How Hanukkah & Christmas Affirm the Jewish People’s Connection to the Land of Israel

 The December holiday season is in full swing, as Jews around the world celebrate Hanukkah and Christians gear up for Christmas festivities.

Although these holidays are observed by two separate religions, are celebrated according to two different calendars (Hanukkah is celebrated according to the Jewish calendar while Christmas is celebrated according to the Gregorian / Julian calendars), and commemorate two different religious events, both Hanukkah and Christmas have one thing in common: They highlight the Jewish people’s ancient connection to the Land of Israel.

Hanukkah & the Land of Israel  "In the week prior to the beginning of Hanukkah 2022, the Israeli Antiquities Authority announced that a recent dig in the Judean Desert had unearthed a trove of ancient coins dating back to the tumultuous period just prior to the Maccabean Revolt in 167 BCE.

"According to archaeology experts, this discovery is concrete evidence for the story told in the Book of Maccabees, of pious Jews fleeing to the desert to escape the persecution of the Seleucid Empire under Antiochus IV. 

"However, this cache of silver coins not only corroborates the Hanukkah story but, like the Hanukkah story itself, is further proof of the ancient ties of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel.

"The Hanukkah story is essentially a traveling map of the Land of Israel. The story opens as Mattathias and his sons begin their revolt against the Seleucids and their Hellenist allies in the town of Modi’in (located near the central Israeli city that bears the same name). 

"After the revolt was declared, the band of Jewish rebels (known as the Maccabees) fled to the Gofna hills (near the modern-day Jewish community of Beit El) in order to set up a paramilitary camp to be used as a base for their fight against the Seleucids. 

"From this camp, the Maccabees engaged in a number of battles from which they emerged victorious.". . .

Christmas & the Land of Israel  Just like the story of Hanukkah, the Christmas story also highlights the Jewish connection to the Land of Israel for thousands of years. 

"The story of the birth of Jesus, which Christmas celebrates, is based upon the words of the Gospels of Luke and Matthew and details the lives of a Jewish family in the Land of Israel at the turn of the first century CE.

"The narratives in both Luke and Matthew describe the birth of Jesus to Mary and Joseph, a Jewish couple, in the Judean city of Bethlehem. At the time, Bethlehem was thought to be a major source of agriculture for the nearby metropolis of Jerusalem, especially for produce and livestock that were brought as offerings to the Holy Temple.

"Following the birth of Jesus, the narratives of Luke and Matthew diverge, with the Gospel of Matthew having Jesus’s family escape to Egypt before returning to the Land of Israel and migrating to the Galilean city of Nazareth, while the Gospel of Luke has Jesus’s family ascend to the Holy Temple in Jerusalem before venturing on to Nazareth.". . .  Keep reading...

Celebrity-Backed Bail Reform Group Shuts Down Las Vegas Chapter After Bailing Man Who Shot Waiter 11 Times

 Breitbart

"A left-wing bail reform organization discontinued its Las Vegas chapter after it was sued for helping bail out a repeat offender who shot a restaurant worker 11 times nearly a week later.

"The Bail Project — which has celebrities Danny Glover, John Legend, and Richard Branson sitting on its advisory board — ceased its Sin City operations in early December and is currently restructuring, CBS affiliate KLAS reported, citing the organization.

"The shuttering of the non-profit organization comes after it became the subject of a lawsuit after posting a $3,000 bond in December 2021 for serial criminal Rashawn Gaston-Anderson, who was suspected of burglary at the time.

"Six days after being released, Gaston-Anderson shot restaurant worker Chengyan Wang 11 times at the Shanghai Plaza mall located in Las Vegas Chinatown.

"Gaston-Anderson, 24, was sentenced earlier this month to seven to 18 years in prison after reaching a plea deal to be convicted on charges of attempted robbery and mayhem, both with deadly weapon enhancements, NBC affiliate KSNV reported.

"Although Wang survived his injuries, he suffered seven gunshot wounds, including a punctured lung and stomach.

"In September, Wang filed a lawsuit against The Bail Project, Gaston-Anderson, and Shanghai Plaza owner U.S. Hui De Real Estate Investment Corp. of Law Vegas.

"Wang accuses The Bail Group of failing to consider Gaston-Anderson’s criminal history before they bonded him out, including his pending and past cases of “burglary of a business, carrying a concealed weapon without a permit, two counts of grand larceny and attempted grand larceny,” according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.". . .

Another Disturbing Video of 'Rachel' Levine Is Going Viral

PJ Mediia

"Earlier this month, an old video surfaced of Dr. Richard “Rachel” Levine, Joe Biden’s assistant secretary of health. The video, from the 2019 Annual Meeting of the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine in Washington, D.C., went viral because Levine inadvertently admitted everything wrong and predatorial about the transgender movement. Levine was secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Health at the time the video was made, but it was nevertheless a revealing video, exposing just how evil the movement is.

