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.

The Post-Chanuka Mikdash - Beginning Anew
After the miracle of Chanuka, did the Mikdash "live happily ever after"? No, it did not! It took a long time until the Mikdash was able to function smoothly. When Yehuda HaMaccabi and his men liberated Jerusalem and entered the Mikdash "…they saw the Sanctuary desolate, and the altar profaned, and the gates burned up, andshrubs growing in the courts as if in a forest…". They found a polluted Mikdash which had been "filled with riot and reveling with gentiles who dallied with harlots" (II Mac. 6). The faithless High Priest Menelaus of Beit Bilga had sold the Mikdash vessels on the open market to meet his financial obligations to his patron,Antiochus IV. The magnificent gold Menora was but a memory. Antiochus IV "had taken away the golden (incense) altar and the candlestick of light, and all the vessels thereof, and the table of the Shewbread… and the censers of gold, and the veil, and the crowns, and the golden ornaments…" (I Mac. 1). According to Menachot28b, the original "Chanuka Menora" was "made of iron bars which they overlaid with tin". The Midrash elaborates: To very quickly construct an ad hoc but functioning Menora that they could use, they took hollow iron spearheads, coated them with tin, attached them together, fixed lamps in them, poured oil from the famous cruse and lit them. Only later, "when they grew richer, they made one (a Menora) of silver and when they grew still richer, they made one of gold." We can be sure that the Menora was not the only Mikdash vessel that had to be replaced.

And what about the Kohanim? Many of the loyal Kohanim who refused to serve Avoda Zara (pagan deities) in the Mikdash met death Al Kiddush Hashem (a martyr's death). Many joined the army of resistance; some were killed, others were wounded in battle, receiving injuries (i.e. loss of limbs etc.) which effectively barred them from serving in the Mikdash. And of course, Kohanic quis- lings who did serve Avoda Zara were personae non grata. "Any Kohein who served Avoda Zara, whether intentionally or unintentionally, even if he repented, is disqualified forever from serving in the Mikdash… whether the Kohein actually served as a priest to Avoda Zara, or bowed down before it, or acknowledged its divinity, he is disqualified forever from serving in the Beit HaMikdash" (Hil. Bi'at HaMikdash 9:13).

Young Kohanim who "despised the Temple and neglected the sacrifices… who hastened to the place of exercise…" (II Mac. 4:14), certainly were not welcomed back with openarms. The Mishmeret of Beit Bilga, from whence came the renegade High Priest Menelaus and his treasonous coterie, was hopelessly tainted and very few Kohanim of this discredited priestly order would be permitted to approach the Mizbei'ach in the post-Chanuka Mikdash. Beit Bilga itself could not be abolished because the organization of the Kehuna into twenty-four Mishmarot, of which Beit Bilga was one, was held to be sacrosanct (I Divrei Hayamim 24). It would be a long time until Beit Bilga would be up to "full strength" and until that time, Kohanim of the Mishmeret of Yeshev'av assisted them (See Sukka 56b). But Beit Bilga remained in disgrace for many years. Though we have no exact figures, without question, the number of Kohanim available and able to serve in the Beit HaMikdash was drastically reduced during those terrible years of persecution and war.

King Solomon had appointed Tzadok to be Kohein Gadol and his descendants served as Kohanim Gedolim in Bayit Rishon and Bayit Sheini for some 850 years: the last officiating Kohein Gadol of that dynasty, Chonio (Onias) III, had been removed by Antiochus IV. No doubt after the liberation of Jerusalem and the purification of the Mikdash, his son Chonio IV, the lawful heir of the legitimate Kohanim Gedolim, expected to be appointed to his ancestral position. But even after the liberation of Jerusalem and the cleansing of the Mikdash, the Syrian-Greek government still had the power to foist a High Priest of their own choosing on Am Yisrael. They appointed Alcimus, a man not particularly noted for his attachment to Jewish tradition. Chonio fled to Egypt and eventually built a "rival" temple in Leontopolis, later referred to in the rabbinical literature as Beit Chonio. No doubt because Chonio was the scion of the legitimate Kohein Gadol, many faithful Kohanim initially followed him. However those who actually sacrificed at Beit Chonio were forever banned from performing the Avoda in the Mikdash (Menachot 13:10). Alcimus soon showed his true colors when he had murdered sixty Chassidim. This wanton massacre of Torah loyalists brought about a renewal of the fighting and eventually the death of Alcimus himself. The Avoda of Yom Kippur was valid only when performed by a consecrated Kohein Gadol. He was the man who, as his ancestor Aaron before him, entered the Kodesh HaKodashim and sought forgiveness for Am Yisrael. After the death of Alcimus, we don't even know who fulfilled this vital role. Yehuda HaMaccabi's brother, Simon, became Kohein Gadol only seven years later.

Another enigma which presents itself in any study of the Maccabean period is the role, or more precisely, the non-role of the Leviyim. Our sources frequently mention the honorable role played by the few Leviyim who returned to Eretz Yisrael in the early days of Shivat Tzion. Ezra 3:10-11 relates the joy of the people when the foundation stone of Bayit Sheini was laid. "And when the builders laid the foundation of the Temple… they set the Kohanim in their apparel with trumpets, and the Leviyim… with cymbals to praise the Lord…" Nehemiah appointed them to guard the newly completed gates of Jerusalem. "And at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, they sought the Leviyim… to keep the dedication with gladness, both with singing… with cymbals, psalteries and harps" (Nechemiah 12:27). Under the guidance of Ezra and Nehemiah, the people gathered together and asked "Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses" and he read it from "early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women…" As Ezra read, "the Leviyim 'caused' the people to understand the law" (ibid. 8:7). However in describing the great national battle against the Syrian Hellenists, neither Maccabees I and II nor Josephus even mention the Leviyim as participants in the struggle. Even after victory, when the restored Mizbei'ach was rededicated with "songs and lyres, and harps and cymbals", the Leviyim are conspicuous by their absence! (Note I Mac.4:35-47). Did their musical proclivities cause them to be particularly susceptible to the lure of the aesthetical, sensuous, mellifluous Greek civilization? Dare we speculate that possibly too many Leviyim collaborated in unseemly ways with the apostate High Priest Menelaus, thereby forever compromising themselves? Nevertheless, even with a reduced roster of Kohanim and Leviyim, BS"D, Am Yisrael started to put the Mikdash back on its feet. Despite everything, the Avoda continued.

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

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