Kamala Harris And Her Husband Wrongly Portray Hanukkah As A Social Justice Holiday
Hannukkah is not about “Tikkun Olam” – repairing the world, The miracle that we celebrate with Hanukkah was a military victory of the Hashmoneans (Maccabis) over the Greeks and Jewish Hellinizers, who wanted to end the Jewish religion.
Last week, Sen. Kamala Harris and her husband, Douglas Emhoff, who is Jewish, released a saccharine video explaining why Hanukkah is one of the couple’s “favorite holidays.”
Hanukkah is one of our favorite holidays — and a reminder to spread the light at a time when we've never needed it more.
From our big, modern family to yours, happy Hanukkah! pic.twitter.com/KbkisZooCO
— Doug Emhoff (@DouglasEmhoff) December 10, 2020
I’m not sure what the point of the video was. Harris tells the camera that the meaning of Hanukkah “is really about the light, and bringing light where there has been darkness. And there is so much work to be done. And it is a celebration of, always, Tikkun Olam, which is about fighting for justice, and fighting for the dignity of all people.”
I am reasonably familiar with the liturgy of Hanukkah – now in its fifth day – and the words “Tikkun Olam” do not appear anywhere. Tikkun Olam, which means repairing the world, is a Jewish concept, but it has been appropriated by Left in America as a synonym for social justice. But not social justice in any historic Jewish sense of the word, but social justice as defined by the Left.
One example of a decree that was enacted on account of Tikkun Olam was that no captive should be redeemed for more than his value. The fear was that if this was done, it would encourage non-Jews to take even more Jews captive. (This isn’t strictly a historical problem but something the Israeli government, nearly two thousand years later, still has to deal with.) Harris’ idea of Tikkun Olam is posting her pronouns in her Twitter profile. I can’t begin to equate the two.
The more general problem with Tikkun Olam is that it is a blank slate that allows its promoter to project her values onto. Religion is a set of beliefs and laws that dictate how one should act.
This video could not possibly misrepresent Chanukah more egregiously.
Chanukah is not about “tikkun olam” or universalist notions of “fighting for justice.” The Chanukah story is one of Jewish particularism, traditionalism, and nationality repelling the forces of secularism. https://t.co/kxS83kFRrU
— Josh Hammer (@josh_hammer) December 11, 2020
The miracle that we celebrate with Hanukkah was a military victory of the Hashmoneans (Maccabis) over the Greeks and Jewish Hellinizers, who wanted to end the Jewish religion. They Hellinizers wanted the Jews to give up their antiquated beliefs and practices and join the modern Greek world. Doing so would have wiped out the Jewish religion.
The Hashmoneans fought back and after they won and reclaimed the Jewish Temple, found a single jar of oil that had not been defiled by the Greeks. It took eight days to produce new oil, but they only had enough oil to light the candelabrum (menorah) in the Temple for one day. But the oil miraculously lasted eight days. That’s the basis for the celebration to this day.
Hanuka is not Christmas. It is about the determination of Jews to retain their home and their religion
— Masked Margie (@MargieInTelAviv) December 12, 2020
In the New York Post last week, Rabbi Ari Lamm gave a contemporary spin to the celebration of Hanukkah:
So what’s Hanukkah truly about?
Simple: It’s about the rootedness of tradition against the imperialism of cosmopolitanism. If you were a Jew at that time, you basically had two choices: You could love the beauty of your ancestral heritage and love it no matter what, or you could watch as the ruling class attempted to recreate the social order in its own universalist image — and hope that your acceptance by the powerful would somehow substitute for the loss of family, community and tradition.
https://twitter.com/ProfDBernstein/status/1337613234241761280
Hanukkah is a Jewish holiday celebrating a miracle from 2,000 years ago. To use it as a message to further one’s own political agenda is to betray a misunderstanding of that celebration.
