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Shedding light on fratricidal hatred Shabbat Shalom: VaYeshev - Hanukkah Genesis 37:1 - 40:23 Maimonides, the great 12th-century halachic codifier and philosopher, concludes his Laws of Hanukka in a rather stirring but strange fashion. He begins his conclusionby very aptly expressing the significance of the Hanukka lights: "The commandment of the Hanukka lights is extremely beloved; every individual must take great care [in its performance] in order to publicize the miracle and to intensify our praise and gratitude to God for the miracles He has wrought for us. Even if he has nothing to eat except from charity, he must borrow or sell a garment to purchase oil and candles for the kindling [of the lights]... Even if he has but one coin, he must first purchase oil to kindle the Hanukka lights which take precedence over the purchase of wine for the sanctification of the Sabbath... it is more important to first perform the Hanukka precept because it contains the remembrance of the miracle..." [Chapter 4, Laws 11, 13]. But then, Maimonides - who is an "arranger-codifier" par excellence - actually However, he concludes the laws of Hanukka with a resounding declaration of the ultimately highest importance of the command to kindle Sabbath candles, not Hanukka lights: "If a person must choose between [purchasing] candles for the Sabbath or candles for Hanukka [when they come out on the same evening, as this evening], or between Sabbath candles or Kiddush wine, Sabbath candles take precedence because of the household peace [which is the symbolism of the Sabbath lights]... Great is peace because the Torah was given only in order to make peace in the world, as it is written: 'Its paths are paths of pleasantness, and all its roads lead to peace.'" [Chapter 4, Law 13] Now this would be a most fitting conclusion to the laws of the Sabbath, emphasizing the priority of the Sabbath candles which symbolize peace. Why conclude the laws of Hanukka with this particular concept? especially since we push aside the Hanukka lights for the more important Sabbath lights? I believe that with this conclusion to the Laws of Hanukka, the great sage Maimonides is hinting at a silent rebuke of the deep, dark secret of Hanukka, a secret guarded by our Sages both in the manner in which they describe the miracle as well as the manner in which they celebrate the Festival - but nevertheless a secret which contains the seeds of the ultimate failure of the Maccabean revolution with the fall of the Second Commonwealth, barely 200 years after the Hasmonean rededication of the Holy Temple.
In effect, the The masses of the religionists rebelled against the autocratic and elitist assimilationist-Hellenists, and when the Hasmoneans appeared to be winning, the High Priest called in the Greek-Syrians for help. Mirabile dictu, wondrous to record, the Maccabees won nevertheless: "The many in the hands of the few, the mighty in the hands of the weak, the wicked in the hands of the toilers in Thy Torah."
BUT WHEN our Sages eternalized the victory, they opted for recording the Maccabean struggle only from the time they fought against the Greek-Syrians - in order to play down the civil-war aspect of the revolt. They also made the symbol of the victory not weapons of war, as one might expect, but rather the menora of lights - a religious symbol of peace and unity. After all, lightLight has always symbolized peace (as in the case of the Sabbath lights for the sake of shalom bayit (familial wholeness) and the seven arms of the menora are linked to the Hebrew word for seven which means fullness and completion, wholeness and harmony. Our Sages were apparently more than slightly ashamed of the fact that the Maccabees had not convinced the ruling class with inspiration, but had rather coerced them with arms. this wasUnlike Ezra who, in an earlier generation, had publicly read from the Book of Deuteronomy on Rosh Hashana, thereby inspiring even the most errant Israelites to banish their gentile wives. The fratricidal hatred continued into the generations of the Hasmoneans themselves, with Hyrcanus fighting against Aristobulus leading to the surrender of Jewish national sovereignty to Rome. Fascinatingly enough, the brotherly strife between Joseph and his siblings, of which we read (in this week's Torah portion) foreshadows the causeless, fratricidal hatred which continues to threaten our existence until this very day. And it isOnly when Joseph is able to forgo his dreams of economic and cosmic domination - because after all, (his vision had it that the eleven11 sheaves of corn as well as the sun, moon and stars bowed down not to the Almighty but to him) and accept the fact that he must use his gifts to help Judah convey the tradition and disseminate ethical monotheism, (Father Jacob-Israel's blessing gave Judah the birthright of bringing about the ingathering of nations and established that he, Judah, was to be the dominant brother) thatcan peace descend upon the great-grandchildren of Abraham. In effect, the self-righteous brothers must learn that Joseph's heterodox dreams of Egypt, agriculture and universalism do not justify crimes against his person, and Joseph must learn to harnessthat he must harness his gifts of charm and culture not to the arrogance of self-aggrandizement but rather to the service of God and Torah. ThroughThe Torah explicitly, and the mode of celebrating Hanukka, the Torah implicitly, teaches us the tragic folly of brotherly strife which can only lead to the destruction of all. Hence Maimonides concludes the Laws of Hanukka with a ringing declaration of the importance of peace, emphasizing the fact that the vision of familial peace, as symbolized by the Sabbath candles, takes precedence over the brotherly conflict which gave rise to the miracle of Hanukka. Shabbat Shalom
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A careful reading of the Apocryphal Books of the Maccabees and the history of Josephus reveals that the initial stage of the Hasmonean revolt was not against the Greek-Syrians - who were renowned for their tolerance - but was rather waged against the assimilating Hellenistic Judean ruling class, against the High Priest Menelaus (he who wanted to transform Jerusalem into a Greek city-state and sponsor Olympic games dedicated to one of the idolatrous gods of Mount Olympus).