"On Monday, another video featuring Levine went viral, and it’s just as disturbing. It is not clear when the video was created, but it is a truly disturbing one that needs to be exposed.

"In the video, Levine discusses the need to censor what he believes to be “health misinformation,” and says that health professionals have “a critical role to play” in that effort.". . .

. . ."In the previous video that went viral featuring Levine, he acknowledges that had he “transitioned” as a young person it may have been quicker and easier, but that he would never have had the chance to have children. “I have no regrets because if I transitioned when I was young, then I wouldn’t have my children. I can’t imagine a life without my children,” he admitted.

"Levine clearly acknowledges that transitioning kids pushes them down a path to irreversible infertility. He wouldn’t trade his transitions later in life for his children, yet he’s not only advocating for young people to be mutilated and robbed of the joys of parenthood later in life, he’s also pushing for the censorship of voices who are speaking out against it—include us here a PJ Media.

"If Levine gets his way, our ability to speak out against the groomers targeting our children will be crushed.. . .*

Rachel Levine calls for big tech to censor “health misinformation” impacting “gender affirming care.” Says “gender affirming care” has a positive value for youth. pic.twitter.com/XdfyZknbuZ

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) December 26, 2022

MSNBC’s Melber: GOP Going After Hunter Biden Is a ‘Reach,’ ‘Not Classy’

 Breitbart  . . .Melber said, “When you look ahead and talk about Biden and the paradox that the midterms revealed late in the year is that Joe Biden is not super popular in any particularly measurable way, but he is a steady, trusted alternative to what you both have outlined here, which is the MAGA-fied Republican Party.”

He continued, “When you’re so MAGA-fied it’s hard to distinguish what you stand for and whether you are just MAGA-fied to the degree that people don’t want it. Again, I’m careful to point out that Biden’s not super popular and the Democrats, depending on how you ask the question, are not super popular. I say that by how far they have to reach to go after Biden, which is to go after one of his family members who is, A, not president, B, it’s not classy, and C, as we understand it, Hunter Biden has real problems, personal problems, documented drug addiction problems. I just don’t know how that plays with the rest of America who’s not a combatant and has these problems, and you make it about them. I want to show you a clip from the first press conference that was held after the Republican caucus won the House.”

During a press conference, Rep. James Comer (R-KY) said, “Numerous schemes involving the Biden family, reviewed Hunter Biden’s laptop, Hunter Biden’s business deals…Hunter Biden isn’t this innocent guy. We’re not trying to prove Hunter Biden is a bad actor. He is.”

"The sooner we get the FBI in order, the better. Now that’s a holiday gift I can certainly get behind."

 

Thanks to Elon, the FBI has a lot to answer for

. . ."But this goes much deeper than that. “The FBI... under the cover of saying they were pursuing foreign malign influence, had really exploded into activities that involved engaging with mainstream media and social media, and really impacting what is the normal debate of democracy. What’s really troubling here in my opinion is this is not based on intelligence.”

"I agree wholeheartedly. When you have a bureau that’s taking actions that could very well infringe the law that they’re sworn to uphold – for the sake of surveilling who they see as troublesome individuals -- it can’t be considered justice in the least. And with so many employees leaving and explaining the absolute hell they went through in their time there, I can’t help but wonder what director Christopher Wray and their team are really up to.". . .

What Will the FBI Not Do?   . . ."Comey, remember, memorialized a confidential conversation with President Trump on an FBI device and then used a third party to leak it to the New York Times. In his own words, the purpose was to force a special counsel appointment. The gambit worked, and his friend and predecessor Robert Mueller got the job. Twenty months and $40 million later, Mueller’s investigation tore the country apart but could find no evidence that Trump, as Steele alleged, colluded with the Russians to throw the 2016 election. 

"Comey also seems to have reassured the president that he was not the target of an ongoing FBI investigation, when in fact, Trump was.

"Comey was never indicted for either misleading or lying to a congressional committee or leaking a document variously considered either confidential or classified.". . . 

Why Did We Let Stupid People Run America?

"Thomas Sowell is an American intellectual treasure whose words need wider recognition" Comment to this post

What Will the FBI Not Do? Who watches the watchers?

What, if anything, should the people do about a once-respected law enforcement agency that repeatedly smears its critics, most recently as “conspiracy theorists”?

 

AF Branco 

Victor Davis Hanson  "The FBI on Wednesday finally broke its silence and responded to the revelations on Twitter of close ties between the bureau and the social media giant—ties that included efforts to suppress information and censor political speech. 