[Image: from Kamala Harris’s You Tube ]
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Comments
I’m sorry to be the one to tell you, Mr Emhoff, but Jews who understand what Chanukah is about do not marry non-Jews.
I beg to differ. I married a non-Jew who not only supports me in my holiday observances, but we agreed to (and did) raise our sons in the Jewish faith. Jewish-ness is a significant part of the lives of both of them.
Sorry, but your marriage repudiates everything Chanukah stands for; the Hasmoneans would have killed you for it. The Torah explicitly forbids intermarriage.
And, assuming from your nickname that you’re a guy, your children are not Jews, so raising them as if they were was pointless. If they want to become Jews they have to be naturalized just like any gentile with the same wish. No so-called “rabbi” or “rabbinic assembly” has the power to change that.
Milhouse, you are making galloping assumptions. Children of a Jewish man and a goyim woman can be raised as Jews, and converted, and bar mitzvahed. At least, that’s how they do it in the US.
A goyim? Isn’t proper form a goy, several goyim?
They can be raised as anything their parents like, but they are not citizens of the Jewish nation unless and until they are naturalized. And that is difficult to impossible if they’re still living with their parents, since it requires a sincere commitment to obey Jewish law, just as becoming a US citizen requires a sincere commitment to obey US law; children can’t really make such a commitment while living in a home that does not observe it. I’m sorry to tell you this, but “rabbis” who say otherwise are not practicing the Jewish religion at all.
Oh, and “bar mitzvah” is an adjective, not a verb. “Bar mitzvahed” is a nonsense term, though unfortunately one that is often used.
You didn’t dispute what he said, which is that the kids have to be converted since their mother is not Jewish.
Milhouse is correct on the law. He is also correct in terms of reality. Look around you. Of the adult children of intermarried Jews, how many are Zionists? How many support Israel? How many view their Jewish identity as truly central to who they are? At this point, there is only one answer for secular, American Jews: Make Aliyah. America was great while it lasted. Now it’s time to leave.
Milhouse is correct according to the Talmud. He is incorrect according to the Torah, which says nothing about one parent or the other having to be a descendent of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Otherwise, Perez and Boaz, among others, would not have been Jewish.
Wrong, gibbie. First of all, the Talmud is part of the Torah. It represents the part of the Torah that God taught Moshe orally and he did not write down.
Second, the written Torah says the same thing. Deut 7:4 says that if your daughter marries out, the consequence will be that your pagan son-in-law will lead your Jewish grandchildren astray — but there is no corresponding concern about your pagan daughter-in-law doing the same. That is because her children will not be your grandchildren at all, so it should be none of your concern if they serve idols.
Peretz lived before Sinai, when there was no such things as Jews; he wasn’t a Jew, therefore his parentage is irrelevant. In any case his mother was Tamar, daughter of Shem, so to whatever extent anyone at that time could be called a Jew she was one. I have no idea what you think you are talking about in Boaz’s case; what on earth makes you think his mother was not a Jew?
Friendly, that is correct. I didn’t bother correcting such a trivial point of grammar, but the word Valerie was reaching for was “goyishe”.
The Hasmoneans were blood-thirsty maniacs that were fond of killing anyone they didn’t agree with. I’ve read a number of pieces that compared them to the Taliban.
I’m certainly glad that they won their fight at the end but saying that the Hasmoneans would have killed someone is like calling water wet.
They are what Chanukah is about. Stabbing some fellow for daring to publicly sacrifice to a Greek god. Not exactly religious tolerance, let alone “social justice”. So if you’ve got a problem with that you shouldn’t celebrate Chanukah, let alone turn it into the opposite of what it is.
Yes indeed. A shonde for the goyim.
Your statement is almost as ridiculous as hers.
This is cultural appropriation.
This is pandering.
This is only going to get a lot worse. These people lie like rugs, distorting and making up history and current events as they go along. And their media lapdogs will only be too ready to help.
