Christmas and Hanukkah: Festivals of light and hope

“Am Israel Chai!” Israel lives! That’s the rousing message of Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of hope and triumph in the face of impossible odds.

It began Dec. 7 with the lighting of an eight-branched candelabra or Menorah. It’s a reminder that God’s light will fill the night and eventually defeat the darkness. It is specially significant for Jews who are in the midst of the Israel-Hamas war and are facing global anti-Semitism and terror threats from all sides.

Hanukkah recalls how the mighty Greek empire sought to eradicate the Jewish nation and faith in 229 BC. Until a small brave band of Jewish warrior-priests called the Maccabees fought back and routed the Greeks, recaptured their Holy Temple and rekindled the Menorah, the lampstand symbolizing the eternal light and presence of God.

It’s likened to Christmas, when the Bethlehem star suddenly shone in the sky and an angel declared: “I bring you good news of great joy for all the people. Today, in the City of David, a Savior has been born to you. He is Christ the Lord!” It was a season of terror in Israel, when the powerful Roman Empire trampled the nation, crucifying all who dreamed of peace and freedom.

It was also the Roman Emperor Hadrian who removed the name of Israel from maps and history books. In 135 AD he changed the name of Israel to Palestine, an insult to the Jews. Palestine is derived from Philistine, the Biblical enemy of Israel. The giant Goliath, who fought the Jewish boy David, was a Philistine.

The Jews faced annihilation again during the reign of German dictator Adolf Hitler. He declared that the “final solution” to all the problems of the world was the elimination of the Jewish race. Around six million Jews were killed and cremated or burned in ovens in what is called the Holocaust.

Thousands of Jews sought to escape, but only one country in the globe accepted them – the Philippines, under the Open Doors policy of President Manuel Quezon. He sought to take in 10,000 Jews, but the Japanese invasion got in the way, and only 1,300 made it.

And out of the ashes of the Holocaust, Israel was miraculously reborn. There were two million Jews who survived the Nazi death camps, most under the age of