The Maccabees’ Sister (Forest Rain) ~ Elder Of Ziyon

Thursday, December 26, 2024

The Maccabees’ Sister (Forest Rain)

By Forest Rain

The Maccabees’ Sister

Centuries of living in strange lands led Jews to change the focus of the Chanukah story – emphasizing the miracle of light and by default, minimizing the war fought and won against abusive occupiers who stole Jewish freedom.

The oil that should have lasted one day and lasted eight is not the point of the Chanukah story – it’s a symbol of what faith and effort can achieve, even against impossible odds. The real story is that of the war the Maccabees fought, against the greatest empire at the time, which did everything possible to stamp out their Judaism, to make the Jews forget their uniqueness and become “citizens of the world”. There were Jews who were willing to put aside their identity in hopes of being embraced by the “enlightened” ones, in hopes that submitting would put a stop to their abuse.

Sound familiar?

The story of Chanukah is that of the Maccabees who refused to submit, who clung to their faith and the dignity of their people, our people, and against impossible odds – won.

That is what the oil is – a symbol of the light of our people that should have died out but thanks to those who clung to their faith and fought against all odds, didn’t.

The Maccabees were the warriors who led the revolt but there is a story that is not often told of the Maccabee who insisted that fighting was necessary. Because why fight against impossible odds? It’s easier to turn a blind eye and pretend that you don’t see abuse and oppression.

But doing so facilitates even greater evils.

Did you know that the Maccabees went to war to protect their sister and the other women of Israel from RAPE by their oppressor?

It was Hannah, the Maccabees’ sister who demanded Jewish dignity. Hannah the Maccabee SPOKE when all others remained silent.

She forced her brothers to look at the ugly reality of what was happening to the women of Israel and once they saw, they had to act.

According to the midrash, the Jews, then living under Greek Seleucid rule, had remained silent for three years; three years in which every woman who married would first be raped by the local Greek governor before she could enter her husband’s house. This is how the midrash describes it: “When the Greeks saw that Israel was not affected by their decrees, they stood and decreed upon them a bitter and ugly decree, that a bride would not go in [to her husband] on her wedding night, but rather to the local commander” [all quotes from Midrash Ma’aseh Chanukah “alef,” A Tale of the People’s Resistance to the Seleucid Greek Occupation].

It is awful to imagine how many women underwent this violation and humiliation. The midrash tells us that the men of the Hasmonean family did nothing. And the women of Israel fell victim again and again to the abuse.

Then came the wedding day of Matityahu the Hasmonean’s own daughter Hannah. This time, Hannah decided to put an end to the ongoing atrocity. In the middle of the wedding banquet, while all the distinguished and important guests were eating and enjoying themselves, she stood up and ripped off her wedding dress, leaving herself naked in front of her family and friends.

“And when everyone was sitting down to eat, Ḥannah, the daughter of Matityahu, stood up from her palanquin and clapped her hands one on the other and tore off her royal garment and stood before all of Israel, revealed before her father and her mother and her groom!”

At first, her brothers reacted with anger and shock. They wanted to kill her for having disgraced them and for shaming the family and herself.

But she, in turn, scolded them for turning a blind eye, all the while knowing what awaited her that night at the governor’s palace. Not one of them had raised a finger, not one had stood up to protect her dignity. She reprimanded her brothers for being angry at her nakedness in front of them, even as they remained calm at the thought of her having to go later that night to the governor who would sexually assault her.

“She said ‘Listen, my brothers and uncles! So what—I stand naked before you righteous men with no sexual transgression and you get all incensed?! And you do not become incensed about sending me into the hands of an uncircumcised man who will abuse me?!’”

She forced them to face up to the bitter truth. According to the midrash, this was the moment her Maccabee brothers first raised the flag of rebellion.

The stories of Israel repeat themselves. Then, like now, once the horror is SEEN, the People of Israel understand that it cannot be unseen. We must act to change the reality and ensure safety for all of Israel.

On October 7th the People of Israel were forced to see that we cannot live with monsters on our borders. That it is deadly to pretend that the monsters don’t exist or want things other than what they openly declare about themselves. That it doesn’t matter how mighty our enemies are, or even if the Superpowers of the world tell us we must not defend ourselves. It is up to us to be Maccabees..

And with strength of spirit, and our warriors, and by the grace of God, we will win. We have no other choice.

And as we light the Chanukah candles, we thank God for the miracles granted to our ancestors in those days and in our days.