When Jews came to America, they put their own unique stamp on the celebration of the Festival of Lights. David Geffen notes some examples:

We are informed by a daily San Francisco newspaper that, on December 26, 1897, a Hanukkah celebration was held that day at the Bush Street Temple. The children performed intricate marches carrying the American flag. Following that there were recitations about Hanukkah, Judah Maccabee, and the miracle of the oil burning for eight days. “Many candelabra were lit as the prayers were recited.”

Rabbi Isidore Myers spoke to those assembled, young and old. “To be regarded with favor by God, you must show how much you can do to spread the truth. Show your pride,” he continued, “to your noble ancestors by your own heroism, remembering that the true hero is the one who does God’s will. Let us follow the example of the noted Judah Maccabee.”

The Hanukkah celebration ended that day with everyone, old and young, singing [a patriotic song]. It is fascinating how in various periods when the U.S. was at war, Jews emphasized their patriotism. . . . In this case, embattled America was fighting in the Spanish-American War, where Jews were serving alongside their Gentile compatriots.

And while the giving of gifts on Hanukkah was a largely American innovation, Geffen notes that 100 years ago, Jews, proportionally, gave more gifts on the holiday than did Christians on Christmas.

Two extraordinary events demonstrate something important about Israel’s most fervent adversaries. One was a speech given at something called The People’s Forum (funded generously by Goldman Sachs), which stated, “When the state of Israel is finally destroyed and erased from history, that will be the single most important blow we can give to destroying capitalism and imperialism.”

The suggestion that this tiny state is the linchpin of a global, centuries-old phenomenon like capitalism goes well beyond anything resembling rational criticism. Even if Israel were guilty of genocide, apartheid, and oppression—which of course it is not—it would not follow that its destruction would help end capitalism or imperialism.

The other was an anti-Israel protest that took place in front of New York City’s Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, deemed “complicit” in Israel’s evils. At organizers’ urging, participants shouted their slogans at kids in the cancer ward, who were watching from the windows. Given Hamas’s indifference toward the lives of Gazan children, such callousness toward non-Palestinian children from Hamas’s Western allies shouldn’t be surprising. The protest—like the abovementioned speech—deliberately conveyed the message that Israel is the ultimate evil and its destruction the ultimate good, cancer patients be damned.

The fact that Israel’s adversaries are almost comically perverse does not mean that they can be dismissed. If its allies fail to understand the obsessive and irrational hatred that it faces, they cannot effectively help it defend itself.