As Jews around the world light Hanukkah menorahs this week, they commemorate what may be the most explicitly Zionist holiday in the Jewish calendar. The story of Hanukkah recounts the Maccabean Revolt of the second century C.E. After the Seleucid Greeks sought to suppress Jewish religious practice and identity, Jews fought to reclaim sovereignty in their homeland. The Maccabees’ wanted the Jews to have independence in the land of Judea so that they could worship God according to the dictates of their conscience. In other words, Hanukkah is a celebration of religious liberty and Jewish national liberation. The Jewish people survived two millennia of statelessness, persecution, pogroms, expulsions and a holocaust by maintaining a deep connection to these biblical roots—a lesson America must heed in its time of political turmoil. Even in times of darkness—including in defiance of the Nazi regime—the menorah’s light served as a beacon of hope and resilience, a reminder of the miracle of Jewish endurance against all odds. During Hanukkah in 1931, Rabbi Akiva Posner’s family placed a menorah in the window—an outward sign of their faith. Through the panes, a swastika flag is seen on a Nazi Party office. The family fled Nazi Germany in 1933 with the candleholder. Their descendants still light it. pic.twitter.com/VmEJ8RiNkQ— US Holocaust Museum (@HolocaustMuseum) December 25, 2024 Today, just as the Jewish state draws strength from its ancient connections to the Land and God of Israel, America will flourish only if we remain committed to the Judeo-Christian heritage that forms our nation’s foundation. At its core, Zionism is the belief that Jews have the right to self-determination in the ancient Jewish homeland of Israel, where Jews have maintained a continuous presence for more than 3,300 years. While Theodor Herzl established a formal Zionist political movement in the 1890s, the Zionist aspiration is as old as the Jewish people itself and foundational to Judaism. Heritage Senior Research Fellow @EVKontorovich testified before the House Middle East and North Africa Subcommittee and explained why Judea and Samaria fall within Israel’s borders and why arguments that they are the legally mandated borders of any other state have no merit. pic.twitter.com/ndyOEuBFpe— Heritage Foundation (@Heritage) December 10, 2025 It begins with God promising the Land of Israel to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, which was fulfilled in the wake of the Israelites’ Exodus from Egypt. Following the Roman destruction of the Second Temple in 70 C.E., the yearning to return to home and rebuild the Temple has been woven into the fabric of Jewish ritual and liturgy. Every Passover seder and Yom Kippur service conclude with “Next year in Jerusalem.” Jews also pray facing Jerusalem. Despite nearly 2,000 years of exile, the Jewish people’s enduring commitment to their foundational story and principles provides the foundation for Israel’s resilience today. This same story of Jewish perseverance inspired the men and women who built America. As our Heritage Foundation colleague Katie Pavlich recently observed, the “history of America and Israel didn’t start in 1948. It goes back to 1776, when American rebels looked to the Promised Land, its foundational story, and were inspired to reject the British Empire in pursuit of their own nation.” Benjamin Franklin’s proposal for America’s Great Seal would have depicted Moses extending his hand over the Red Sea causing it to overwhelm Pharoah, encircled by the motto: “Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God.” Rendering of Franklin’s proposed Great Seal by Benson J. Lossing for Harper’s New Monthly Magazine in July 1856. Likewise, in a letter to the Hebrew Congregation of Savannah in 1790, newly elected President George Washington drew parallels between America’s founding and the Israelites’ exodus, invoking “the same wonder-working Deity, who long since delivered the Hebrews from their Egyptian oppressors, planted them in a promised land, whose providential agency has lately been conspicuous in establishing these United States as an independent nation.” John Adams went even further. In a remarkable letter to the Jewish American patriot Mordecai Manuel Noah, Adams expressed explicit support for Jewish restoration to their homeland. “I could find it in my heart to wish that you had been at the head of a hundred thousand Israelites indeed as well disciplin’d as a French army—& marching with them into Judea & making a conquest of that country & restoring your nation to the dominion of it—For I really wish the Jews again in Judea an independent nation.” Adams’ sympathy for Jewish sovereignty reflected his profound respect for the Jews. He maintained they “have done more to civilize Men than any other Nation,” as the Jews had preserved and propagated “to all Mankind the Doctrine of a Supreme intelligent wise, almighty Sovereign of the Universe,” which he held to be “the great essential Principle of all Morality and consequently of all Civilization.” Indeed, the concepts of covenant, rule of law, limited government, human dignity and justice that shape the American constitutional order stem from the biblical tradition. They are not arbitrary human constructs, but principles derived from the understanding that human beings are endowed by our Creator with inherent dignity and purpose. Our country’s founders saw themselves as building on a foundation laid in ancient Israel, and drew from Hebrew scripture for models of governance and moral law. At the unveiling of the Pilgrimage Road at the City of David in Jerusalem earlier this year, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio observed, “It was here that God fulfilled His promise to His people.. that the lessons that formed the base rock and the foundations of our laws, of the principles upon which we decide what is right and what is wrong, was built upon. If you think about the things that today we, in civilized societies, use as rules to govern us, these things did not come because good people wrote them. They came because they were rooted in ancient teachings.” The parallel between Israel and America is instructive. The Jewish state flourishes because of its people’s connection to their ancient heritage and founding principles. Similarly, America’s strength depends on our faithfulness to the principles that shaped our founding. Those who seek to cut America off from its Judeo-Christian roots would destroy the tree of liberty itself. Just as a tree severed from its roots cannot long survive, nor, too, can a nation that abandons its founding principles. The light of the Hanukkah menorah reminds us of a timeless truth. It reminds us thata people who maintain their connection to their roots will endure and flourish. The story of Israel and the Jewish people demonstrate this truth. America must learn—or relearn—the same lesson. Our strength and our future depend on remaining faithful to the Judeo-Christian heritage that made us a beacon of freedom and human dignity to the world. The post A Hanukkah Lesson for America: Without Our Roots, the Tree of Liberty Dies appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Just to get this out of the way, I find the mere concept of "Color of the Year" incredibly stupid. But it takes a particularly special brand of stupid to then get offended over such an absurd concept. And, well, you're not going to find a more special brand of stupid...

