N
Vital Facts About the Book of Maccabees
Five Versions Relate Events
That Led to Today's Hanukah
By JAY BUSHINSRY
(Copyright, 1964, JTA, Inc.)
Officially. Hanukah has no book
of its own. But unofficially it has
at least four. If it weren't for the
ancient rabbis' decision not to
canonize books written after Per-
sian control of Palestine ended,
Hanukah, like other Jewish holi-
days, might have included readings
from pertinent scriptures. If this
were the case, these would be from
the first two Books of the Mac-
cabees.
As it is. post-Biblical literature
contains four Books of the Macca-
bees that have been relegated to
apocryphal status—considered holy
by some Christian denominations
but not by Jews.
With the resurgence of Jewish
scholarship in modern times has
come a new willingness to re-
evaluate these suspect works. As
recently as 1950, Dropsie College
published an English translation of
Maccabees I, based on Greek man-
uscripts, with the unique proviso
that, where necessary. the original
Hebrew would pe reconstructed to
allow a more faithful rendition.
Virtually all knowledge of the
events culminating in Hanukah—
the rededication of the Temple
after its desecration by the heath-
en followers of Antiochus IV—is
derived from Maccabees I. even'
though later Jewish sources delib-
erately ignored this work.
Scholars agree that this book,
apparently written by a Jewish
eyewitness to the Maccabees' re-
volt against the Syrians, is a
"Arabic Maccabees H" because
its earliest text is in Arabic.
However, It is relatively late in
origin and therefore usually is
not compared to the four stand-
ard Maccabean books. An Eng-
lish edition of Maccabees V was
published in the United States
in 1832.
The ambiguous position held by
the apocryphal books is a result of
their having been banned by the
ancient rabbis in an effort to pre-
vent unorthodox ideas from divid-
ing Jewish ranks during the period
that saw Christianity's birth.
The final canonization of the
Hebrew Bible in the middle of the
second century C.E. therefore ex-
cluded all writings completed after
Persia's withdrawal. Many of these
writings contained notions that
rabbis preferred not to sanction by
giving them biblical status.
Some of the apocryphal books
ruled out on this chronological
basis contain numerous ideas that
deviate from Jewish theology. But
many contemporary Jewish schol-
ars would not put Maccabees I or
II in that category.
According to Dropsie College's
president. Dr. Abraham A. Neu-
man, "Maccabees I or II could
hardly have presented any difficul-
ties either from a religious or
`Halachie (Jewish law) point of
view. Nevertheless, general reli-
gious policy dictated their exclu-
sion from the canon."
Referring to the Apocryphas
as a whole, Neuman says: "the
Maccabees III, written at about
the same dint- a _ s Maccabees II (at
the close of the last century B.C.E.,
or early in the first century C.E.),
is the work (If an unknown Alexan-
drian Jew whO wrote in Greek. It
is rife with "historical improbabil-
ities" and tells, among other
things. how Jews slated for cruel
punishment were spared miracu-
lously.
Maccirbees IV is a philosophical
tract that uses illustrations from
Maccabees II and was written
shortly after its source book. It
has been ascribed to Josephus, the
pro-Roman Jewish historian, but
this is deemed unlikely. It may or
may not have been written in
Alexandria; but, in any case, it is
heavily influenced by the Judeo-
Hellenistic culture of that Egyptian
city.
There is even a fifth Book of
Maccabees—one not included in
the Apocrypha — known as the
Israel would not be kept like the
Dead Sea Scrolls.
We have only the reassurance of
contemporary open-mindedness on
historical sources that prompts stu-
It is . nn ortunate that the re-
dents of the Jewish heritage Jo
ligious zeal f the subsequent
consider all available materials.
centuries resul d in suppression
Let us ilbpe that scholarly prof-
of so precious a segment of an-
ects like the one undertaken by
cient Jewish literature.
There is little chance of re- Dropsie College may succeed in
claiming the original texts too, restoring products of Jewish genius
since those written in Alexandria to the Jewish fold, and in rendi-
and elsewhere outside the Land of tions faithful to their original texts.
Zakkai opposed a revolt against
Rome even when Rome occupied
the country, and advocated friend-
ship with the great ancient empire.
Notes for a Hanuka h Musical Comedy
By DAVID SCHWARTZ
(Direct JTA Teletype Wire
to The Jewish News)
There are any number of Hanu-
kah plays, but if I were a -play-
wright, I would like to write
another — a musical. Antiochus,
whose defeat we celebrate on Hanu-
kah, was a bad man and great
egotist--7and all such villains have
a comical aspect as well as tragic
and the musical form is best to
present the comical.