Again, I haven’t heard crap like this since listening to Radio Moscow and Radio Prague when I was living in Germany in the 80s.
Hey…years ago Blues Clues had a Christmas episode and explained to all the little kids that Christmas was a celebration of moms and their babies.
The left are just plain evil and destroy everything they touch.
A universal truth is that you know when a democrat is lying is that you see their lips move…the problem with universal masking is people can’t see their lips. Such condescending drivel from the folks that removed God from their party platform and now claim to fight for the “soul of the nation”. Pathetic that people still fall for such…
“The miracle that we celebrate with Hanukkah was a military victory of the Hashmoneans (Maccabis) over the Greeks and Jewish Hellinizers, who wanted to end the Jewish religion. They Hellinizers wanted the Jews to give up their antiquated beliefs and practices and join the modern Greek world. Doing so would have wiped out the Jewish religion.”
Emhoffs of the day were asking for the assistance of , and even fighting on the side of, the Greek occupiers. In other words, Chanukah memorializes a civil war.
Camal-la probably figures it naturally follows, since Justice looks/sounds so much like JEW-stice.
An easy mistake to make, actually, from a typical Ill-Liberal Logic viewpoint on the Left.
Such a marvelous role model for young girls everywhere — You, too, can sleep your way to ever-increasing levels of political and organizational power.
Soon to be POTUS.
What’s the over-and-under for how long it takes VP Harris to depose her boss?
Four (4) months should be enough time. The media will defend the coup, be sure of it.
What we should be speculating is how they will do it. Will he conveniently contract Covid or will they do a 25A on him?
William Henry Harrison could not be reached for comment.
Faux POTUS. We have reached the point where being President is a participation award.
So…why is Pres. Trump still filling chairs and rearranging strategic positions at this hour? I doubt it’s just for show with less than 6 weeks to go. Just my guess but we may be asked to do more than “endure the unbearable” . We shall see.
He’s making appointments that will be difficult or impossible for Biden to undo.
The Fallacy, Delusion, and Myth of “Tikkun Olam”
To Heal the World?: How the Jewish Left Corrupts Judaism and Endangers Israel, by Jonathan Neumann
Down With Chanukah!, by Rabbi Meir Kahane, HYD
Perversion is all the Left can do.
Come on, Millhouse. You’re linking Kahane articles now?
Um, yes. Why wouldn’t I? He was 100% right.
Given the contemporary Dhimmi-crats’ unabashed Jew-hate and Israel-vilifying, I’m amazed that Emhoff was even allowed to appear in the video.
It’s interesting — on the Biden campaign website, under “Coalitions,” which lists all of the Americans that the Dhimmi-crats divide as per their aims of tribal Balkanization, every group has a photograph of people associated with it (e.g., Catholics, Muslims, Latinos, Blacks, etc.), EXCEPT Jewish Americans, which merely features a photo of Biden. It’s as if the campaign couldn’t decide how to choose a photograph reflecting American Jews, and, so, decided to just leave them faceless and not represented, visually. It’s revealing, I think, and, dehumanizing.
There are congregations that claim to practice Judaism that get stuff mixed up like that. They seem to have their own Torah; it’s not much like the one I read.
Do the Dems have to ruin _everything_ that they touch?
It appears that they cannot help themselves.
In a similar fashion, the Washington Post is looking forward to having Joe Biden, a practicing Catholic, spur the transformation of of American Catholicism away from its focus upon traditional moral values to greater emphasis upon immigrant rights, climate change, social justice, etc..
Chairman Joe is feigning ‘wokeness’ for as long as he needs to.
Actually, it’s Kamala feigning moderation. The media and the progressives want Kamala as President and she will use the Hunter-scandal to her advantage. America’s first female president will be a Marxist.
A practicing Catholic? He supports the murder of unborn children and should be refused communion.
Harris has already proven herself to be a dunce, and will continue to do so throughout the Harris-Biden tenure.
