intended to increase the knowledge, interest, and anticipation of the reader, thereby hastening the realization of our hopes and prayers for the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the Beit HaMikdash. In Defense of Leviyim "I am writing in response to the latter part of your article entitled: The Post Chanuka Mikdash - Beginning Anew. Therein you discuss the apparent 'non-role' of the Leviyim in the Chanuka story. After your fine description of their traditional activities and duties in the Temple, you present a sad picture of the Leviyim being 'conspicuously' absent and not contributing to the Hasmonean victory. You speculate that the Leviyim may have, themselves, fallen to the 'lure of the aesthetical, sensuous, mellifluous Greek civilization' and that they may have 'collaborated in unseemly ways with the apostate High Priest Menelaus, thus forever compromising themselves'. I wish to suggest several points you may want to consider before reaching a conclusion on this matter. • The historically relevant documentation we have regarding the Chanuka story is limited (e.g. a bit in the Talmud, the Books of the Maccabees, etc.), and even the information therein should be taken as incomplete or not necessarily accurate. Remember, Chazal did not canonize any book or scroll which would have been considered the 'authentic Jewish' accounting of these events. Thus, little is really known regarding details of names, dates, places, etc. That there is no mention of the role of the Leviyim may not be proof of anything other than the fact that their participation was secondary to that of the Kohanim. • This aside, may it not have been possible that, by this time, the Leviyim were not particularly distinct as a tribe and would not have been recognized as being different from any other 'Jew'? They no longer lived in separate geographic areas or cities and, excepting for their receiving the Levitical-due tithes by farmers and their occasional 'vacations' to go up to Jerusalem to sing and gate-keep, they may not have been readily identified as Leviyim by the man in the street. Already by the time of Mordecai who lived centuries earlier, all Israelites were called Jews, e.g. Mordecai HaYehudi, even though he was tribally a Benjaminite. Unlike the Kohanim who had to maintain themselves in near perpetual ritual purity in order to eat of the Terumah and sacrifices, something which would have required them to set themselves apart from their Jewish brethren, the Leviyim had no such separatist obligations. • Let us not forget that the Kohanim were Leviyim too. The Kohanim certainly distinguished themselves by their heroism and righteousness, but that does not mean that their fellow Leviyim, with whom they shared much in history, family relations, and cooperative service in the Temple over the years, also did not join the Kohanim-led revolt. But this point is mere conjecture, as are your musings. One can imagine that numerous Leviyim and Kohanim crossed paths many times during their Temple careers and probably got to know each other quite well. Finally your castigating the Leviyim for having been 'lured' by Hellenism or being Greek 'collaborators' is, for you, an uncharacteristic far-fetched hypothesis. I am unfamiliar with any source that supports such allegations. And given Chazal's later characterization of the Leviyim as 'never having worshipped idols', should we not actually assume the opposite, and that in fact, the majority of that illustrious and, probably, pious tribe would not have fallen victim to blatant paganistic and hedonistic Hellenism? Kudos to D.C. of K. Mattisdorf - You are absolutely correct! There is a chronological difficulty with the sealed ring of Beit Bilga! The Mishna reads, "To the north of the Mizbei'ach were 'rings', six rows of four each… at which they slaughtered the animal offerings" (Midot 3:5, note Tif'eret Yisrael 50 for general background). These adjustable iron rings, embedded into the stone floor of the Azara, were "ordained" by Yochanan Kohein Gadol. The function of these rings was to hold and immobilize the sacrificial animals before slaughter and they were a considerable improvement over previously used methods (Sota 48a). One ring was assigned to each of the twenty-four Mishmarot ('companies') of Kohanim but the ring allotted to Beit Bilga was sealed, rendering it useless (Suka 56b). These rings were positioned north of the Mizbei'ach because the Kodshei Kodashim, the sacrifices of a higher level of sanctity, were slaughtered there (Zevachim 5:1). And why was the ringof Beit Bilga sealed? "Our rabbis taught, 'It happened that Miriam, a daughter of Bilga became an apostate and married a Greek officer. When the Greeks entered the Sanctuary, she entered with them, stamped with her sandal on the altar and cried out, 'Wolf, wolf, how long will you consume the money of Israel but not standby them in their hour of need?' When the Sages heard that, they sealed up Bilga's ring. (Suka 56b). One possibly could infer from a cursory reading of the text that, immediately after the liberation and purification of the Mikdash, the Sages ordered the sealing of an already existing ring. If that were actually the case,it would indeed cause a serious chronological difficulty. Yochanan Kohein Gadol - i.e. John Hyrcanus, son of Simon, the last Maccabean brother - the man who "ordained" these rings - assumed the Kehuna Gedola (the High Priesthood) only in 135BCE. So when Yehuda HaMaccabee and his men liberated Jerusalem and rededicatedthe Mikdash in 165BCE (164?), thirty years earlier, these rings were not yet in existence! And the Talmudic reference to Miriam's sacrilegious behavior, of necessity, would have to be dated perhaps three years earlier. After the rout of the Syrian Hellenists and their Jewish collaborators, the apostasy of Menelaus and his coterie, Kohanim of Beit Bilga, was not forgotten and the entire Mishmeret was in disgrace. Nevertheless, the Mishmeret could not be abolished and thirty years later when Yochanan became Kohein Gadol, Beit Bilga was still under a cloud. When he "ordained" the rings, he assigned one to every Mishmeret including BeitBilga. However the stern Sages immediately ordered Beit Bilga's ring to be sealed as a sign of their ignominy and shame thus forcing them to use the rings of other Mishmarot. Catriel Sugarman gives illustrated lectures on the Beit HaMikdash and related topics. He can be reached at(02) 652-7531 or acatriel@netvision.net.il Catriel is in the process of writing a book entitled: The Temple of Jerusalem, A Pilgrims Prospective; A Guided Tour through the Temple and the Divine Service [The
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