By: Yoram Ettinger
Published: December 10th, 2012
Photo Credit: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90
1. Chanukah is the only Jewish holiday which commemorates a Land of Israel national liberation struggle, unlike Passover (the Exodus from Egypt), Sukkot/Tabernacles & Shavouot/Pentacost (on the way from Egypt to the Land of Israel), Purim (deliverance of Jews in Persia), etc. Chanukah is the longest Jewish holiday (8 days) with the most intense level of Light (8 consecutive nights of candle lighting).
2. The key Chanukah developments occurred, mostly, in Judea and Samaria: Mitzpah (also Prophet Samuel's burial site), Beth El mountains (Judah's first headquarters), Beth Horon (Judah's victory over Seron), Hadashah (Judah's victory over Nicanor), Beth Zur (Judah's victory over Lysias), Ma'aleh Levona (Judah's victory over Apolonius), Adora'yim (a Maccabees' fortress), Elazar & Beit Zachariya (Judah's first defeat), Ba'al Hatzor (Judah defeated and killed), the Judean Desert, etc. Unified JerUSAlem was the Capital of the Maccabees. Chanukah is not a holiday of "occupation." Chanukah highlights the moral-high-ground of Jews in their ancestral land.
Read More:
http://www.jewishpress.com/blogs/the-ettinger-report/chanukah-2012-guide-for-the-perplexed/2012/12/10/?print
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