A Trip Back to the Chashmonaim Era by Pierre Mekdoshim

We’re all very familiar with certain basic details and elements of the Chanuka story: the jug of oil, Greeks on elephants, the brave Maccabees and all the other highlights of holiday. However, what many of us forget is that the events of the Chanuka story didn’t occur in a vacuum. They were the culmination of political, military, and religious trends that were active both within the land of Israel and without. Civil war, the fortunes of empires, schismatic religious disputes: some of the most powerful forces of history played very important roles in the era of the Chanuka story. Nor does the story end with the miraculous lighting of the Menorah in the Beis Hamikdash. That was only the beginning of the reign of the house of the Chashmoanim, an era that lasted for 103 years, during which many epochal events occurred. Just who were the Chashmonaim, and what was the nature of their reign? As we explore their story, we will learn about the saga of this tragic dynasty and examine modern-day archeological discoveries that shed light on what life was like during this era.

THE HOLY REBELS

At the time of the year 167 BCE, Israel was under the dominion of the Seleucid Greeks. Politically and spiritually the Jews were utterly dominated, and Hellenistic influence was actively spread throughout the land. The holy rebellion of Matisyahu and his sons, which we all know so well, occurred during this era. However, the Greeks did not give up the fight after the miraculous victory and the rededication of the Beis Hamikdash. All told, the Jewish war against the Greeks lasted for over twenty-five years, during which several of the members of Matisyahu’s family perished. After signing a peace treaty in the year 142 BCE, a sovereign Jewish state was established in the land of Israel.

The first leader of the house of the Chashmonaim, Shimon Ben Matisyahu, did not call himself a king. He knew that only descendants of the Davidic line could be kings of Israel. Instead, he called himself a “Nasi”, a more generic term for leader, but in essence he assumed the mantle of a kingship. As the Ramban points out in his commentary to the words in Bereishis 49:10 “Lo Yasur Shevet Me’yehuda: the scepter [of rulership] shall not depart from Yehuda” although the original Chashmonaim were Tzadikim of the first order, they made a grave mistake in taking the monarchy for themselves. Monarchy is meant to be placed in the hands of Yehuda’s descendants, and the ultimate deterioration of the Chashmonaim, and all the tragedies that befell them, have their roots in this fundamental error.

Unlike their father, Shimon’s descendants quickly forgot the subtle distinction between Nasi and Melech. Like many others throughout history, the new ruling dynasty became very ambitious in its expansion of its dominion over people and territory. Their original decision to maintain power instead of relinquishing it to its rightful owners became their undoing. In one of many missteps, Yochanan Ben Shimon forcibly converted the Idumeans, a non-Jewish tribe, when he captured their land. It was from these forcible converts that King Herod descended, one of the most complicated and catastrophic rulers the land of Israel has ever seen. The next king to reign was Alexander Yanai, Yochanan ben Shimon’s son. Although he was only two generations removed from the great Maccabees, Alexander was almost completely Hellenized, and sided largely with the Tzedukim and against Jews who believed in Torah She'Baal Peh. A particular low point of his reign was when he massacred 800 Jewish families, and hosted a Greek style feast as the murders occurred. After his death, the mantle of rulership was assumed by his righteous widow, Shlomtzion, sister of Rabbi Shimon ben Shetach. Her reign was one of the few bright spots of the Chashmonaim dynasty, during which there was peace and cooperation between the monarchy and the sages. That brief period would end with the reign of her sons Hyrcanus and Aristablos, during which the land of Israel descended into civil war, eventually leading the Romans to take control of the land. Over the course of the 103 years, the dynasty begun by such righteous heroes became a decrepit

CHANUKAH CENTER

shell of its former self. By the end, the Chashmonaim were virtually indistinguishable from the Misyavnim against whom their ancestors had fought so hard to save the land of Israel. This tragic decline is best encapsulated by the Gemara in Bava Basra 3b, which says that anyone who says they are from the house of the Chashmonaim is actually a slave. This sums up the complete deterioration of the Chashmonaim from their roots as holy rebels to their ultimate end as desiccated and decadent pretenders to the throne. All told, the Chanuka story and the events that followed form a bittersweet and familiar chapter of our history: miraculous triumph unraveled into something more tragic and human. However, this era leaves us not only with valuable lessons for future generations of Jews, but fascinating physical remnants, which have been uncovered in the modern era through the tremendous efforts of archaeologists and researchers. These discoveries shed light on the connections between Chanuka and the later era of the Chashmonaim dyansty, as well as the history of the era itself.

THE MUKHMAS MENORAH

Last Chanuka, a paper was published by Dr. Dr. Dvir Raviv of Bar-Ilan University that described a fascinating archeological discovery. During a survey of Yehuda and Shomron in the 1980s, archaeologists uncovered an image of a seven branched menorah engraved at the entrance of tomb. While Menorahs were a common decorative motif on tombs, this is one of the rare examples that dates back to the era of the Chashmonaim. The fact that the menorah depicted is more ornate led the researchers to believe that this Menorah was not meant as a general Judaic symbol, but rather as an evocation of the actual Menorah from the Beis Hamikdash, which had played the central role in the Chanuka story. The connections to Chanuka didn’t end there. The tomb was located slightly northeast of Jerusalem, near the Arab village of Mukhmas. The first Mishna in the eighth perek of Masechtes Chulin tells us that Muchmas was the location where the best wheat was found, which would be used for the meal offerings in the Beis Hamikdash. Researchers used this as an indication that Kohanim lived in Muchmas. This could corroborate the account found in the book of Maccabees, where we are told that Yonatan, brother of Yehuda HaMacabee, made Muchmas his headquarters after his brother’s death. That means that this menorah might have been engraved by an actual Macabee, or someone who knew one of them.