The Book of Maccabees writes of
Antiochus: "The gods of his fathers
he regarded not and he regarded ,
no gods but raised himself above
everything."
In the first place, I would have
"I should like three days to con-
sider this," says Antiochus. Popil-
ias Lenaes looks into his pocket
and *takes out a piece of chalk,
draws a circle in the sands on
which he is standing. "I want your
answer, Antiochus, before I get out
of this circle."
This part about the Roman leg-
ate drawing a circle and making
his peremptory demand for an an-
swer is historical, and lends it-
self to great dramatic effect. The
chorus can sing,
"Draw a circle in the sand
And you will rise to stature
grand."
Antiochus has no alternative but
to yield to mighty Rome's ulti-
matum, but, embittered. he decides
him standing curling his mustache,
singing.
My word is low which no one to have his revenge against the
will defy
Jews. He has hitherto only sought
None is above me under the sky to destroy the Jewish faith, but now
Macedonia, Syria, Babylonia,' too he aims at the Jews themselves.
And I will brook no revolt from He gathers his mightiest army. de-
the Hebrew
termined to put an end to Judea.
The chorus and ballet take this
Those Jews who are not killed
up, singing and dancing.
be sold into slavery. Historians
In the second act. Antiochus is will
he had gotten in touch w,ith
encamped on the sands before say
the slave dealers and they came
Egypt. He expects Egypt also to with their wallets to the place
fall into his lap. He sings:
where he expected to deal a crush-
writings that were excluded—re-
Today's exploits trill augment
ing blow to Judas Maccabeus. But
veal the views that the religious
my renown
when he arrived there was no sign
authorities sought to suppress.
crotozi
Egypt,
I
get
another
From
Agunah
of any Jewish army.
These books open to us a scene
I soon will have crowns so galore
Antiochus is very disturbed: He
The term "Agunah" is found in
of feverish religious agitation."
I might even open a crown store
Here again the chorus takes up sings and dances:
But if the rabbis suppressed the Bible (Ruth 1:13) where it
classical work of ancient history.
"As a historian. our author mere-
ly recorded events as they oc-
curred," writes Solomon Zeitlin
in his introduction to the Drop-
sie College translation by Sidney
these works, how is it that modern
Tedesche.
scholars know their contents?
The Jewish Encyclopedia calls it This is due to two factors: the
"one of the best sources known for
Christian church fathers and the
the history of the Jews." It is the
Septuagint. .
only one of the Maccabee books
The Septuagint — the earliest
believed to have been written orig-
inally in Hebrew in the Land of translation into Greek of the Jew-
Israel. The others were composed ish Bible, made by Alexandrian
in Greek elsewhere in the Mediter- Jews—does not exclude the apo-
cryphal books. As a result, though
ranean Basin.
Hebrew originals have been lost
Comparing it to the other Mac-
since, a Greek version by Jewish
cabee books. the encyclopedia says
contemporaries has survived.
it is "the only one of the four
As for the early Christians, they
which can be regarded as a re-
were attracted to the Apocrypha in
liable historical source."
general and to the latter two Books
Maccabees II, which also does
of the Maccabees in paricular be-
not contain doctrines opposed to
cause of the way such doctrines as
traditional Judaism, was written
life after death and martyrdom are
by Jason of Cyrene, who probably
handled by them. For example,
lived in what is now Libya. He is
such familiar Hanukah stories as
believed to have authored five
Hannah and her seven sons are re-
books about the Maccabean upris-
ported in the Maccabee tomes. In
ing, -covering the years 75 to 170
fact, the early Christians used the
B.C.E.
tales of Jewish martyrdom in the
It opens with two letters os-
Books of the Maccabees to set the
tensibly from the Jews of Pales- church's pattern in this domain.
tine to those of Egypt, urging
The rabbis wanted the Apocry-
them to celebrate the rededica-
tion of the Temple as a holiday.
Jason's book was completed
about a century after the events
he describes.
tongues as Amharic, Armenian and
Arabic. it was not "translated
until a few
back" into
years ago by
by an Israeli scholar, A.
Kahana of Tel Aviv.
A Hebrew version was completed
in the 19th Century, but it was
merely a translation of a trartsla-
tion. I. Frankel took a German
rendition of a Greek manuscript
and put it, in turn, into Hebrew.
