Hanukkah, America, and the Light We’re Called to Protect

Hanukkah tells the story of a small band of Jews - the Maccabees - who stood up to a powerful pagan empire determined to erase their faith. They didn’t triumph because they were stronger. They triumphed because they believed God expected them to defend their identity, their freedom, and the covenant that bound them to something higher.

That message resonates far beyond the Jewish community. It speaks directly to what makes America extraordinary.

Here in the United States, we are blessed to live under a Constitution that protects every person’s right to worship God openly. That promise - so basic to America’s DNA - has shaped Jewish life in this country more than almost anywhere else in the world. And it’s a freedom CPAC fights every single day to preserve.

But in recent years, Hanukkah has carried a heavier weight. With the war in Israel and the rise of global antisemitism, the ancient story feels painfully current. For two long years, Israel has been forced to battle an enemy - Hamas - that openly declares genocide as its goal. That kind of evil is not a policy disagreement; it is an assault on the foundations of a free world. And far too many young Israelis have paid the ultimate price as they defend not only their own families but the values of Western civilization itself.

While much of the American right continues to champion religious liberty and stand with Israel, we cannot ignore the troubling voices drifting toward minimization, moral fog, or flirtation with ideas that echo old and dangerous hatreds. It is a sobering reminder that no political movement is automatically immune to conspiracy thinking or the temptation to blame Jews for the world’s problems. That road leads nowhere good—certainly not toward truth, and certainly not toward God.

That is why leadership matters. Decent Americans across the political spectrum were grateful to see President Trump apply pressure that helped secure the release of Israeli hostages - many of whom come from families we’ve come to know and love through their advocacy at CPAC. When innocent people are held by terrorists, America must use its strength - moral and otherwise - to bring them home. That, too, is a form of light.

Hanukkah teaches that God calls us not to hide, but to shine. The menorah is placed in the window precisely so its light can be seen. Faith is not meant to retreat from darkness; it is meant to confront it.

So as we celebrate, we thank God for the blessing of living in a free country. We stand with Israel as it fights an enemy rooted in hatred. And we reject extremism—whether it comes from the left, the Muslim Brotherhood, or even from fringe corners of the right.

The Maccabees didn’t wait for someone else to defend their faith. They acted. They trusted God. They lit the flame anyway.

And that is the American story too: a free people, relying on God, standing firm against forces that would snuff out the light.