Rabbi Dr. Sharon Shalom, Founder and Director of Ono’s International Center for the Study of Ethiopian Jewry recently published an article in the Times of Israel entitled, “Hanukkah Thinking: Why Bete Israel Could Never Imagine Sitting in a Study Hall During Time of War.”
The article begins by noting that Bete Israel (Ethiopian Jewry) has canonized the Book of the Maccabees, while Rabbinic Jewry has left it out of the Bible. Rabbi Shalom believes that the lessons learned by Bete Israel from the Book of the Maccabees about the need for Jews to forcefully defend our freedom and religious practice have inoculated them against the conception that, “If we are forced to go to the army, we will leave Israel to go abroad.”
Rav Shalom concludes by noting that the Hanukkah holiday is indeed being celebrated, “In those days, and at this time,” as, “Since the seventh of October, we have witnessed events that combined human courage and extraordinary miracles.”
Happy Hanukkah!
The full article can be read at: https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/hanukkah-thinking-why-bete-israel-could-never-imagine-sitting-in-a-study-hall-during-time-of-war/