c. 1999 Religion News Service

(Rabbi Rudin is the national interreligious affairs director of the American Jewish Committee.)

UNDATED _ The first night of Hanukkah, the eight-day Jewish festival of light, is Friday, Dec. 3. The holiday commemorates the military victory of a small band of Jewish guerrillas in the land of Israel who more than 2,100 years ago successfully defeated the large army of a powerful Hellenistic empire that ruled much of the ancient Near East. In many ways that long-ago victory ran counter to much of human history.

Until modern times, the personal religion of an emperor or king, in whatever form it appeared, was generally forced on the diverse peoples who lived under that ruler.

A well-known example of this common imperial practice of coercing religious conformity is Emperor Constantine, who lived about 500 years after the Hanukkah events. He compelled his subjects to adopt his newfound faith, Christianity, which became the state religion of Constantine’s vast empire.

In the case of Hanukkah, King Antiochus IV, the ruthless ruler of his day, demanded total religious uniformity within his realm. Antiochus’ state religion was a mixture of classical paganism and dazzling Hellenistic culture, and because his”Evil Empire”had strong military, economic and political power, most of his subjects surrendered to the king’s harsh edict.

However, Antiochus had a special hostility toward Jews and Judaism. The king legally prohibited the teaching of Torah and ritual circumcision. He deliberately desecrated Jerusalem’s holy Temple with statues of Hellenistic gods, including Zeus, and the slaughter of pigs.

Confronted with these draconian restrictions, some Jews living in Israel at the time did what so many other peoples in similar situations have frequently done: They decided it was better”to go along”in order”to get along.” These Jews abandoned their traditional faith and willingly yielded to the dictatorial king’s demands. But others reacted to Antiochus in a different and much more dangerous way.

The Books of the Maccabees, which are part of the Roman Catholic version of the Bible but surprisingly not the Jewish canon, describe how Mattathias, an elderly priest, in an act of public defiance killed a fellow Jew who knelt before one of the Hellenistic statues. Faced with a murderous public repudiation of the king’s orders, Antiochus’ security forces issued an”all points”bulletin for Mattathias and his five sons.

But the rebels eluded Antiochus’ soldiers and fled to a remote area of Israel where they and other like-minded Jews began a successful three-year campaign to regain control of Jerusalem and its Temple. It is a familiar story that finds many echoes throughout history. A large professional army that is geographically overextended and politically overcommitted is unable to squash an armed uprising of amateur soldiers in one of the empire’s many provinces.

In some ways, the Hanukkah story is similar to the problems faced by the British authorities in London during the late 18th century. The proud and haughty”redcoats”of King George III failed to put down the determined resistance of a ragtag colonial army led by George Washington. The intense ideology of the rebels and the empire’s long supply lines played significant roles in the final outcomes of both the Hanukkah struggle and America’s War of Independence.

Unlike many other Jewish and Christian religious holidays, where precise historical data is vague or nonexistent, we know the exact day when 2,164 years ago the Jewish forces, led by Judah Maccabee, Mattathias’ son, reclaimed Jerusalem and the Temple. Once the military victory was secured, Judah’s troops quickly destroyed the statues of Zeus and in an act of”hanukkah”(the Hebrew word means”dedication”) the Temple was restored to the service of God. Hanukkah is the story of how a minority faith was preserved in the face of great adversity.

Ever since the first Hanukkah, Jews have happily celebrated the victory of the few over the many. Some scholars believe Judaism might have disappeared but for the efforts of Mattathias, Judah Maccabee and the band of men known even then as”zealots.” Of course during the past 21 centuries, the grim life-and-death side of Hanukkah has been muted, and today the holiday features gift-giving, cheerful songs, special foods, children’s games and the lighting of the menorah’s candles in millions of Jewish homes throughout the world.

There is surely nothing wrong with emphasizing Hanukkah’s joyous aspects, especially during the darkest month of the year. But it would be a disservice to the memory of the Maccabees if their valor and courage were lost in a miasma of holiday gaiety.

IR END RUDIN