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.