The Chanukah Story

Chanukah is about being willing to die rather than assimilate (and then winning), and if you’re uncomfortable with that, I hope you like what they did to your ancestors’ tree-worshiping solstice festival.

Really, this should be stronger. It’s about the victory of people willing to KILL rather than assimilate — even to kill THEIR OWN PEOPLE who WERE willing to assimilate. You don’t have to endorse that to consider what it would be like for your culture to matter that much to you.

This intensified take is meant to incorporate the fact that there are probably more Jews uncomfortable about the Chanukah story than Christians — like, in absolute numbers, not proportionally — and I think that’s kind of a beautiful illustration of the truth of Chanukah.