{"id":6292,"date":"2015-01-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-01-01T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.charming-bohr.160-238-31-172.plesk.page\/index.php\/2015\/01\/01\/a-great-miracle-occurred-here\/"},"modified":"2015-01-01T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2015-01-01T00:00:00","slug":"a-great-miracle-occurred-here","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.charming-bohr.160-238-31-172.plesk.page\/index.php\/2015\/01\/01\/a-great-miracle-occurred-here\/","title":{"rendered":"A Great Miracle Occurred Here"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tHaving been raised in an exceedingly secular Jewish home, I have few memories of Jewish holidays, for the simple reason that we didn\u2019t observe them.
\n\tHowever, somewhere deep in the recesses of my mind are stored images, probably from the early 1960s, of Chanukah celebrations. Specifically, I remember
\n\tplaying with a dreidel, a four-sided spinning top with a Hebrew letter on each side, which together stand for, Nes gadol haya sha<\/em>m: \u201cA great miracle
\n\toccurred there.\u201d I remember also being told that many centuries ago pagan soldiers would not let the Jews study the Torah. In order to get around this
\n\tprohibition, the Jews would bring dreidels with them when they secretly delved into the holy writings. Thus, if soldiers came, they would hide their
\n\tscrolls and pull out the tops, deceiving their oppressors into thinking that they were merely playing a game, as opposed to doing something as subversive
\n\tas reading Scripture.\n\t<\/p>\n

\n\tHowever steeped in tradition Chanukah dreidels might be, those traditions did arise from one of the greatest crises in Jewish antiquity. Known as the
\n\tMaccabean revolt, it\u2019s a story of a popular rebellion against an oppressive ruler who threatened to eradicate the Jewish faith in Judea. Some scholars even
\n\targue that the Maccabean revolt was the first recorded war in history ever fought over religious freedom.\n\t<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat was the story of the Maccabees, and what might it teach us about the continued struggle for religious liberty?\n\t<\/p>\n


\n\tGeographic and Cultural Factors<\/strong>
\n\t<\/h2>\n

\n\tPutting aside its apocalyptic prophecy, the Old Testament narrative begins with the creation of the world and ends with the return of the Jews to their
\n\tnative homeland after the Babylonian captivity, circa sixth century B.C. This return from exile occurred under the Persians, who—by the fifth century
\n\tB.C.—were facing the onslaught of the Greeks, whose hegemony climaxed under Alexander the Great (356-323 B.C.). In 332 B.C. the Greeks conquered Judea, and
\n\twhile being conquered was nothing new to the Jews (having faced this before by Assyria, Babylon, and Media-Persia), this conquest presented a unique
\n\tchallenge.\n\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIn previous conquests,\u201d writes Lee Levine, an historian at Hebrew University, \u201cIsrael had invariably remained at the periphery of world empires, far from
\n\tthe seats of power and authority. Its marginal geographic location assured the Jews a measure of stability and insulation.\u201d However, with the breakup of
\n\tthe Greek Empire after the death of Alexander, the small Hebrew nation found itself sandwiched between the battling forces of the Seleucids (based in
\n\tSyria) and the Ptolemies (based in Egypt). For the next century the two kingdoms warred with each other on Judean soil. Finally, in 198 B.C. the Seleucids
\n\tbeat their rival there, and Judea was incorporated into the Seleucid kingdom.\n\t<\/p>\n

\n\tThis victory presented the small nation with a challenge that it had not faced under its previous conquers, the Persians. Under Persian control the Jews
\n\twere actually encouraged to rebuild their religious and indigenous institutions and traditions. All the Persians wanted was political loyalty, and taxes.
\n\tWhatever humiliations and problems the occupation presented, religious freedom generally remained secure.\n\t<\/p>\n

\n\tUnder the Greeks things were different. Never suffering from a lack of hubris, the Greeks weren\u2019t satisfied with a mere military conquest. Believing in a
\n\tkind of \u201cmanifest destiny\u201d to spread their culture, institutions, ideas, and way of life to \u201cbarbarians\u201d (anyone not Greek), they worked very hard, and
\n\tquite successfully, to do just that. Now, having conquered more \u201cbarbarians,\u201d this time in Judea, the Greeks were determined to continue their process of
\n\tHellenization, even in the land that God promised the descendants of Abraham many centuries earlier (Genesis 12:7).\n\t<\/p>\n


