BARI WEISS SUBSTACK
Jew vs. Jew
by Gabriel Katz
November 28, 2021

Ask most American Jews what Hanukkah is about and they’ll probably mention the miracle of the oil lasting for eight nights. Or playing with dreidels. Or snacking on jelly doughnuts. But the true story of Hanukkah, which begins tonight, is far darker. The old joke is that most Jewish holidays can be summed up by the following: They tried to kill us. They failed. Let’s eat. Hanukkah, though, is not only about Jews being oppressed by outside forces. It is also about intramural Jewish conflict—in this case a bloody civil war. READ MORE