THE HASMONEAN HOUSE

Another major discovery connected to the story of Chanukah was the 2013 discovery of the first ever structure in Jerusalem dating back to the Chashmonaim era. Up until then, there had been many pieces of pottery discovered, as well as remnants of fortifications. But the conspicuous absence of any extant domicile was a glaring gap in the historical record. Then, in 2013, during excavations in the Givati parking lot near the city of David in Jerusalem’s old city, archeologists discovered the building. They were able to place it as dating back to the Chashmonaim era because of the style of building as well as pottery and coins they found inside. This could have been the home of people who may have had a front row seat to watch as the brave Maccabees wrested control of the Beis Hamikdash back from the Greeks.

STRANGLEHOLD IN THE DESERT

In ancient times, incense trading was big business. The Nabateans, an ancient Arabic race, were the big players in the incense industry, transporting expensive substances such as frankincense and myrhh from locations within modern day Jordan to ports on the Mediterranean, where it could be shipped overseas to places like Greece and Egypt. This trade route was known as the incense road, and in a fascinating example of ancient geopolitics, archeologists have discovered how the Chashmonaim kings’ hunger for power and control affected the trade of the era. Archeological discoveries in 2009 found remnants of a massive fortress on the high ground

near Sdei Boker, overlooking Nachal Besor. Researchers dated the building back to the reign of Alexander Yannai, grandson of Shimon, and it revealed a crucial piece of the puzzle that had been previously unknown: how much territory did the Jews control? At least during Alexander Yannai’s reign, the Jews’ power extended into the Negev, including a crucial section of the incense road. Since the Nabateans were the Jews’ enemies, they throttled their business and allowed no spice to be traded for several decades. Another interesting discovery at the fortress were many imported vessels and evidence of foreign wine. This led the researchers to conclude that the military force at this fortress responsible for thwarting the Nabateans was predominantly made up of foreign mercenaries, not Jewish soldiers. That a Jewish king would have difficulty recruiting Jewish soldiers, or that he wouldn’t trust them, fits with what we know about that era, with its sharp political and religious divisions among different factions of Jews.

THE WINTER PALACE

Like every other monarchy, the Chashmonaim built massive palaces to serve as seats of power for themselves. The most highly researched of these are the winter palaces, originally discovered by Sir Charles Warren in the 1800’s as he searched for the location of biblical Yericho. Excavations continued through the 1970’s, during which the true nature of the site was slowly uncovered. The site showed evidence of the luxury that the Chashmonaim enjoyed, but also, surprisingly, that there was a strong loyalty to halacha. The palace is thought to have been built by Yohanan Ben Shimon, sometime in the years 134-104 BCE and fortified by his son Alexander Yannai. In the year 31 BCE, an earthquake destroyed the palace, although later King Herod used the same site for a palace of his own, building a royal domicile on the previous dynasty’s ruins, a dynasty that he had overthrown (see Bava Basra 3b) The palaces were built in Wadi Qelt, the valley beneath the cliffs of Judean desert. Along the entrance to the valley were two fortresses, that could protect the ruler from any attacks. The palaces were built at a low altitude, very close to sea level, so that the residents could enjoy warm winds and more comfortable temperatures dur ing the wintertime. It was roughly a day’s horse ride to Jerusalem; this meant that the ruler could still send and receive messengers, staying on top of the situation even while away from the capital. The palace featured beautiful frescoes, and open-roofed courtyard and gardens. There were two major swimming pools, and a network of lead-lined pipes which delivered water from aqueducts to all the palace features. Aside from the main palace, archaeologists also discovered what they called the “twin palaces". They hypothesis behind these two very similar buildings is that they were built by Queen Shlmotzion to placate her two sons Hyrcanus and Aristobulus, who were perpetually locked in a bitter rivalry, the idea being that equal-sized palaces would give them one less thing to fight about. A fascinating contrast to all the luxury of the winter palaces were the mikvas discovered in the winter palace. While the rest of the palace was built with the finest in keeping with the latest technology and Greek aesthetics, the mikvas were built in accordance with every strict dictate of halacha. The explanation seems to be that since the chasmonaim were kohanim, they needed to be tahor in order to eat teruma and other items.

THE OLDEST MENORAH?

Last year, another fascinating discovery was made. An actual lamp was found near the city of David, complete and unbroken. Nearly 2000 years old, the lamp was found along the pilgrimage road, along which Jews would make their way each year as they were oleh regel. Although shards of pottery lamps are a very common item to discover in an archaeological dig, a complete lamp is an exciting event. Although it is somewhat speculative, it is possible that these lamps were used to light Chanuka lights in the immediate aftermath of the Chanuka story itself. Perhaps people who could remember the nes of the oil, or those who heard about it from their families, lit this lamp, and remembered the miraculous victories of the Maccabees.