\n\tHellenized Jews<\/strong>
\n\t<\/h2>\n

\n\tIt was working, too. Though scholars debate how far Hellenization went, it took a certain hold. Within a century after the conquest of Alexander, Greek
\n\tcities (each known as a polis), which became centers for promulgating Greek ideas and culture, were founded in various parts of Judea.\n\t<\/p>\n

\n\tThe problem was exacerbated by corruption in the priesthood, which served as the de facto political leadership in Jerusalem at that time. Two corrupt
\n\tpriests, Jason and then Menelaus, both passionate Hellenizers, helped make Jerusalem look more and more like a Greek polis than the capital of God\u2019s
\n\tcovenant people and the chosen site of the sacred Temple. During their rule the first gymnasium—a Greek center for both intellectual and physical
\n\teducation—was built in Jerusalem. According to 2 Maccabees 4 (the book of Maccabees being a key source for this period), Jason did away with Jewish law and
\n\tintroduced Greek customs into the city: \u201cWith great enthusiasm he built a stadium near the Temple hill and led our finest young men to adopt the Greek
\n\tcustom of participating in athletic events.\u201d\n\t<\/p>\n

\n\tInternecine fighting between the followers of Jason (who weren\u2019t seen as Hellenistic enough) and those of Menelaus led to the violent intervention of the
\n\tSeleucid overlord, Antiochus IV Epiphanes, in 169-168 B.C.\n\t<\/p>\n


\n\tFrom Sinai to Olympus<\/strong>
\n\t<\/h2>\n

\n\tThough previous Seleucid rule had been relatively benign, everything changed under Antiochus IV Epiphanes. Though no consensus exists why he initiated his
\n\tterrible oppression of the Jews, his actions were unprecedented in the ancient world. Pagan conquerors would, at most, impose their gods upon the locals,
\n\tbut never would they prohibit them the practice of their own religious traditions.\n\t<\/p>\n

\n\tWith Antiochus IV, all that changed. First he pillaged the Temple, and then with unbridled fury Antiochus IV sided with Menelaus against Jason and ravaged
\n\tthe latter\u2019s followers. Not far from the Temple Mount he built a fortress for his troops right in the city. More foreign troops inevitably meant more
\n\tforeign religious cults in the Holy City.\n\t<\/p>\n

\n\tThen, however, came the outright prohibition of the practice of the Jewish faith: the faith that the Hebrews had been following, in one form or another,
\n\tsince (one could argue) Abraham, or certainly at least since the covenant at Mount Sinai. In 167 B.C. Antiochus IV issued a decree that banned
\n\tcircumcision, the study of the Bible, and observance of holy days, which included the Sabbath and the festivals. He forced the Jews to eat unclean food and
\n\tto commit idolatry, often seen as the most unpardonable of sins.\n\t<\/p>\n

\n\tAccording to Josephus: \u201cNow Antiochus was not satisfied either with his unexpected taking the city, or with its pillage, or with the great slaughter he had
\n\tmade there; but being overcome with his violent passions, and remembering what he had suffered during the siege, he compelled the Jews to dissolve the laws
\n\tof their country, and to keep their infants uncircumcised, and to sacrifice swine\u2019s flesh upon the altar; against which they all opposed themselves, and
\n\tthe most approved among them were put to death.\u201d\n\t<\/p>\n

\n\tAnd perhaps worst of all, Antiochus IV Epiphanes decreed that the Jews worship the Greek god Zeus, rather than the God of Israel. The people whose
\n\treligious identity was heavily forged at Sinai were now forced to bow before the chief \u201cdeity\u201d of Olympus. Truly, this was a full-fledged assault on
\n\treligious liberty.\n\t<\/p>\n


\n\tThe Maccabean Revolt<\/strong>
\n\t<\/h2>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s no surprise that, in the face of such an attack on their religion, and hence their national identity, the Jews did revolt. Armed conflict started in a
\n\tremote town, called Modi\u2019in, where a priest named Mattathias and his five sons, including one called Judas Maccabee (who led the revolt after Mattathias
\n\tdied), became the leaders. Mattathias sparked the resistance movement by striking a Jew who was preparing to offer sacrifice to foreign gods, and then by
\n\tkilling the king\u2019s officer, who was standing by and watching. 1 Maccabees 2 described the scene like this: \u201cJust as he finished speaking, one of the men
\n\tfrom Modi\u2019in decided to obey the king\u2019s decree and stepped out in front of everyone to offer a pagan sacrifice on the altar that stood there. When
\n\tMattathias saw him, he became angry enough to do what had to be done. Shaking with rage, he ran forward and killed the man right there on the altar. He
\n\talso killed the royal official who was forcing the people to sacrifice, and then he tore down the altar.\u201d\n\t<\/p>\n

