As America Bids Farewell to President George H. W. Bush, the Jewish World Begins Hanukkah and the Christian World Begins Advent

CONDOLENCES. President George H. W. Bush has died. The 41st President of the United States and last World War II veteran to serve as President, had been in ill health for some time. President Bush had been a member of the House of Representatives before becoming US Ambassador to the United Nations. He then served as Chairman of the Republican National Committee before being named as Liaison to China. That preceded becoming Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, then Vice President of the United States for eight years before being President for one term. His son Jeb Bush served as Governor of Florida and his son George W. Bush served as Governor of Texas and also President. President Bush died only 8 months after his wife, Barbara. • President Trump, who was in Argentina attending the G-20 summit, also issued a statement on behalf of himself and First Lady Melania Trump. It read in part : "Melania and I join with a grieving Nation to mourn the loss of former President George H.W. Bush, who passed away last night. Through his essential authenticity, disarming wit, and unwavering commitment to faith, family, and country, President Bush inspired generations of his fellow Americans to public service -- to be, in his words, 'a thousand points of light' illuminating the greatness, hope, and opportunity of America to the world." The President said he spoke on Saturday with the elder Bush’s son, former President George W. Bush, as well as Jeb Bush, and offered condolences on behalf of himself, the First Lady, and the entire country. President Trump canceled a press conference at the Group of 20 meeting in Buenos Aires “out of respect for” the Bush family and the former President. “I met him on numerous occasions,” President Trump told reporters. “He was a terrific guy and he’ll be missed and he led a full life and an exemplary life.” • President Bush’s remains will be transported on Monday from Ellington Field in Houston to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Air Force One. There’ll be a bicameral arrival ceremony at the US Capitol at 5 p.m. on Monday, and he’ll lie in state in the Capital Rotunda, with the public invited to pay respects from Monday evening until Wednesday morning. His funeral at the National Cathedral is scheduled for 11 a.m. Wednesday, with President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump in attendance to lead the nation in mourning the passing of President Bush. Afterwards, the remains of President Bush will make the return trip from Andrews back to Houston. The former President will lie in repose at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church in Houston, where a second service will be held on Thursday. He’ll be interred later on Thursday at the George Bush Presidential Library & Museum on the grounds of Texas A&M University in College Station, after making the final leg, from Spring, Texas, by train. By tradition, US financial markets close on the national day of mourning. The New York Stock Exchange will observe a minute of silence on Monday to honor Bush and plans to be closed on the official day of mourning designated by Trump, said Kristen Kaus, a spokeswoman for the exchange. Other markets are expected to follow suit. • We in our blog family extend our sincere condolences and prayers to the Bush family. May God bless them and comfort them. • • • HANUKKAH BEGINS AT SUNDOWN ON SUNDAY. Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, begins on the 25th day of the Jewish month of Kislev, and lasts for eight days. On the secular calendar, Hanukkah generally falls in December. In 2018, Hanukkah will begin Sunday evening December 2nd. The Hebrew word Hanukkah means "dedication." In the 2nd century BC, during the time of the Second Holy Temple, the Syrian-Greek regime of Antiochus sought to pull Jews away from Judaism, with the hopes of assimilating them into Greek culture. Antiochus outlawed Jewish observance, including circumcision, Shabbat, and Torah study, under penalty of death. And, many Jews, called Hellenists; began to assimilate into Greek culture, taking on Greek names and marrying non-Jews. This began to decay the foundation of Jewish life and practice. When the Greeks challenged the Jews to sacrifice a pig to a Greek god, a few courageous Jews took to the hills of Judea in open revolt against this threat to Jewish life. Led by Matitiyahu, and later his son Judah the Maccabee, this small band of pious Jews led guerrilla warfare against the Syrian-Greek army. Antiochus sent thousands of well-armed troops to crush the rebellion, but after three years the Maccabees beat incredible odds and miraculously succeeded in driving the foreigners from their land. The victory was on the scale of Israel defeating the combined super-powers of today. Jewish fighters entered Jerusalem and found the Holy Temple in shambles and desecrated with idols. The Maccabees cleansed the Temple and re-dedicated it on the 25th of Kislev. When it came time to re-light the Menorah, they searched the entire Temple, but found only one jar of pure oil bearing the seal of the High Priest. The group of believers lit the Menorah anyway and were rewarded with a miracle : That small jar of oil burned for eight days, until a new supply of oil could be brought. From then on, Jews have observed a holiday for eight days, in honor of this historic victory and the miracle of the oil. To publicize the Hanukkah miracle, Jews add the special Hallel praises to the Shacharit service, and light a menorah during the eight nights of Hanukkah. • • • Happy Hanukkah to all our Jewish Brothers and Sisters. We wish for them a joyful Festival of Lights and eight days filled with brotherhood and peace. • • • THE BEGINNING OF ADVENT. And, as the Christian and Jewish calendars join this year, it turns out that the first day of Hanukkah is also the first Sunday of Advent, the first of four Sundays in which Christians prepare for the Nativity of Jesus Christ. Advent is the perennial season of hope, and Father Jeffrey Kirby wrote in the Catholic Thing on Sunday : "And it comes at a good time because we desperately need hope. Not merely a hope of changing structures and policies, but a greater hope in the changing of hearts. And it’s precisely this greater hope, and the conversion it brings about, that is the only reliable and consistent means we have for true Church reform and eternal redemption in Jesus Christ. Pope Emeritus Benedict said : 'Yet our daily efforts in pursuing our own lives and in working for the world’s future either tire us or turn into fanaticism, unless we are enlightened by the radiance of the great hope that cannot be destroyed even by small-scale failures or by a breakdown in matters of historic importance.' No matter how bad things may appear in the Church and the world, Advent reminds us that God has already overcome the world and is at work in a very different kind of reform and the prospect of greater hope -- a hope that calls us to embrace it, to foster it, to carry it everywhere more faithfully to everyone." • Thus, today as we wish our Jewish friends a Happy Hanukkah, we also wish every Christian a joyful and hopeful journey through Advent to December 25 and the Nativity.