“An exit poll of 800 people released by J Street, a liberal Jewish Middle East advocacy group, showed Jews supporting Biden at 77 percent vs. 21 percent for Trump.
The Republican Jewish Coalition released its own exit poll showing numbers that were more favorable for their candidate. Of 600 people polled, Jews supported Biden 60.6 percent vs. 30.5 percent for Trump, with 8.8 percent either voting third party or declining to disclose how they voted.
To start off, the authoritative Associated Press’ VoteCast survey, which is different from an exit poll, found Jews voting for Biden at 68 percent and Trump at 30 percent.”
How can Jews continue to be victims if they don’t vote for the victimizers?
Too harsh?
https://www.jweekly.com/2020/11/06/trump-or-biden-how-did-jewish-voters-line-up-this-year-its-complicated/
Where did they conduct these polls? It’s impossible to get a representative sample by just polling in one or a few neighborhoods. Obviously if you poll Jewish voters in Park Slope or the Upper West Side you’re going to get a very different picture than if you do the same in Borough Park or Kew Gardens Hills. And neither one will represent the Jewish electorate as a whole.
Wouldn’t be too sure of the Upper West Side these days as it is filling up with “frummies” (as my wife calls them). Wouldn’t surprise me if Trump did a lot better there than he did back in 2016.
You know what J Street is, don’t you? Some members are Jewish, but they act as propaganda for the Palestinians.
About that Hanukkah thing, by Senator Kamala Harris:
https://twitter.com/i/status/1337152366085226496
Joe is not Pope. Even the Pope (Thank G-d) cannot do what they suggest. Social justice, supported by faith has always been something Catholics do. Francis…is certainly not portraying the principles of the faith well but even he cannot do what they suggest.
About as Jewish as Biden is a Christian.
Jews need this slut like they need Soros.
Raised in a family that attended a Lutheran Church, I apparently know more about Hanukkah than Kamala.
Hanukkah celebrates justice, the antithesis of social justice. It commemorates a historical stand against the spread of transreligious (e.g. Pro-Choice) contagion without borders.
Hanukkah is the 7th most important Jewish holiday. The only reason some people make a big show of celebrating it is because of Christmas envy.
How are you ranking them?
I’m guessing:
1. Yom Kippur
2. Shavuot
3-6. Pesach, Sukkot, Shmini Atzeret, Rosh Hashana; these are all pretty much equal
7-8. Chanukah and Purim
9. Rosh Chodesh
10. Tish’a B’av, if you count it as a holiday
11-whatever. Lag Ba’omer, Shushan Purim, Purim Katan and Shushan Purim Katan, Pesach Sheni, the 15th of Shevat and of Av, Israeli independence Day and Jerusalem Day if you celebrate them, etc.
Jimmy Kimmel: Jewish Holiday or Prescription Medication?
I’d suggest a tie for first that’s not even on your list.
Shabbat? That outranks Yom Kippur, but it’s a stretch of the English language to call something that happens every week a “holiday”.
Gotta be humiliating to identify as the husband of Willie’s Girl.
He is to her as Hillary is to Bill. Ah well, bidness is bidness, someone has to keep track of the money.
This video is just another D attempt to shape the world as they see it! I’m not Jewish – but have relatives, neighbors, colleagues at work and friends who are. From them and from a “religion” course I took as an undergraduate, I think I’m correct in saying this is a time for Jews to celebrate what Jews did to remain free and practice their religion, to oppose those who would have denied that to them – and to be rewarded by God with a miracle for prevailing. What a shame her husband in her “modern” family would permit himself and his religion to be desecrated for the sake of D politics.
Oy.
4 years of Reform mind-bending from the office of VP or president? Maybe it’s good that they came “out of the closet” with such a clearly wrong description of Jewish values and tradition, now we can remind of this as they go along and say poison and call it Judaism.
Let’s hope Trump stays.
Her husband looks like the perfect cuckold.