they were torah-belt hebrews
down from the galilean hills
to stuff orthodoxy or their unsparing version of it
into hebrew mouths
while lopping off remaining
hebrew foreskins.
why i am a maccabbee
even though i'm not
because they fought for self-determination
against a cosmopolitan empire
because though their cause was wrong
their cause was right
let's face it
their revolt against the greeks
led to the hasmoneans, herod etc.
a dynasty of toadies for none other than greeks and romans the
maccabbees opposed
why i can celebrate hanuka
though
is the way the holiday was softened and transformed over
jewish history
the long history may i remind of you of galut, Jewish exile
songs and traditions grew up around hanuka that had nothing
to do with apocalyptic war
i was raised up with some of these
as transplanted from the old to the new world
vis a vis pogroms and the long circuit of Jewish history
and warmed to them
so i can celebrate Hanukkah
diseased as it my be
by now
at the root
with
christmas
with which it shares nothing
but a winter season
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