Every generation has its Maccabees. Consider the late Uri Avnery, one of the champions of the Arab cause in the Land of Israel over the past several decades. Shortly before serving in the Haganah 's "Foxes of Samson" Brigade during the War of Independence, he was witness to the Jewish leaders' consent to the partition of Eretz Yisrael. In his terrible disappointment at this development, he wrote and publicized a poem that would not have shamed the post-Yom Kippur War Gush Emunim movement. He wrote this:
We have sworn allegiance to you, our homeland / on the day of your bitter degradation. / You will arise from the dust great and united. / The cruel wound will fester in the heart of your sons / until your banners are borne aloft / from the sea to the desert.
Following close in his ideological footsteps of that time was the radically left-wing Al HaMishmar newspaper, which also could not contain its instinctive nationalism. Commenting on the resignation of then-Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion, the paper wrote, "He did not quit on his own; he was all but forced out in light of and as a result of the worsening crisis caused by his failed 'anti-nationalist' policy…" Note the word "anti-nationalist;" 60 years ago, even the radical left here was nationalist.
The legendary Ben-Gurion, Israel's first and longest-serving prime minister, said the following at the dedication ceremony of the Mossad Harav Kook research foundation and publishing house in 1953: "The Land of Israel is a place of miracles. Whoever lives here in the State of Israel and does not believe in miracles, is not a realist."
When Ben-Gurion appeared before college students in Los Angeles three months before the Six Day War, he was asked by an Arab student, "When you appear before your Creator one day many years from now, He will ask you by what right you expelled Arabs, took their property and settled in their houses. What will you tell Him?" Ben-Gurion did not hesitate: "I will tell Him, 'You promised this land 4,000 years ago to Avraham, Yitzchak, Yaakov and their descendants after them, and we simply fulfilled Your promise.'"
As we say in our Chanukah prayers: "Regarding the miracles of the days of yore, in today's times." There is no question that a Jew living in Israel but who has detached himself, or has been detached against his will, from the roots of traditional Jewish culture, cannot understand why and wherefore we are fighting so tenaciously for this piece of real estate, Eretz Yisrael. How can he, given his lack of regard for Jewish tradition, and without the term "Israeli nationalism" in his lexicon? And if such a person lives in the lands of the depressing Exile, it is just a question of time before he finds his children or grandchildren assimilating and losing their Jewish identity altogether.
The Maccabees of today, on the other hand, are those who are inexorably linked to the Torah of Israel and all its instructions. They actualize, in their daily spiritual and material lives, all that is indicated by its study and guidance – including, of course, the laws pertaining to the construction and administration of a Jewish state, a Jewish army, education, settlement, economics, industry and development. This was precisely the situation with the Maccabees (Hashmonaim) over 2,000 years ago, when they freed themselves from the yoke of the anti-Torah Greek regime and built a Torah state.
In order to continue winning, we must remember the words of Winston Churchill to the British Parliament after having been offered the King's commission to become Prime Minister amidst a fateful and horrific war with Nazi Germany: "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat." We must have total dedication and great self-sacrifice to help us overcome the enemies who continue to seek our destruction, he continued.
What was true then is true today. He who wishes to ignite others with his passion must be "on fire" himself. Thank G-d, we are truly aflame with the desire to sanctify the Name of Heaven in everything we do. We must not fear those who have strayed from the path of truth, or those who hate us because we state the truth.
And those who claim to lead us must be, even before all their other talents, modest and humble, as were our Patriarch Avraham, Moshe our Teacher, and David our King.