Mai Chanukah

(1) And it came to pass in the days of Antiochus, king of Greece, the great and mighty monarch, firm ruler over his dominion, to whom all kings hearkened.

(2) Many lands did he conquer, and mighty kings did he subdue, burning their towers and palaces, and imprisoning their men.

(3) (No king like unto him had arisen on the coastland of the Great Sea since the days of Alexander.)

(4) And he built a great city by the bank of the river, as his capital, and called it Antioch, after his own name.

(5) And Bagris his viceroy, also built a city equally great and called it Bagris after his name and so are they called to this day.

(6) In the twenty and third year of his reign which was the two hundred and thirteenth year of the erection of the Sanctuary, he set his face towards Jerusalem.

(7) And he spoke to his officers, saying, “Surely you know that there is a Jewish people in our midst in Jerusalem.

(8) They do not sacrifice to our gods, our laws they do not keep, and they neglect the laws of the king, to follow their own.

(9) And further, they look forward to a day of destruction of kings and rulers for when, they say ‘Our king will rule over us; and we shall govern land and sea, and all the world will be our dominion.’ It is not to the glory of the kingdom, to suffer them on the face of the earth.

(10) Come now, and let us go up against them, and destroy the covenant their God has made with them, their Sabbaths, new-moon [festivals], and circumcision.”

(11) And this found favor in the eyes of his officers and in the eyes of all his army.

(12) And thus it came to pass that King Antiochus arose and sent his viceroy Nicanor, with a heavy host and a large multitude, and they came to the city of Judea, Jerusalem.

(13) And many did he slay, and he set up an altar in the Sanctuary, in the place where the God of Israel had spoken to his servants, the prophet saying, “There shall I cause My Presence to dwell for ever.”[1] 12 In that place he sacrificed a swine, and brought its blood into the hall of the Sanctuary.

(14) And when Yoḥanan, the son of Matithyah, the High-Priest heard of this deed, he became filled with fury, and the radiance departed from his face And he took counsel with himself as what to do regarding this.

(15) And then Yoḥanan, the son of Matithyah, made a sword unto himself, two spans in length and one span in breadth, and he hid it beneath his garment.

(16) And he came to Jerusalem and stood in the royal gate, and he called to the guards, saying, “I am Yoḥanan, the son of Matithyah, and I am come before Nicanor.

(17) The guards came to Nicanor and said, “The High-Priest of the Jews stands in the gate. And Nicanor answered and said, “Let him surely come in.Then was Yoḥanan brought into the presence of Nicanor. And Nicanor spoke to Yoḥanan, saying, “You are one of the rebels, who have rebelled against the king and seek not the peace of his kingdom.”

(18) And Yoḥanan answered and said to Nicanor, “My lord now I am come before you. Whatsoever you desire, that will I do.”

(19) And Nicanor answered and said to Yoḥanan, “If thou will do my desire, arise and take a swine and slaughter it upon the altar. And you will be given royal dress, and will ride on the king’s horse, for you will be as one beloved of the king.”

(20) When Yoḥanan heard this, he answered, “My lord, I fear the children of Israel, lest they hear of my deed and stone me with stones.

(21) Let therefore everyone go from before you, lest they inform them.” And Nicanor ordered everyone from his presence.

(22) And Yoḥanan, the son of Matithyah, then raised his eyes to Heaven and poured forth his prayer saying, “My God and God of My fathers Avraham, Yitzḥak, and Yaakov,

(23) deliver me not into the hands of this heathen, for if he slay me he will repair to the Temple of Dagon his god, and say, ‘My god has delivered him in my hands.’”At that moment, he stepped forward and plunged the sword into Nicanor’s heart, and cast his body into the hall of the Sanctuary,

(24) before the Eylah Shemayah [God of Heaven]. And Yoḥanan spoke and said, “My God, account it not as a sin that I killed him in the Sanctuary. Thus may You do to all who came with him to oppress Judea and Jerusalem.”

(25) And Yoḥanan the son of Matithyah went forth on that day and fought the enemy and slew many of them.

(26) The number of the enemy which he did slay that day was seven thousand for they slew one another.

(27) When he returned, he built a pillar which he called after his name, “Macabee, the slayer of the mighty.”

(28) And when Antiochus the king heard that his viceroy Nicanor was slain, he was sorely vexed. And he sent for Bagris, the wicked, who leads his people astray.

(29) And Antiochus spoke to Bagris and said, “You know, for you have heard, what the children of Israel have done to me, they have slain my hosts, and have despoiled my camps and officers.

(30) Can you now put your trust in your wealth, or consider your homes as your own? Come, let us go up against them, and destroy the covenant their god has made with them through their Sabbaths, the new-moon [festival observance], and circumcision.”

(31) Then did Bagris, the wicked, and all his armies, come into Jerusalem, and slew many of its inhabitants.

(32) And he issued a severe decree banning, the Sabbath, the new moon, and circumcision.

(33) And seeing that this royal decree was issued in haste, they soon found a man who circumcised his son. And the man and his wife were brought before them, and they hung them opposite the child.

(34) There was also a woman who bore a son after the death of her husband, and she circumcised him when he was eight days old. And she went up on the wall of Jerusalem, bearing her circumcised son.

(35) And she cried out and said, “To you Bagris, the wicked, be it said ‘You plan to destroy the covenant that has been made with us, the covenant of our forefathers. Sabbath and the new-moon [festivals] and circumcision we will not abandon, neither we nor our children’s children.’ And she cast her son to the ground, and leaped down after him, and both died together. Many of the children of Israel did thus in those days rather than violate the covenant of their fathers.

