Maccabees
Warfare on Shabbat: The Legacy of the MaccabeesFriday, December 14, 2012 by Moshe Sokolow | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Ezra and Nehemiah were so successful in instilling Shabbat observance that Jews refused to take up arms on Shabbat to defend themselves—with disastrous results.
The First War of National LiberationWednesday, December 12, 2012 by Diana Muir Appelbaum | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
The Maccabees' revolt can lay claim to being the first war of national liberation. Reprinted here is Diana Muir Appelbaum’s account of why the Book of Maccabees is so modern and so dangerous.
A Meditation on Maoz ZurMonday, December 10, 2012 by Ismar Schorsch | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
In this 1988 essay, Ismar Schorsch writes that the much maligned final stanza of Maoz Zur, which calls for divine retribution against Israel’s enemies, illustrates a distinction between redemption within history and the ultimate redemption, which must come from without.
Editors' Picks
Hanukkah Musings Gil Student, Ari Enkin, Torah Musings. From whether a convert can recite the Al ha-Nisim blessing to how to eat a donut, here are the answers to Hanukkah questions you never thought to ask. (E-book)
The First Hellenist Stephen Gabriel Rosenberg, Jerusalem Post. The Maccabees warred against the Seleucids and their Hellenized Jewish allies. But Judaean Hellenism began earlier, under the Ptolemies—and was not so bad for the Jews.
Of Rabbis and Maccabees Reuben Livingstone, Jewish Chronicle. The rabbis never deny the necessity of self-defense. So, why does the Talmud’s discussion of Hanukkah downplay the military exploits of the Maccabees?