Two Muslim attackers opened fire at a Jewish even in Australia today, leaving at least 11 dead and 27 injured, including two police officers. One man, a hero, actually ran up to . . .

This year, Catholics in Massachusetts are protesting President Donald Trump’s immigration policies by swapping “Away in a Manger” for “Away With the Manger.” This marks yet another instance of Trump opponents weaponizing the Christmas story to demonize immigration enforcement by claiming Jesus was a refugee and suggesting Immigration and Customs Enforcement would have arrested and deported the Christ child in the manger. The Catholic priest at St. Susanna Parish in Dedham, Massachusetts, set up a classic nativity scene with shepherds, sheep, wise men, and … a sign reading “ICE was here” in the place where Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus would normally be. While the Catholic leadership opposed this “divisive political messaging,” the Rev. Stephen Josoma blamed the Trump administration for any division. Meanwhile, Lake Street Church of Evanston, Illinois, put baby Jesus in zip ties and an emergency blanket, and placed gas masks on the faces of Mary and Joseph. The church said this symbolizes the conditions of ICE detention facilities and the use of tear gas on “peaceful protesters, journalists, and community members advocating for immigration reform.” “The Holy Family were refugees,” the church posted on Facebook. “By witnessing this familiar story through the reality faced by migrants today, we hope to restore its radical edge, and to ask what it means to celebrate the birth of a refugee child while turning away those who follow in that child’s footsteps.” Was Jesus a Refugee? These strained analogies rest on a kernel of truth. According to Matthew 2:13-23, an angel appeared to Joseph, warning him to flee to Egypt because King Herod the Great aimed to kill Jesus. Herod ordered the slaughter of male children in Bethlehem, but Jesus survived in Egypt. God sent another angel to Joseph later, advising him to return to Israel because “those who sought the child’s life are dead.” Jesus arguably fit the definition of a refugee: someone forced to leave his or her country to escape war or persecution. However, anyone seeking to tie Jesus’ sojourn in Egypt to the plight of refugees or illegal aliens in America today will at once encounter a plethora of problems. Herod, the king who sought to kill Jesus, owed his position to the Roman Senate. Jesus fled Roman-ruled Judea to reside in Roman-ruled Egypt, and then returned to Roman-ruled Judea. Politically, Jesus’ flight to Egypt resembles a conservative family fleeing New York for Florida, or a liberal family moving from Texas to Illinois, more than it does a Somali refugee seeking asylum in the U.S. Jesus did not immigrate to Egypt and did not seek to become a citizen there. Furthermore, the Roman Empire at the time did not grant most of the population the right to vote, and it did not award government benefits to Jewish refugees in Egypt. Modern Western democratic welfare states need to regulate immigration more heavily than ancient empires did, partly because immigrants and refugees often claim benefits from the public purse, and these aliens may also seek to influence politics by voting or other means. Merely shouting, “Jesus was a refugee!” does nothing to address the serious concerns that illegal immigration poses. Caring for ‘The Least of These’ Christians should, of course, heed the Matthew 25 parable in which Jesus says God will reward us for helping “the least of these.” We should care for the sick, feed the hungry, and clothe the naked, to the best of our ability. These commands to love our neighbor do not extend to using the force of the state to redistribute funds, however. Jesus calls on us to love our neighbors, not to bully our neighbors into forking over cash so the government can then serve other neighbors. That parable urges us to see Jesus in the least fortunate, and Christians are right to provide aid to those who are struggling. That doesn’t mean, however, that we must sacrifice national sovereignty or oppose the enforcement of immigration law. In our globalized world, Christians can and should help those in other countries before they seek to enter the U.S., and it would be grotesque for Christians to prioritize aid for those who violated the law to come to America over legal immigrants or the poor people who are still struggling in their own countries. Contrary to the suggestion of the Evanston church, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph were not political activists. Yes, Jesus came to usher in a new kingdom—but when the Jews sought to make him a king, he refused. Jesus did not set himself up as a political leader. Rather, he and his followers urged Jews and Christians to pay their taxes and to submit to the ruling authorities, knowing that the spiritual freedom of the gospel matters far more than any political cause. Jesus knew of political movements against Roman oppression, and he did not endorse them. Jesus’ decision not to lead a political rebellion against Rome likely contributed to the Jewish leaders’ scheme to have him executed. None of this is to say that Christians cannot support political causes, but it does mean that Mary and Joseph likely would not have joined the agitators who seek to block ICE from enforcing immigration law. Perhaps more importantly, ICE would not have removed Jesus from the manger—any more than it would remove conservative New Yorkers from Florida or liberal Texans from Illinois. Christmas is about the birth of Jesus, not an excuse to demonize law enforcement. It’s high time for St. Susanna Parish to put the Christ child back in the center of the nativity scene where he belongs. The post Would ICE Have Deported Jesus at Christmas? appeared first on The Daily Signal.