Dear Readers, These columns began on my area of America Online, called:  Judaism Today:  Where Do I Fit?   People anonymously sent me E-Mail, and I began to choose one for a public response in my Jewish E-Mail of the Week column. The column has become quite popular and is now syndicated internationally in many Jewish papers and websites.  I hope you find they help you as you think about the Ethics, Spirituality and Peoplehood components of the Jewish way of Life.  I welcome your comments... see the end of the column. Gil PS  Teachers and others, feel free to copy my columns and forward them or use them as you see fit.  Please see the friendly copyright notice at the end.

THE PILGRIMS VS. THE MACCABEES

Dear Judaism Today: Where Do I Fit? Readers:

Many of you E-mailed in positive reactions to last week's column called "Were the Pilgrims Jewish?," and I thank you! Because of the large amount of Email you sent and the fact that this year, Chanukah is just days after Thanksgiving I have decided to rerun this follow up column. This year as you share latkes with friends and family I hope you will also share this food for thought!

Dear Gil:

I enjoyed reading your ideas regarding the connections between the Pilgrims, Thanksgiving, and our Jewish beliefs and tradition. In addition to your suggestions, please consider the following connection between the Pilgrims and us Jews, but regarding Chanukah instead.

I teach my children that, while the Pilgrims left their homes in search of a place where they could worship God in their own special way, we Jews also have ancestors who acted in protest of laws restricting their worship.

However, instead of leaving their homeland, the Maccabees elected to stay and fight for the right to worship God in their own special way. Unwilling to give up either their faith OR their homes, they banded together in common cause, and, over time, were victorious in their struggle.

I believe it is very important for our children to look beyond the legendary miracle of the oil to the real and historical miracle of our poorly trained, ill-equipped, hugely outnumbered ancestors who worked together and succeeded in achieving their goal.

How much more important today -- when so many Jews are so at odds with one another -- this the message of Jews working together.

B'Shalom,

O

Dear O:

What an insightful comparison! I had never before thought of the parallel between the Pilgrims and the Maccabees. I was so impressed that I wanted to share your email with others in a Jewish E-Mail of the Week especially since this year Thanksgiving and Chanukah are just days apart.

Your letter prompted several thoughts in me. Psychologist tell us that animals (including humans) have two responses to threats to their survival: fight or flight. Both responses can be effective or disastrous. Knowing which tactic to use at which time is a difficult but critical judgment.

In the case of the Maccabees (fight) and the Pilgrims (flight) the response they chose was effective. In both cases, we as American Jews have been beneficiaries of the correct choice. We have inherited our Judaism in part because of the decision of the Maccabees to perpetuate Judaism by fighting. We live in a country that makes freedom of religion a highly honored and protected right in part because the Pilgrims chose flight.

There is obviously much here to teach our children and ourselves about the different ways of responding to threats to our survival.

One of the additional things to teach as you mention, is the idea of uniting to work together as Jews to achieve our goals...especially given the many issues that divide Jews.

The concept of uniting to achieve goals is wonderful on paper and in speeches but difficult to implement. It seems we Jews have always found ourselves divided on issues from the Talmudic disputes of yesterday to Israeli Government policies of today and everything in between.

This division would include the story of Chanukah where much worse than arguing amongst ourselves, Mattathias Maccabee even goes so far as to kill an unfaithful Jew! This is not a part of the story we talk about much. Probably because it is not a part of the story that makes us feel proud or comfortable.

Fortunately, in the history of our people, violence between us is rare. However, disputes and divisions amongst us Jews are nothing new and in fact can be healthy -- provided both sides respectfully listen and learn from each other.

If we can maintain this respect, we will further our people, our religion, our country and our world and be making the most of the sacrifices made on our behalves by the Pilgrims and the Maccabees.

Thanks for writing!

Gil

Dear Readers:

As always, I welcome your feedback. Please E-mail to: GilMann@aol.com

Also if you have a Jewish question, situation, issue or comment, I am always on the look out for E-mails for future columns and I can only do it with your help. So, please E-mail me.

(All mail is kept confidential and I change identities when I publish anything) At a minimum, I promise to let you know that I read and received your letter. I read everything that is sent in.

Thanks and HAPPY CHANUKAH!

Gil

A FRIENDLY COPYRIGHT NOTICE © Copyright Gil Mann These columns can be found at www.beingjewish.org.  Not only do I give you permissions to copy these Jewish Email columns...I HOPE YOU WILL and that you share them with others!  All I ask is that you never charge anyone for them and that you also include this little copyright notice.  Thank You!

Thanks,
Gil