' There have been suspicions
that Maccabees I was kept out of
Jewish canon because it alleged-
ly backed the Sadducee faction
rather than the prevailing Phari-
sees on such questions as bear-
ing arms on the Sabbath.
Note these excerpts, however—a
statement by Mattathias, father of
the Maccabees:
"If all of us do as our brothers
have done and do not fight against
the heathen for our lives and our
Laws. they will soon destroy lig
from the face of the earth . . . If
any man attacks us in battle on
the Sabbath day. let us oppose him
that we not all die as our brothers
did in the hiding places."
This principle actually coincides
with the stand of the Pharisees
themselves — so much so that it
later was enunciated by Hillel and
incorporated into Jewish doctrine.
Another possibility raised in
Maccabees I is its generally friend-
ly treatment of the Romans with
whom Jews had only remote con-
tact at the time. It even includes
a summary of a treaty between
Judah Maccabee and the Roman
senate. and letters between his
brother Jonathan and Rome and
Sparta concerning political alli-
ances. But anti-Roman feeling did
not prevail until well after the de-
struction of the Second Temple.
In fact rabbis like Johanan Ben
.
means `'shut off" or "restrained." the last line. "He might even open
It is generally taken to refer to a crown store." In the midst of
a woman who is not permitted to the dancing, there is announce-
marry because the ultimate fate or ment that an emissary from Rome
location of her husband is not has arrived. Perhaps Rome itself
known, he having disappeared, and will now acclaim him. "Hail, Emis-
not heard from. This became a sary of the Most Powerful Rome!"
severe problem in medieval times he exclaims.
when persecutions sometimes re-
The Roman legate, Popilias Le-
sulted in situations where hus- naes, gives a little grunt. Then
bands were either forcefully taken after a pause, he adds. "Antiochus,
away or where they were com- I have a little message to you from
pelled to travel great distances in the Roman Senate. I am afraid you
search of a livelihood. Many vol- won't like it."
umes of Halachaic literature have
"What is it?" asks Antiochus.
been written on the problem which
"Well, says Popilias. "the Senate
include the great deliberation and wants you to clear out."
concern the rabbis showed for
Antiochus is thunderstruck. "You
such cases, trying their very best mean, get out of Egypt?"
"Yep, that's it. they want you
to work out a solution.
Not forever will the poor man
be forgotten.—Pslams 9.
to get out, absquatulate. scram, It's
as plain as that. What is your an-
swer?"
0 where, Q where, is the Jewish
army?
0 where, 0 where is it today?
They couldn't have all gone to
the synagogue
It's not a holiday.
Just then there is evident dis-
turbance in the lines of Antiochus.
Soldiers begin running pell moll.
Judas Maccabeus has led his forces
to the rear and is attacking from
behind, causing disorganization
and bafflement of the enemy. The
slave dealers begin to join in the
running and, finding their money
belts too heavy for running, they
.
drop them.
The Judeans are seen picking up
money and they sing:
"And now we have Hanukah gelt
So we will have latkes too
So light up the candles
And proclaim a holiday too!"
Warburg, Lehman Names Linked in JDC History
f p
p
I
phal books withheld from circu-
lation among Jews and kept
secret by all who knew of them.
Among other reasons for taking
this position was the opinion that
much of the Apocrypha was writ-
ten outside the Land of Israel
(where only a minority of Jews
lived at the time) and therefore it
was doubtful in their view that
the books could have been inspired
by God like accepted biblical
books. Also, exclusion was virtual-
ly automatic for books written in
languages other than Hebrew, a
shortcoming of most of the Apo-
crypha.
Nevertheless, we do have some
fairly ancient manuscripts of Mac-
cabees I. All are in Greek, penned
in unical letters. They are the
Codex Sinaiticus, dating from the
4th Century; Codex Alexandrianus,
from the 5th Century; and Codex
Venetus, from the 8th Century.
Although Maccabees I has been
translated into all the European
languages and even into such
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
56—Friday, November 27, 1964
i;
The historic picture above, taken in 1919, shows the late Felix Warburg
(left), first chairman of the Joint Distribution Committee, and the late Herbert
H. Lehman, also a founder of the JDC, with volunteer workers in the New York
office when the JDC was mobilizing aid for the vast tasks of Jewish relief and
reconstruction abroad after World War I. The JDC became a constituent
agency of the United Jewish Appeal when the UJA was formed at the onset of
World War H. The JDC's 50th anniversary will be marked during the UJA's
national conference in New York Dec. 10-13. Edward M. M. Warburg (lower
left), following his father's tradition, now is JDC chairman and UJA honorary
chairman.