Forget Friday's Stock Market - Instead, Happy Hanukkah!
Thanksgiving Friday was an ugly for the stock market. It gave Black Friday a new meaning. As you know, "Black" Friday got its name from the retail industry. It refers to the fact that, many if not most retail businesses rely on the revenue from the coming Christmas Season to turn the year's bottom line black.
Of course, with our current supply chain problems, black may prove elusive for some businesses. If they can't get the product to sell, then no sales. No sales, no revenue.
We'll see how that all plays out, just as we'll see if Friday was a harbinger of bigger trouble in the markets.
Meanwhile, the eight days of Hanukkah begin tonight.
If you don’t already know the story, it’s told in dramatic detail in two books of the Old Testament, 1 Maccabees and 2 Maccabees. We find there a recounting of the martyrdom of Hannah and her seven children, who courageously chose torture and death to denying their Jewish Faith. We feel the oppression of the pagan conquerors who ultimately demanded that the Israelites reject their faith along with the sacred customs that preserved it for centuries. Eventually, we’re thrilled by the story of the brothers Maccabees. Under the great warrior brother, Judah the Strong, they lead the faithful Israelites against their oppressors. Heavily outnumbered and against all odds, after many battles, they finally expel the Syrians and their allies from God’s Promised Land. In triumph, they rededicate the Temple, which had been desecrated by pagan oppressors who had looted its treasures and sacred objects and installed their false gods.
(You can find a more detailed account, albeit more succinct than the two books of Maccabees, HERE.)
All of this took place in the 2nd century BC, less than 200 years before the Birth of Christ, which we will celebrate in less than a month.
Whatever your religious background, ALL of us can be inspired by this true story of an oppressed people throwing off the yolk of the oppressor.
George Frederick Handel composed an Oratorio that captures this story in all its drama. While most of us are familiar with Messiah, Handel wrote many Oratorios, among them Judas Maccabaeus. Here is a link to the famous chorus praising the triumphant hero, Judah, as he enters a liberated Jerusalem.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eM6nw8L5YnU
If you have a few moments, you can celebrate this liberation from oppression along with the “Youths,” the “Virgins,” finally the whole chorus of Israelites. Here are the words:
(Youths)
See, the conqu'ring hero comes!
Sound the trumpets! Beat the drums!
Sports prepare! The laurel bring!
Songs of triumph to him sing!
(Virgins)
See the godlike youth advance!
Breathe the flutes and lead the dance!
Myrtle wreaths and roses twine
to deck the hero's brow divine!
(Israelites)
See, the conqu'ring hero comes!
Sound the trumpets! Beat the drums!
Sports prepare! The laurel bring!
Songs of triumph to him sing!
See, the conqu'ring hero comes!
Sound the trumpets! Beat the drums!
Happy Hanukkah to all!
Comments