Judah Maccabee

Judah Maccabee — *Yehudah HaMakabi*, "the Hammer" — was the warrior who led the Jewish revolt against the Seleucid Empire, rededicated the defiled Temple, and gave the festival of Hanukkah its origin. He is among the great heroes of the Second Temple age.

The revolt When the Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes outlawed the Torah, desecrated the Temple in Jerusalem, and forced pagan worship on the Jews (c. 167 BCE), the priest Mattathias of Modin and his sons rose in revolt. On Mattathias's death, leadership passed to his son Judah, whose brilliant guerrilla campaigns defeated far larger Seleucid armies through daring, speed, and faith. Josephus tells the story in his [Antiquities](/judaism/history/josephus-antiquities/1) (Book 12), as do the books of the Maccabees.

The rededication and Hanukkah In 164 BCE Judah recaptured Jerusalem and rededicated the Temple (the word *Hanukkah* means "dedication"), cleansing it and rekindling the menorah. The eight-day festival of Hanukkah commemorates this rededication; the later tradition of the cruse of oil that burned for eight days is recorded in the Talmud (Shabbat 21b). The event became a lasting symbol of religious freedom and of the few standing against the many.

Death and the Hasmonean legacy Judah fell in battle at Elasa in 160 BCE, refusing to flee; his brothers Jonathan and Simon carried on the struggle, and the family founded the Hasmonean dynasty that ruled an independent Judea for about a century. Whether the Hasmoneans' later combining of the kingship and high priesthood was a blessing or a corruption of ideals was debated already in antiquity — a judgement the sources record from differing sides, not adjudicated here.

Legacy Judah Maccabee endures as the emblem of Jewish courage and the fight for religious liberty; Hanukkah, the festival his victory created, is among the best-loved observances of the Jewish year.