Thank you for your thoughtful response and subscription! Disagreeing with me in this kind way is exactly what I would want to see from an Orthodox Jewish person who I can't convince.
I was raised Orthodox and used to celebrate Chanukah, so I do understand the lived experience as it's mine as well. I understand that the average celebration of Chanukah is not taking time aside to vent about secularism, but even as it's practiced by most families, it still venerates the Maccabees as heroes and doing so keeps the moral legacy of the holiday alive. It also keeps Jews separate by giving them a holiday to celebrate instead of mainstream practice of the surrounding society, although that may not apply in the Israeli context like it does in the American one. As an American, I believe in the "melting pot" model of cultural integration and am not a multiculturalist. I believe in the freedom of everyone to celebrate whatever traditions they would like, but I don't think every tradition is equally good and I encourage those carrying on worse traditions to voluntarily trade them out for better ones. I wrote further about the beauty of the "melting pot," which is the intellectual legacy of Israel Zangwill, in a prior article here: https://www.wetheblacksheep.com/p/the-forgotten-american-masterpiece
I dont think that venerating the Maccabees as heroes is somehow keeping their supposedly immoral legacy alive, its just not. Obviously as an Orthodox Jew I see a huge problem with the American "melting pot", even though my heartstring are pulled by your utopian vision of a generic American culture without barriers between groups, I am totally pessimistic that such a thing can even exists and if it did, I would be against it happening.
Would like to add that I very much enjoy reading and listening to contrarian takes, keep it up.
Thank you for your thoughtful response and subscription! Disagreeing with me in this kind way is exactly what I would want to see from an Orthodox Jewish person who I can't convince.
I was raised Orthodox and used to celebrate Chanukah, so I do understand the lived experience as it's mine as well. I understand that the average celebration of Chanukah is not taking time aside to vent about secularism, but even as it's practiced by most families, it still venerates the Maccabees as heroes and doing so keeps the moral legacy of the holiday alive. It also keeps Jews separate by giving them a holiday to celebrate instead of mainstream practice of the surrounding society, although that may not apply in the Israeli context like it does in the American one. As an American, I believe in the "melting pot" model of cultural integration and am not a multiculturalist. I believe in the freedom of everyone to celebrate whatever traditions they would like, but I don't think every tradition is equally good and I encourage those carrying on worse traditions to voluntarily trade them out for better ones. I wrote further about the beauty of the "melting pot," which is the intellectual legacy of Israel Zangwill, in a prior article here: https://www.wetheblacksheep.com/p/the-forgotten-american-masterpiece
I dont think that venerating the Maccabees as heroes is somehow keeping their supposedly immoral legacy alive, its just not. Obviously as an Orthodox Jew I see a huge problem with the American "melting pot", even though my heartstring are pulled by your utopian vision of a generic American culture without barriers between groups, I am totally pessimistic that such a thing can even exists and if it did, I would be against it happening.