Did you think the Macabee revolt ended when the Temple was rededicated? Well, you're wrong. The Greeks weren't driven off for another 25 years. The rededication was in 167 BCE. Demetrius II granted the Maccabees autonomy and exemption from paying tribute in 142 BCE. By then Judah was dead, having been killed in battle in 161 BCE.
The bad guy in the story is Antiochas IV. Full name: Antiochus Theos Epiphanes, or God made manifest. The DovBears of the day called him Epimanes, which means madman.
My favorite member of the family is Alexander Jannaeus, son of John Hyrcanus, son of Simon Macabee. (notice how quickly the names were Hellenized?) Old Alexander Jannaeus (just two generations after the illustrious family founders) already opposed the Rabbis, or Prishim (Pharisses) as they were called in those days. He did something wrong, one Sukkot, and at the incitement of the Rabbis, he was pelted with esrogim.
How cool is that?
Well, yes, that is cool, but don't forget what ended up happening after that. Alexander Yanai eventually hated the Pharisees so much that he had them slaughtered, crucified (!), and driven out of the country.
ReplyDeleteLuckily, his wife Shlomtzion Alexandra was the sister of the Rabbinic leader Shim‘on ben Shetahh, and so when Yanai died and she succeeded him, she brought the Pharisees back and helped them out.
And then, of course, it all went to poo in the next generation when their children fought each other over who would become kohein gadol and/or king.
-Steg (dos iz nit der šteg)