Are You A Maccabee?

What does it mean in the modern age to be a Maccabee? It's a simple message, a simple thought.

When the Selucid Greeks demanded that Jews sacrifice swine to their gods, some Jews stepped right up to do so. The first that did so in the presence of Matityahu, the son of Yonaton, the High Priest, fell to his sword, which began the Maccabean revolt.

Beyond being ready to fight outsiders who come to kill us, a Maccabee is ready to take on his own people when they act against G-d.

Look at what is happening in Yehuda and Shomron right now. The government has banned Jewish construction and yet, Jews build. The police come to help the Civil Administration deliver cease and desist orders from Jerusalem. They are met by throngs of people to prevent them from entering their communities.

The question that no one desires to even think about is what will happen if soldiers come to effect the cleansing of Jews from Yesha, which is what the Jew Hater in the White House, the UN, the EU, and the Arabs want. Will the residents be nonviolent or will they take up arms against their own in order to stand by Hashem? Will the soldiers cut down their own to enforce an act they don't believe in, or will they side with G-d? No one wants to answer these questions because either answer is beyond our comprehension.

The bottom line is that neither the soldiers, nor the residents of Yesha should stand against each other. The enemy is in Jerusalem. The enemy is ready to betray Hashem, because the enemy does not fear Hashem. The enemy bows down before the god of power, not the G-d of Israel. In such a circumstance, all those who fear, revere, and love Hashem are obligated to act.

Hashem is not waiting for the right moment to take down the godless Leftist elites of Israel.

Hashem is waiting for the people to act.

When the nation of Israel stood between the waters of Yam Suf, and the chariots of Pharoah, the waters did not part until the people took it upon themselves to act. When did the waters part? When Nachshon, in an act of faith, leapt into the water. Only when the people committed themselves to G-d's providence were they rescued. But even in the face of plagues visited on Egypt, even when the entire nation of Israel stood before the very presence of G-d at Sinai, still the golden calf was made.

Those that were responsible for the golden calf transgressed more deeply than the generation that was destroyed by the flood. Why? Because those destroyed by the flood did not know Hashem. There was no Torah. There was no revelation at Sinai. Those who made the golden calf did so in the wake of a moment so profound and resonating that we Jews today who sit around the seder table on Pesach count ourselves among those who were at Sinai. We are part of the chain of souls of the nation that was there.

But if those that worshipped the golden calf did more evil than the generation destroyed by the flood, those in power in Israel now that are preparing to butcher the land and rip us out of it are committed to a far greater evil. Why? For 2000 years our scattered nation prayed and dreamed for the redemption of our people, for a return to our land and a rebuilding of our institutions; to live in our land and be strong, to live our way of life as free and independent people again. After 2000 years we were able to return and strengthen the remnant of Jews that remained in our land, a land that never stood as an independent country held by any other people at any time in history.

Here is an irrefutable fact that no Arab, no NGO, no President or Jew Hating White House Resident can alter. The only time that the land of Israel housed a free and independent country was when it hosted the nation of Israel. It was true 3500 years ago, and it is true now. Never was there a country of Palestine, or any other. It has been a province of many an empire. It has only ever been an independent country for our people.

Now that the independent Jewish country is reborn in the land of Israel, and we have liberated our land, and our holiest place, all we can seem to do is give it away. In the face of the actuation of Hashem's promise to our people, Jewish politicians seek to undo it. They gave away the Sinai twice; gave away Azza, where Isaac dwelled; gave away the Temple Mount; and now they are plotting to give away Judea and Samaria, the first lands purchased by Abraham. These are far greater crimes against G-d than the golden calf could ever have been.

But the greater crime will be if the Jewish people refuse to be Maccabees, refuse to stand up and end this failed un-Jewish, G-dless governmental system. And we will all share the guilt and the responsibility for what will happen if we in Israel, and in exile, fail to act; fail to leap into the waters; fail to show our faith, reverence, fear, and love for Hashem with all our heart, soul, and might.

Our nation was saved from Pharoah when we acted. The miracles of Chanukah were performed because we acted. We are standing between the waters and the chariots. Who is willing to jump in? We are standing before a desecrated Temple. Who is willing to find the oil? Who is willing to light it? Who is willing to be Nachshon? Who is willing to be a Maccabee?