“The correspondence between the FBI and Twitter show nothing more than examples of our traditional, longstanding and ongoing federal government and private sector engagements, which involve numerous companies over multiple sectors and industries,” the bureau said in a statement. “As evidenced in the correspondence, the FBI provides critical information to the private sector in an effort to allow them to protect themselves and their customers. The men and women of the FBI work every day to protect the American public. It is unfortunate that conspiracy theorists and others are feeding the American public misinformation with the sole purpose of attempting to discredit the agency.” 

"Almost all of the FBI communique is untrue, except the phrase about the bureau’s “engagements which involve numerous companies over multiple sectors and industries.” 

"Future disclosures will no doubt reveal similar FBI subcontracting with other social media concerns of Silicon Valley to stifle free expression and news deemed problematic to the FBI’s agenda. 

"The FBI did not merely engage in “correspondence” with Twitter to protect the company and its “customers.” Instead, it effectively hired Twitter to suppress the free expression of some of its users, as well as news stories deemed unhelpful to the Biden campaign and administration—to the degree that the bureau’s requests sometimes even exceeded those of Twitter’s own left-wing censors.

"The FBI did not wish to help Twitter “to protect themselves [sic],” given the bureau’s Twitter liaisons were often surprised at the FBI’s bold requests to suppress the expression of those who had not violated Twitter’s own admittedly biased “terms of service” and “community standards.”. . .

FBI Confirms Payments To Twitter…

FLASHBACK: That Time When Joe Biden Was Tricked Into Saying 'Let's Go Brandon'

 PJ Media  "A year ago today, Joe and Jill Biden did a video call into NORAD to see where Santa is and to speak with kids before Christmas. One particular call remains the most memorable exchange from this historical event.

 '“I hope you have a wonderful Christmas,” Biden told the father of the children at the end of the call.

“ 'I hope you guys have a wonderful Christmas as well,” he replied. “Merry Christmas and Let’s go, Brandon.”

“ 'Let’s go, Brandon. I agree,” Biden said in response.

"The video still makes me laugh.

It still seems unlikely that Joe Biden’s handlers have kept him so safe that he didn’t know what “Let’s go, Brandon” meant. It was widely believed that Biden skipped the Army-Navy football game last year to avoid chants of “Let’s go, Brandon,” which, as I’m sure you all remember, became a national story after an NBC reporter claimed she “misheard” chants of “F—k Joe Biden!” at the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Talladega.". . .

A Vapid Biden Christmas?

For the Orthodox and Catholics, Christmas is deeply personal and religious. There is none of the childhood lore in services; the Gospel dominates. Advent and the birth of our Lord is the beginning of the liturgical year. 

 American Greatness  "Nothing is special about Christmas at the White House this year. In fact, not all the Bidens are represented in their Christmas decorations as the family continually ignores one of their grandchildren—Navy Jones Roberts. There is more of a representation to dogs and cats than bloodline this year. This is not a family who cares about family. Even mafias treat their own better.

"When Jill Biden gave her overview of the White House Christmas decor, there was nothing special about it. It was all secular praise. Except for the end of her speech when she (finally!) mentioned God’s blessings as if an afterthought, her speech only recognized the temporal. At least there are no decorations of Chinese communist despots, as there were during the Obama Administration. With Biden, we have to lower our expectations.

"Biden’s Christmas message was full of . . . nothing. It was a word salad of pablum: “And we look to the sky, to a lone star, shining brighter than all the rest, guiding us to the birth of a child—a child Christians believe to be the son of God; miraculously now, here among us on Earth, bringing hope, love and peace and joy to the world . . . Yes, even after 2,000 years, Christmas still has the power to lift us up, to bring us together, to change lives, to change the world.” . . .

. . ."Now even the wholesome Santa Claus mythology is passing from us. We ran the Church out of public discourse long ago. Today we are bumping up against uncharted territory where “science” is our god, man is poised to be remade into man 2.0, and the Bidens are fully on board with this program. But as a wise man once noted, “Science without morals degenerates into cynicism, and thus destroys the basis of the scientific effort itself; and morals without science degenerates into superstition and thus is apt to become fanatic cruelty.” This is where “progress” has led us.". . .

Jan 6th; There Certainly Was an Insurrection, But Not by Trump

Brian C. Joondeph  Beginning Jan. 6, 2021,  the government-media deep state cabal sharply pivoted from accusing President Donald Trump of “colluding with the Russians to steal the 2016 presidential election” to “incitement of insurrection,” a charge for which he was impeached a second time and now the farcical January 6 committee is recommending criminal charges.

