Freedom of religion is certainly a privilege for which we all have to be thankful. Chanukah is the perfect occasion for celebrating this freedom. In the special "Al Hanissim" Prayer that we add on Chanukah to our regular daily prayers and grace after meals we recall what the wicked Hellenist Greeks tried to inflict upon our ancestors. They made an effort to force assimilation upon them by causing them to forget the Torah and to follow this by abandoning their fulfillment of the G-dly commands.
We thank G-d for enabling Matityahu, the Kohen gadol, and his courageous sons to lead a small band of faithful Jews to achieve a miraculous victory over superior forces and to thus regain freedom to practice their religion.
This triumph over human
We thank G-d for enabling Matityahu, the Kohen gadol, and his courageous sons to lead a small band of faithful Jews to achieve a miraculous victory over superior forces and to thus regain freedom to practice their religion.
This triumph over human