…The Grinch hated Hanukkah! The whole Hanukkah season!
Now, please don’t ask why. No one quite knows the reason… The residents of Israeli town, kibbutz Afek, woke this morning to find their menorah smashed to pieces by the town’s leader in protest of observant Judaism. Tvzi Assaf, head of the kibbutz, told residents he was protesting any public display of religious Judaism in the mostly secular Israeli community because he fears “infiltration” of religious Jews.
Afek is a kibbutz, an Israeli collective community funded by secular Jews prior to and in the years following the establishment of Israel in 1948. Kibbutz communities were set up to adhere to social libertarian principals of communal living and farming, but currently many here are privatized and resemble regular communities. Some kibbutz towns have significant religious communities. Last night, rabbi and emissary for the Chabad Lubavitch worldwide Jewish outreach movement, Moshe Shmuel Oirechman, came to light the town’s menorah on the invitation of some of its residents. The Menorah is kindled for each of the eight days of Hanukkah, a festival to commemorate the Jewish Maccobean victory over the Seleucid Empire in the 2nd century B.C. and the rededication thereafter of the Second Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. While other Jewish holidays such as Yom Kippur or Sukkot are considered religious, Hanukkah is regarded more as a nationalist holiday celebrated by both secular and religious Jews. Tonight is the last night of Hanukkah. Etai Rappaport, one of the residents who extended the invitation to Rabbi Oirechman, was stunned. "I am ashamed that there are such people living in the same Kibbutz as my family. I also don't know what to tell my young son when he will ask me 'where is the menorah?' “ Rabbi Oirechman said that the menorah destruction highlighted the growing tensions between religious and secular Jews. According to the Israeli Media, religious observance among the children and grandchildren of secular kibbutz founders has been steadily rising these past few years. "Since when does a Menorah make one religious?" asked Rappaport. "I wonder what Israel's first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, would have to say about that. He encouraged the educational system to celebrate Hanukkah saying it symbolizes the courage of the Maccabbeas. It's interesting to note that Ben-Gurion, who was known not to have a particular liking for religious Jews, declared that he considers Hanukkah as the most important holiday among the Jewish holidays."
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