The Chanuka Story
(The Maccabee Miracle)
Historically accurate version, re-told by
Marianne
In
332 BCE, Alexander
the Great of Macedonia entered Jerusalem, capital of
Judea, prepared to battle for conquest and annexation.
To his surprise there was no resistance. The Jews
didn't much care who claimed to "own" the land they
lived in, or to whom they paid taxes. Yesterday a
Persian king, today a Greek king-- who cares? All they
asked was to be left to govern themselves at the local
level and to follow their own religious teachings.
Most of their many "conquerors" had no problem with
that, and Alexander was no exception. In fact, he was
intrigued by their devotion to studying and literacy,
and hired tutors to teach him Hebrew and Jewish
philosophy. He remained convinced of Greek cultural
superiority, though, and appointed tutors to go
throughout Judea teaching Greek language, philosophy,
science, and culture, assuming that with the passage of
time the Judaic culture would fade away of its own
accord as Jews had a Hellenic awakening.
For over a century
after Alexander's death the Jews were left in peace by
Ptolemic rulers. Some Jews actually did "come to
believe" in Hellenic culture, and disavowed Judaism.
Most, though, became bilingual in Greek and Hebrew
while retaining their own culture and belief system.
In c.215 BCE power
changed hands again and the Seleucids (Hellenized
Syrians) seized control of Judea. The Syrians were
much more insistent on total Hellenization of Judea,
partly out of a sense of superiority and intolerance of
other ideas, and partly because it was thought that
acceptance of Greek superiority would encourage Judean
participation in an invasion of Egypt. The third
Syrian ruler of Judea, Antiochus IV, flat out decreed
that "unenlightened" Jewish ways of living and thinking
were henceforth outlawed in favor of "superior" Greek
ways. Statues of Greek gods and of Antiochus himself
were placed all over Jerusalem and Jews were expected
to
bow to them, which is expressly forbidden by Jewish
law. The Jews protested, pointing out that they had
always respected the king, obeyed his rules, and paid
their taxes, but they could not practice idolatry.
Some of the Jews who had voluntarily undergone a
"Hellenic enlightenment" were appointed to convert the
unenlightened by whatever means necessary, and met with
some success. The traditionalists, fearing the total
destruction of their way of life, started to become
more militant. After one revolt in which Greek statues
were tossed out of the Great Temple in Jerusalem,
Antiochus reacted first with a massacre, then with a
decree of death for anyone observing the Sabbath,
studying Torah, following Kosher laws, or practicing
circumcision.
At first, traditional
Jews were safe in small farming villages. Eventually,
soldiers began to invade villages to check for "loyalty
to the king" i.e. acceptance of Hellenism and rejection
of Judaism. In 168 BCE, a patrol entered Modi'in,
northwest of Jerusalem, and ordered the village elder,
Mattathias, to prove his loyalty by slaughtering a pig
they had brought, roasting it, and eating its flesh.
Mattathias responded that the eating of a pig's flesh
is forbidden to Jews. Another villager, terrified of
retribution, voluteered to eat the pork. A melee broke
out and the entire patrol was killed, along with the
volunteer. Mattathias and most of the villagers fled
to the mountains.
Word spread of the
revolt, and soon the group of freedom fighters
expanded, led by Mattathias' son Judah. They became
known as the Maccabee ("hammer")
Army, and though they were poorly equipped and greatly
outnumbered, they were
determined, and had the tactical advantage of knowing
the countryside far better than Antiochus' military
forces. After a 3-year guerilla-style war, the
Maccabees defeated the Syrian Army and reclaimed the
Temple in Jerusalem. After a massive cleanup, the Jews
lit the Temple's Eternal Lamp:
and on the 25th of Kislev
in that year celebrated Chanuka (Hebrew for
"dedication"). The
Maccabee Revolt is reputed to be the first known
instance of a war fought solely for religious freedom.
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