He Was Not Embarrassed! (I) The noted historian F.E. Peters accurately summarizes the situation in the East after the death of Alexander the Great (323 BCE). "The successor states of Alexander's empire present a dreary historical chronicle of endless wars provoked by the burgeoning ambitions of enfeebled men and their armies." Ptolmey, one of Alexander's generals, succeeded in founding a strong dynasty in Egypt with its capital in the new city of Alexandria. Seleucus, another general, created a much larger though unwieldy conglomerate which included most of most of Alexander's conquests in Asia. Seleucus' dominion encompassed Asia Minor, Phoenicia, Syria, Mesopotamia and Persia. There were many wars between these two emergent kingdoms with Eretz Yisrael a major prize. In a twenty year period, Jerusalem and Judea changed masters no less than seven times - in 320 BCE, twice in 318, once in 315, once in 312 and again in 302 BCE. Finally after decades of war, Ptolmey succeeded in defeating his Seleucid rival, and Eretz Yisrael became part of the Ptolemaic kingdom for over a century (312-198BCE). Following Alexander's unfortunate precedent, the Ptolemies established numerous Greek cities in Eretz Yisrael - particularly on the Mediterranean coast and east of the Jordan River. These Greek cities became serious economic, political and demographic barriers to Jewish expansion. Nevertheless, the period of Ptolemaic suzerainty in Eretz Yisrael was unique in history; the Jewish population enjoyed four generations of peace! Despite a corrupt beaucracy and heavy taxes, the Jewish community prospered. Scholars estimate that under the Ptolmies, the flourishing Jewish population more than doubled and possibly even tripled. The resultant overcrowding in Judea impelled many Jews to leave the rocky enclave around Jerusalem and migrate to the outlying areas of Eretz Yisrael. However, these Jews were not ordinary immigrants and they soon made it clear that they had no intention of assimilating into the local population. It was common knowledge that the Jews had once ruled all of Eretz Yisrael (at least theoretically) and that they considered the entire country as their divine patrimony. (Picture in Hard copy of TT) SILVER TETRADRACHM COIN DEPICTING DIADEMED KING ANTIOCHUS III "THE GREAT". On the reverse side is a seated Apollo, who was the patron god of the Seulecids. After a long cease-fire, Antiochus III (201 to 198BCE) renewed the war against the Ptolmies. Decisively defeating them, he added southern Syria and Eretz Yisrael to his kingdom. His erratic successor Antiochus IV, arrogantly and foolishly, tried to suppress Judaism in Judea and thereby set the stage for the familiar "Chanukah story". Peters notes, "Religious scandal, cultural shock, xenophobia, family ambitions, and the tax rate were all weapons in the Maccabean arsenal and they used them to bring the Seleucids down." (Picture in Hard copy of TT) SILVER COIN DEPICTING DIADEMED HEAD OF KING ANTIOCHUS IV. INSCRIPTION READS, "ANTIOCHUS EPIPHANESE (GOD MANIFEST) BEARING VICTORY". Few people realize how small Judea was when Yehuda HaMakabi raised the banner of revolt. Judea extended from Beit-Horon to Beit-El in the north, Beit-Zur in the south and from (but not including) Gezer, Emmaus, to Modi'in in the west. The eastern border was the Jordan River, the area of Jericho and the Dead Sea - a total area of less than two thousand, eight hundred square kilometers. While Yehuda HaMakabi succeeded in driving the foreigners and their Jewish sycophants out of Jerusalem (except for the Akra, a fort in the heart of the city) and the Judean hill-country, he was unable to pierce the hostile iron ring choking the little country. However, Jonathan, one of Yehuda's brothers, later succeeded in liberating Ekron, the first Maccabean conquest in the Shefeila plus three Samarian districts. Another brother, Simon freed Beit Tzur, a key fortress in the south, Gezer and most important, the port of Jaffa. Judea would no longer be landlocked. Though they were hardly angels, it was the three much maligned later Maccabeans, Yochanan Hyrcanus, Yehuda Aristobulus and Alexander Yannai who transformed "Palestine" into Eretz Yisrael.) The Jewish historian Joseph Klausner comments, "But for these victories, a Jewish Eretz Yisrael could never have come into being: the Jewish state must have remained a tiny district called 'Judea' lost within the greater expanse of Syria… It was through these Maccabeans alone that… 'Philistia' became the Land of Israel." Because of their military prowess and political savvy, Am Yisrael was able to break out of the confining Judean hills and spread throughout Eretz Yisrael. The ideology of these three leaders was that of their indefatigable predecessor Simon HaMakabi. When "ordered" to "return" newly liberated Jaffa and Ekron to the Seleucids, Simon did not pontificate about "security needs". Unlike some of his modern descendants, he was convinced of the righteousness of his cause. He believed that Eretz Yisrael belonged to Am Yisrael and refused to give it away. And unlike some of his modern descendants who prefer to cower behind concrete walls, Simon HaMaccabee was not embarrassed to say, "We have not taken foreign soil, but only the inheritance of our fathers, which fell into the hands of our foes unjustly, and now the land has returned to its first owners" (I Mac. 15:33,34). Klausner rightly concludes, "But for the heroism of the Maccabees, the heathen must, finally, have swallowed up the Jews." -to be continued Catriel's book in progress: The Temple of Jerusalem, A Pilgrim’s Perspective; A Guided Tour through the Temple and the Divine Service [The
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