\n\tThus began the Maccabean revolt, a guerrilla campaign against the forces of Antiochus IV that, despite the odds against the rebels, was so successful Judah
\n\tearned the nickname \u201cthe Hammer,\u201d or in Hebrew, \u201cMaccabee.\u201d Judah and his soldiers—including some pious Jews, the Hasidim (who refused to fight on the
\n\tSabbath, thus at times incurring terrible losses)—continually attacked Seleucid armies that attempted to reach Jerusalem and reinforce the garrison there.
\n\tDespite one setback, south of Jerusalem, the Maccabees made steady progress until, in 164 B.C., three years to the month after the persecution by Antiochus
\n\tbegan, the Maccabees uprooted the Seleucids in Jerusalem. And though battle with the Greeks continued for years afterward, the main reason for the revolt
\n\titself—the banning of the practice of Judaism—was undone. Having overthrown their religious oppressors, the Jews could continue with the faith that they
\n\thad been following (more or less) since Sinai.\n\t<\/p>\n


\n\tChanukah and Religious Freedom<\/strong>
\n\t<\/h2>\n

\n\tAnd it\u2019s in this success that the celebration of Chanukah, which means \u201cdedication,\u201d arose. Though details remain steeped in tradition, the story goes that
\n\tafter recapturing Jerusalem, the Jews rededicated the defiled Temple to the Lord. However, inside the Temple they found only enough oil to keep the
\n\tnine-branched menorah (candelabrum) burning for a day. Miraculously, though, it burned for eight days, long enough time to prepare a fresh supply of oil
\n\tfor the menorah.\n\t<\/p>\n

\n\tSince then, an eight-day festival has commemorated this miracle; it falls toward the end of the year, usually in December. It\u2019s even mentioned in the New
\n\tTestament: \u201cThen came the feast of the Dedication [Chanukah] in Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple area in Solomon\u2019s Portico\u201d
\n\t(John 10:22, 23, NET)*.\n\t<\/p>\n

\n\tAlso known as the \u201cFestival of Lights,\u201d Chanukah has been seen as a celebration of light over darkness, truth over error, and freedom over oppression.
\n\tWhich means that even today it can serve as a reminder of the sanctity of religious liberty, which, unfortunately, still faces the same kind of threats the
\n\tJews endured under Antiochus IV Epiphanes.\n\t<\/p>\n

\n\tWhether in the time of the Seleucids or hundreds of years after the Enlightenment, religious faith for millions remains a sacred and fundamental aspect of
\n\ttheir own identity, even humanity. Humans are spiritual beings; we sense something of transcendence, something greater than ourselves, of which we believe
\n\twe are part of, and which helps us understand ourselves and aspire to fulfilling what the purpose of our lives could or should be. This sense is often
\n\treflected in religious beliefs, traditions, and doctrines. Thus, to trample upon these expressions of faith is to trample upon people at the most basic
\n\tlevel of their humanity.\n\t<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Greeks didn\u2019t want to turn the Jews into atheists; they wanted to turn them into Greeks, to follow the Greek way of life and Greek religion. So often
\n\tthe battle for religious liberty is similar: one group seeking to preserve their own religious identity in the face of the pressure of law, or even
\n\tviolence, to change their religion. If people freely chose to do it, as many of the Jewish Hellenists did in the age of the Seleucids—that\u2019s one thing. But
\n\tto force it upon them, as did Antiochus IV Epiphanes, is another.\n\t<\/p>\n

\n\tThus, religious liberty remains a fundamental right for all people, and Chanukah (dreidels and all) a symbol of that right. \n\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Having been raised in an exceedingly secular Jewish home, I have few memories of Jewish holidays, for the simple reason that we didn\u2019t observe them. However, somewhere deep in the recesses of my mind are stored images, probably from the early 1960s, of Chanukah celebrations. Specifically, I remember playing with a dreidel, a four-sided spinning<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[304],"tags":[136],"class_list":["post-6292","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-january-february-2015","tag-january-february-2015"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.charming-bohr.160-238-31-172.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6292","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.charming-bohr.160-238-31-172.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.charming-bohr.160-238-31-172.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.charming-bohr.160-238-31-172.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.charming-bohr.160-238-31-172.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6292"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.charming-bohr.160-238-31-172.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6292\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.charming-bohr.160-238-31-172.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6292"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.charming-bohr.160-238-31-172.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6292"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.charming-bohr.160-238-31-172.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6292"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}