Soon-to-be Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted this Hanukkah greeting tonight, including a “beautiful reminder” from Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg that “We know now, better than ever, that we have to make the miracles ourselves”:
Hanukkah Sameach to our loved Jewish families + neighbors in the Bronx, Queens and across the country!
May our hearts fill up with light, hope, and strength over the next eight days.
And thank you, Rabbi Ruttenberg, for this beautiful reminder. https://t.co/lZoVKXmW4p
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Ocasio2018) December 2, 2018
The only problem is that this “beautiful reminder” is actually the last tweet in a thread that compared President Trump to Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the ruler of the Seleucid Empire whom the Maccabees revolted against in the Hanukkah story. Get it? Trump is a tyrant, too!
THREAD ==>
Here's a lil' thread about Hanukah and the Trump Administration. 1/x
In 175 B. C., an insecure, despotic ruler came to power. He was narcissistic and known for a level of extravagance and display that bordered on the bizarre.
— Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg (@TheRaDR) December 2, 2018
Despite his occasional ability to captivate his subjects by appearing gracious, he was said to have, in his heart, a cruel tyrant’s contempt for his subjects.
— Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg (@TheRaDR) December 2, 2018
Political positions under him were easily bought; he installed unqualified cronies in high positions and quickly turned on one if another offered him more money for the same job.
— Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg (@TheRaDR) December 2, 2018
He was quick to anger, and it wasn’t long into his reign that he began curtailing civil liberties, restricting the freedom of religion, and pillaging his subjects’ resources for his own profit.
— Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg (@TheRaDR) December 2, 2018
Antiochus IV Epiphanes seized rule illegitimately over the Seleucid Empire, incl Judea; the kingship was to have gone to his nephew, but he took it by force. Bribes drove his appointments of the high priest; he plundered the treasury of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem for its gold.
— Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg (@TheRaDR) December 2, 2018
In a fury about a humiliating loss in Egypt, he cracked down in Judea, outlawing observance of the Sabbath and ritual circumcision and defiling the temple by erecting an altar to Zeus there, complete with pig sacrifice.
— Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg (@TheRaDR) December 2, 2018
He sent his officers to slay and destroy, with an agenda that was less about Hellenism — that is, the demand that the Judeans assimilate into the kingdom’s dominant Greek-influenced culture — than it was about denationalization, a full eradication of their way of life.
— Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg (@TheRaDR) December 2, 2018
The parallels to U.S. politics are hard to ignore. The questions about Trump's illegal rise to power, stacking the administration with people who benefit his purse; the kleptocracy, collusion with brutal regimes; assaults on civil liberties and human rights.
— Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg (@TheRaDR) December 2, 2018
He has sacked the Temple of our democracy and social safety nets. He's been trying to destroy us entirely.
— Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg (@TheRaDR) December 2, 2018
Antiochus’s regime was, needless to say, terrifying and devastating for the Judeans, who had to decide whether to be martyred — as many were — or to submit to his demands.
— Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg (@TheRaDR) December 2, 2018
A small handful of zealots chose a third option, however, protesting his decrees and the complicity of some of their fellow Judeans. After an initial skirmish, the Maccabees ran for the hills and, soon, were engaged in all-out warfare with the massive Seleucid army.
— Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg (@TheRaDR) December 2, 2018
They were outmanned and underarmed; many of the Maccabean soldiers didn’t even have swords and armor. But they made use of their superior knowledge of their terrain: They were light, quick and mobile, relying on ambush techniques and superior tactical skill.
— Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg (@TheRaDR) December 2, 2018
Slowly, painstakingly, they beat back the Seleucids and eventually gained their freedom.
— Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg (@TheRaDR) December 2, 2018
They held fast to their ideals and pushed back against the narrative that their faith was a just target for oppression. Their smart thinking and intimate knowledge of their own country was enough to outmaneuver a government bent on maintaining power through force.
— Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg (@TheRaDR) December 2, 2018
This administration has forced us to become smarter and savvier than we had been, to be resourceful and make use of all the assets we have — perhaps not by hiding in caves but by building coalitions, developing protest strategies, creating novel uses for technology.
— Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg (@TheRaDR) December 2, 2018
We have had to become quick, light and strategically flawless, and we have had to settle in for the long haul. We killed the midterms, but we still have Trump in office, a GOP senate and two stolen SCOTUS seats to contend with. We're not done.
— Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg (@TheRaDR) December 2, 2018
But we have done extraordinary work, and Hanukah is a time to pause and both celebrate the resistance and bravery of the last two years, and to fill up with light as we recommit to the work that lies ahead for us.
— Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg (@TheRaDR) December 2, 2018
We know now, better than ever, that we have to make the miracles ourselves.
— Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg (@TheRaDR) December 2, 2018
She’s really not having a good day.
***
Related:
'Very bad math': Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez blatantly misrepresents Nation article on Pentagon waste https://t.co/MbqJZ223Rg
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) December 2, 2018
Well DUH: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez accidentally made a case against ‘Medicare For All’ and she didn’t even realize it https://t.co/2j1tr61Vnt
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) December 2, 2018
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