November 28, 2013
OF COURSE THE ASSIMILATION WAS EASY...:
Forget about Thanksgivukkah, let's talk Hanukkah : The clash of two holidays this year highlights the struggle between Jewish exceptionalism and assimilation (MICHAEL BERNSTEIN, November 28, 2013, Times of Israel)
Part of the miracle of Hanukkah in America could be the miracle of assimilation -- not assimilation as a measure of an individual getting lost in the larger culture, but as an opportunity to incorporate key elements of the larger culture while remaining strongly and unabashedly Jewish.It is incredible that a relatively small people could survive for so many generations, transmitting sacred creeds, texts and practices. Yet our survival was not accomplished by remaining pure and separate but by embracing the possibilities in society as a whole.In America, Hanukkah, once synonymous with zealous religious practice, now takes its turn standing for religious freedom and justice.
...precisely because we universalized the exceptionalism.
Posted by Orrin Judd at November 28, 2013 11:56 AM
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