Britannica defines insurrection as,

An organized and usually violent act of revolt or rebellion against an established government or governing authority of a nation-state or other political entity by a group of its citizens or subjects.

As for Trump’s supposed role, in his January 6 speech, he promoted the First Amendment’s protections of “freedom of speech and assembly” and “the right to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

Here are his exact words, "I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard."

Trump went further tweeting, “I am asking for everyone at the U.S. Capitol to remain peaceful. No violence!” How exactly was this a call for a violent overthrow of the government?

This was not a call for violence, revolt, or rebellion. In fact, President Trump authorized National Guard troops, but only Speaker Pelosi or D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser could order deployment. And neither did. The January 6 Commission ignored this.

Capitol Police welcomed protesters inside the U.S. Capitol building, and the only death was at the hands of a Capitol Police officer, fatally shooting an unarmed female military veteran.

Leaked Document Exposes EU’s Secret Plan for Palestinian Authority Takeover of Judea and Samaria

Legal Insurrection

"A newly-leaked European Union document has exposed a clandestine plan to expand the Palestinian control over Judea and Samaria.

"The 6-page confidential policy document, reportedly written by the EU mission in East Jerusalem, shows the European bloc’s intent to help Palestinians gain full control of Judea and Samaria, even the areas inhabited by Israeli Jews.

"Judea and Samaria, also referred to in the media as the West Bank, was split into three “Areas” under the Oslo Accords of 1993. The Area A is to be exclusively administered by the Palestinian Authority (PA), the Area B jointly by the PA and Israel, and the Area C by Israel. The Area C is home to some 400,000 Israelis.

"Citing the leaked EU document, the news agency Jewish News Syndicate noted that ” Brussels is actively working with and on behalf of the Palestinian Authority to take over Area C of Judea and Samaria, with the overall objective of integrating the region with Areas A and B.”

"The EU also wants to undermine the historic Jewish claim to the biblical land. “The six-page document calls for mapping the territory in order to prove Palestinian rights to the land and monitoring Israeli archaeological activity, as ancient Jewish ties reinforce Israeli claims,” the JNS noted. (Read excerpts of the EU document summed up by the JNS here.)". . .

Christmas 1944: The Battle of the Bulge

Legal Insurrection

Heroism on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in the snow and cold in the Ardennes Forest.

. . .

"Here’s an excerpt from his story (emphasis added):

In December 1944, Ginther became one of the 23,000 Americans captured or missing by the end of the Battle of the Bulge, Germany’s final and ultimately unsuccessful offensive on the Western Front.

He began a 150-mile march into Germany 67 years ago this month. He remembers feeling humbled in defeat, even more so as the POWs met German artillery pulled by horses or one truck pulling another on its way to the front….

The column of POWs passed through a countryside devastated by war and damaged by Allied bombing. At one village, the POWs had to clear rubble so German artillery could pass through. An American bomber pilot joined the prisoner ranks.

“The people seemed to be more hostile to airmen, whom they blamed for being bombed,” Ginther said.

Germans harassed the downed pilot. They’d rush the sides of the column, trying to grab him.

The villagers were starving, exhausted and angry.

When the hostility was at its worst, all the prisoners had reason to be afraid — though none so much as the captured bomber pilot.

Yet at that moment, an American in the ranks began singing “Silent Night.”

“Pretty soon the Germans were singing ‘Silent Night’ too, so it calmed things down,” Ginther said. “Halfway through the first verse, you could hear the German words, too.”

If not for the song, which for one moment brought a measure of peace to a one small corner of Germany, “I don’t really know what would have happened,” he said. “The guards would have tried, I guess, to protect him.”. . .

 THE WERETH 11, A LITTLE-KNOWN MASSACRE DURING THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE

"WASHINGTON – As we near the 69th anniversary of one of the decisive battles in Europe during World War II, U.S. Reps. Jim Gerlach (PA-6th District) and Chaka Fattah (PA-2nd District) have introduced a resolution that would formally recognize the valor and sacrifice of 11 black soldiers captured, tortured and ruthlessly executed by Nazi troops in a pasture in Wereth, Belgium on the second day of the Battle of the Bulge.

"The resolution, H. Con. Res. 68, also calls on the U.S. Senate’s Armed Services Committee to revise a 1949 subcommittee report to include an appropriate recognition of the massacre of the 11 black soldiers of the 333rd Field Artillery Battalion of the U.S. Army who were beaten, stabbed and shot multiple times at the hands of their Nazi captors almost seven decades ago on December 17, 1944. The original subcommittee report documented a dozen similar massacres during the Battle of the Bulge, but did not include any reference to the killings in Wereth.". . .

The Wereth Eleven   

*

History – U.S. Memorial Wereth