Comments on: Not Everyone Loves Chanukah

By: frosh

frosh — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 03:01:21 +0000

Ok, there's some people who don't like Chanuka, and then there's some people who REALLY don't like Chanukah. I can't work out if whether this incident in Moldova is more disturbing or ironic.

By: ariel

ariel — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 23:42:10 +0000

Some more history:
Hapoel was founded by the unions in Israel as a workers’ alternative to Maccabi.
Most big cities have traditionally had both a Maccabi and a Hapoel team in both football and basketball
Beitar was founded by Herutniks, but they only have one football team, Beitar Jerusalem. These fans are right-wing fanatics in both politics and football. Chants oscillate between “No Arabs = No Terror” (yelled at teams from Arab towns, such as Bnei Sakhnin) to “If you don’t win the Premiership, we will burn down the club” (yelled at their own players).
In football, Maccabi Haifa is supported by Hungarians and Likudniks. Hapoel Haifa is supported by Mapainiks and by masochists (like myself) who may not be Hungarian or Laborites, but who are too stubborn to quit a loser. (Hapoel has won only one title, in 1998).
In basketball, Maccabi Tel-Aviv are either loved or hated for winning the championship nearly every year. Hapoel Jerusalem are their biggest rivals and ironically, as the only team in town, their fan base covers the entire religious and political spectrum united in their hatred for anything Tel-Avivian…

On a personal note, I was present at the basketball finals last year and was privelaged to witness Hapoel Holon defeat Maccabi Tel-Aviv at the buzzer to take its first ever title. The place went nuts and I have the Holon hooligans on video…

By: Sam

Sam — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 23:27:25 +0000

Interesting ..learnt something about the Greeks. Their weddng ceremony is very similar to a Jewish wedding. the wine and the binding of the couple under their canopy

By: TheSadducee

TheSadducee — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 23:50:40 +0000

Just a minor point – the Romans were not totally uninterested in local cultures. A good example of their sensitivity to Jews was Petronius’ delay in establishing statues of Emperor Gaius in Jerusalem (and Judaea) – precisely because he was sensitive to local culture. There are stacks of other examples also where they showed an interest in, or accomodated local cultures.