The Synagogue Council of America, representing all Jewish religious groups in the United States, today issued a Chanukah call to Jews in the United States “to dedicate themselves anew to the cause for which the Maccabees fought and died.” The call was issued in connection with the observance of Chanukah which begins at sundown, December 3.
“We must kindle anew the light of God’s law in the temple of the human heart–the light of brotherhood and peace,” the message says. “We must strive to rid the world of bigotry and prejudice, to cleanse it of hate and arrogance, and to rededicate ourselves to the highest of all causes–the love of God and the spirit of freedom.”
The festival of Chanukah, which is celebrated for eight days, is observed in commemoration of the rededication of the Temple of Jerusalem by the victorious Maccabees in 167 B.C.E. in their struggle against the Syrian-Greek King Antiochms, who attempted to suppress the religion of the Jews. The Festival of Lights, as Chanukah is also known, recalls the eight days required for the rededication of the Temple, which had been desecrated by the heathen worship which Antiochus had established.
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