Year End Reflections, Part VI (And A Look Back, Part B)

When talking about Jews fighting back, it is impossible to ignore the upcoming Jewish holiday of Chanukah (or Hanukkah), which begins this Sunday at sundown.  The celebration of Chanukah is based on events of some 2100+ years ago.  As occurred throughout much of history, various entities ruled over the Middle East and what is now modern day Israel.  Going back to the second century BCE (aka BC) the Seleucid Greeks ruled the area, led by Antiochus.  Antiochus forbade the teaching of the Torah.  He expected everyone to conform to the Greek Hellenic culture and religion.  But the Jews would not have it.

Led by Mattathias, and then his son Judah Maccabee, they revolted against the powerful Greek army.  Again outnumbered, the Jews succeeded in recapturing Jerusalem and the Second Temple.  The Temple had been desecrated with false idols/Greek gods, and the oil had been made impure.  In order to light the menorah in the Temple, the Jews found just enough pure oil to last for one night.  Miraculously, the oil lasted for eight nights.  To this day, Jews light the menorah for eight nights - celebrating our victory from persecution and oppression.  

On Sunday night Jews will light one candle, on Monday two candles, and so on until eight candles are lit on the last night of Chanukah.  But every night we first light the shamash, a candle that is used to light the other candles.  And every night there is a new shamash to light that night's candles.  The nightly candles reflect the holiness of the holiday, while the shamash performs the work of lighting the other candles.

While lighting the candles, we say three prayers on the first night.  On the other nights just two.  The first night has an extra prayer unrelated to Chanukah.  It is a prayer said at all the holidays, thanking G-d for bringing us to this season.  After the candles are lit, many sing Mo-Oz Tsur - Rock of Ages, thanking G-d for the many times he has protected his people Israel. 

As with all of the Jewish holidays, we celebrate Chanukah with certain foods.  Most people know about the latkes - potato pancakes.  Fried in oil, of course, to help us remember the miracle of the oil.  I love eating the latkes with apple sauce, although some prefer sour cream.  Unfortunately, as I have gotten older, fried foods do not agree with me so much.  So, it's usually just one or two latkes for me.  The other food associated with Chanukah is sufganiyot - jelly doughnuts.  Fried in oil, of course.  I'm lucky to make it through one entire doughnut.  

So, we Jews are fighters.  As everyone knows, Jews had to fight again most recently on October 7, 2023, and ever since.  While much of the world criticizes the Jews for fighting back, I do not.  I support Israel and the Jewish people.  Whether it's Antiochus, Hitler, Hamas, or the many others, we understand that there are always those who want to kill us.  Sadly, we even see it now throughout the Western world, including in the United States.  But the Jewish people live.  The people of Israel live.  Am Yisrael Chai! 

Year End Reflections, Part V (And A Look Back, Part A)

We Jews are fighters.  And I don't just mean with each other.  In the 1930's, the German American Bund was growing in numbers.  The Bund supported Hitler - they were Nazis here in America.  A Jewish New York Judge, Nathan Perlman, was not happy about the Bund's growing influence in New York.  He contacted Meyer Lansky, a well known Jewish mobster, to see if he might be able to help out.  (This was discussed in a recent article in the New York Post, with much of the information likely coming from a book by Michael Benson called "Gangsters vs Nazis, How Jewish Mobsters Battled Nazis In Wartime America.")

As the story goes, Judge Perlman asked Lansky:  "You got some boys who might want to punch a Nazi?"  Lansky's reply:  "I do, Judge.  Respectfully, you understand we can do better than punch.  I know just the crew - in Brownsville.  The boys in the press call them Murder, Inc."  (Murder, Inc. was started by two Jewish mobsters - Lansky and Bugsy Siegel, with Italian mobsters later joining in.  While Lucky Luciano organized the five crime families in New York, Lansky is said to have been a key figure in aligning them with Jewish and Irish mobsters.)

Back to the story.  Judge Perlman made it clear that he did not want anyone killed, just roughed up.  At one of the Bund rallies, 3000 of these Nazis were in attendance.  Lansky intended to break it up.  He rounded up 14 other Jewish mobsters.  His friend, Lucky Luciano, is said to have offered a helping hand with Italian mobsters.  Lansky:  "It's a job for the Jews."  Now, you might think that 15 vs 3000 was not a fair fight.  It wasn't.  These were 15 mobsters, beating and killing on a regular (daily?) basis.  The Nazis (who should rot in hell) did not have a chance.

No surprise that at subsequent Bund rallies, far fewer Nazis showed up.  Judge Perlman saw the success, and extended his efforts to other cities - Chicago and Los Angeles, among others.  At one of these Bund rallies in Buffalo, one of the Jewish mobsters beat one of the Nazis bloody, and then said:  "Next time we ain't gonna be so nice."    

(A personal note is needed here.  Having grown up in NJ, and reading about the Mob in the newspaper on a regular basis, and seeing the evil that they did, I hated them.  I started to hate all bad guys.  I love the cop shows on TV, because the good guys always get the bad guys.  So, my point is not to in any way idolize these mobsters.  My point is to show that Jews are fighters.  And, I should add, as between the Nazis and the Mob, I'll take the Mob every day.)

Looking back at the World War II era, not everyone knows the story of the Jews of the Warsaw ghetto.  The Germans had occupied Poland, and were rounding up the Jews before sending them off to concentration/extermination camps.  But the Jews of the Warsaw ghetto decided to fight back.  It was a total mismatch, as the Jews were poorly armed, mostly with handguns only.  They understood that they would not likely survive in a fight against the German SS troops.  But one of the fighters wrote:  "We will continue to fight and to resist as long as we hold weapons in our hands."

It is estimated that as many as 20,000 Jews may have been killed in what came to be known as the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.  With another 36,000 shipped off to the camps.  But, as with many Jews throughout our history, they refused to go down without a fight.

Year End Reflections, Part IV (A Look Ahead)

With only one year into Trump's second term, people are already talking about 2028.  Gavin Newsom, Governor of California, seems to be the early frontrunner for the Democrats.  The issue of the day is "affordability."  That being the case, how can Newsom, the Governor of the least affordable state, be the frontrunner?  Well, as one friend said, he does have a nice head of hair.

Keep in mind that Newsom has been Governor since January, 2017.  The Democrats have had super-majorities in both houses of the state legislature since 2012.  How have they done?  Housing?  California's housing costs average double that of the rest of the nation.  It's not just AI that says that.  The California Legislative Analyst's Office says so.  AI has the difference of $800,000-$900,000 in California compared to $370,000-$400,000 in the rest of the country.  No, it's not just demand.  It's building codes and development fees.

Gas?  Every time I talk with one of my friends back east they laugh at how high our prices are in California.  Average $4.50 a gallon versus $3.00 a gallon in the rest of the country.  But with so much farmland in California, surely our grocery costs are lower.  Right?  Nope.  We spend an average of $298 a week compared to $270 a week elsewhere.  

Taxes?  If you like paying high taxes then you cannot do better than living in California.  Highest state income tax.  Highest sales tax.  Highest gas tax.  But, notwithstanding all these negatives, Newsom has done a great job in keeping businesses in California, right?  Nope.  McKesson Corp. moved their headquarters in 2019 to...wait for it...Texas.  Chevron moved in 2024 to...Texas.  Tesla moved in 2021 to...Texas.  Oracle moved in 2020 to Texas, but then moved again to Tennessee.  CBRE (Coldwell Banker Real Estate) moved in 2020 to...yep, Texas.  

Charles Schwab moved in 2019 to Texas.  Schwab, stating the obvious, said:  "The costs of doing business here (in California) are so much higher than some other places."  Hewlett Packard moved in 2020 to Texas, while maintaining a San Jose location.  Software company Palantir moved in 2020 to Colorado.  SpaceX moved their headquarters in 2024 Texas, although they still have their Hawthorne facility.  Musk expressed his disappointment over the "woke" laws in California.  And Neutrogena moved in 2024 to New Jersey.  California's high unemployment rate?  Pshhh - strictly coincidental.  Nothing to do with businesses leaving and the high minimum wage.  

What happened to our oil industry?  Too many regulations.  A switch to renewable energy.  Without  a regular supply of oil to power our military establishment, California's policies create a risk to our national security.  Phillips 66 and Valero will both be closing their refineries.  What about our forestry/timber industry?  Again, we've had less logging and more environmental regulations.  Some claim that the result is greater density in our forest areas, resulting in fires of greater intensity.  

It's fairly well known that Florida and Texas have been gaining population, while California is losing population.  The question is, are high earners taking that income with them and moving elsewhere?  Yes they are.  With millions on Medi-Cal (the states version of Medicaid) and millions, generally low earners, who have come in illegally, is it any surprise that we have the third highest debt.  Notwithstanding the highest taxes on almost everything.  Where is all that tax money going?  That is a subject for another post.