Judaea and the surrounding areas, to whose brutality the Christian Gospels are not alone in bearing testimony. Similarly, within a very few years of the Holocaust, the state of Israel was systematically driving the Palestinians from their homes and livelihoods, occupying others’ land, and oppressing and exploiting those who live under its control - as it continues to do to this day. Perhaps the lesson of Hanukah is the inherently corrupting nature of worldly power, and the perils of seeking to use armed force in the name of God.

The article to which this letter responds: