The holiday was only made important for two reasons. Abroad, because it is near Christmas, so it allows Jews to divert the holiday season away from Christianity into their own traditions, so to speak.

In Israel, on the other hand, this is an important holiday because it is a historical story of how the Jews fought off oppressors and got their national independence again in Israel. This was a very important point for the Zionists, who wanted it to happen again (and so far it seems that it did)

Your son is a practicing Jew? Celticess, you're full of surprises.