(36) Therefore the Israelites said one to the other, “Come let us withdraw into a cave, lest here we be compelled to desecrate the Sabbath.” But their plan was betrayed to Bagris.

(37) Then did Bagris, the wicked, send armed men, to camp at the entrance to the cave. And they said, “Jews, come forth to us, eat with us of our bread, and drink with us of our wine, and do even as we do.”

(38) And the children of Israel spoke and said one to another, “We all remember what we were commanded upon Mount Sinai; ‘Six days shall you labor, and upon the seventh day, shall you rest.’[2] It were better to die in this cave than to profane the Sabbath day.”

(39) And when the Jews would not come forth, Bagris’ men brought wood, which they burned at the entrance of the cave, killing about a thousand men and women

(40) And the five sons of Matithyah, Yoḥanan and his four brethren, came out and fought with the enemy and slew many of them

(41) and drove them to the far islands of the sea, for they trusted in the God of Heaven.

(42) And Bagris, the wicked, boarded a ship and fled to Antioch, to the king and with him were those who escaped the sword.

(43) And Bagris spoke to Antiochus, saying, “Though, you king have commanded the Jews to cease their observance of Sabbath, the new-moon [festival], and circumcision; yet they have rebelled against you, and defraud you. Not all the peoples and tongues could conquer the five sons of Matithyah, who are mightier than lions, swifter than eagles, and fiercer than bears.

(44) And now, O King, if my counsel wins your favor, go forth to do battle against them, [so that they] shall be shamed before all the kings.

(45) Therefore, do you dispatch letters to all the provinces of your kingdom that the captains of the armies come, and let no one remain behind and their elephants, garbed with shields and harness shall they bring with them.”

(46) And this found favor in the eyes of King Antiochus. He sent letters to all the provinces of his empire. And the governors of each people and each province came and they brought elephants garbed with shields and harness.

(47) And Bagris, the wicked, arose and went up against Jerusalem a second time, and made a breach in its wall and tore down its entrance. He made thirteen breaches in the Sanctuary, and some of the stones he destroyed, causing them to crumble like dust.

(48) And he thought to himself, “Surely this time they shall not overcome me, for my host is so numerous, and my strength is so great.” The God of Heaven, however, planned otherwise.

(49) When the five sons of Mattithyah heard this, they arose and came to Mitzpah Gil’ad, where Israel had won a great victory in the day of Shmuel, the prophet.

(50) And they decreed a fast day, and sat on ashes and prayed to the God of Heaven for mercy.

(51) And a good plan occurred to Yehudah, the eldest, Shim’on, the second of the sons, Yoḥanan, the third, Yonathan, the fourth, and El’azar, the youngest.

(52) And their father blessed them and said, “Yehudah, my son, you are like Yehudah the son of Yaakov, who was like unto a lion.

(53) Shim’on, my son, you are like Shim’on the son of Yaakov who slew the people of Shkḥem.

(54) Yoḥanan, my son, you are like Avner the son of Ner, the head of the host of Israel.

(55) Yonathan, my son, you are like Yonathan the son of Shaul, who slew the Plishtim.

(56) And you El’azar, my son, you are like Pinḥas the son of El’azar who was jealous for his God’s sake, and thus delivered the children of Israel.”

(57) Following this, the five sons of Matithyah went forth that day and fought the enemy, and slew many among them. But Yehudah was slain in the battle.

(58) When the sons of Matithyah saw that their brother Yehudah was slain, they returned to their father.

(59) And when he said to them, “Why have you returned?” they replied, “Because our brother who was the equal of all the rest of us, is slain.

(60) And Matithyah said, “I will go with you and I too will fight the enemy, lest the House of Israel perish, seeing that you are so alarmed by reason of your brother’s death.”

(61) And Matithyah went forth that day with his sons and fought the enemy.

(62) And the God of Heaven delivered all the mighty men of the enemy into their hands, and they slew many among them, slaying all who were armed with swords, or who drew a bow; all the captains of the army and their lesser officers, so that none remained; for the remnant fled to distant provinces.

(63) El’azar while engaged in killing the elephants, sank in the dung of the elephants.

(64) And when they returned from battle they sought him and found him sunk in the dung of the elephants.

(65) And the children of Israel rejoiced that their enemies had been delivered into their hands; some of them they burned in fire, some they pierced with the sword, and some they hung upon the trees.

(66) And Bagris who lead his people astray, was burned by the House of Israel in fire.

(67) When King Antiochus heard that Bagris, the wicked, and all the captains who were with him were slain, he embarked upon a boat and fled to a distant province; and it came to pass that wherever he landed, they rebelled against him and called him “the Coward.”

(68) After these things, the sons of the Ḥashmonai came into the Sanctuary, restored the gates, repaired the breaches, and cleansed the hall of the dead and of all its impurity.

(69) And they sought pure olive oil with which to light the Menorah, but they found only one little vessel sealed with the seal of the High-Priest and they knew it to be pure. And it contained but sufficient oil for one day.

(70) But the God of Heaven Who caused His presence to dwell in the Sanctuary, gave His blessing and it sufficed to light the Menorah eight days.

(71) Therefore did the sons of the Ḥashmonai together with the Israelites

(72) ordain that these eight days be ever celebrated as days of joy and feasting along with the festivals ordained in the Torah; that candles be lit to commemorate the victory they achieved through the God of Heaven;

(73) that it be forbidden to mourn or to decree a fast-day during this period, except such as may have been established previously, and it was further ordained to pray and thank God.

(74) (Only the work in the Sanctuary was not prohibited by the Ḥashmonai and his sons and their brethren.)

(75) (That day saw the end of the Kingdom of Greece.

(76) And the sons of the Ḥashmonai and their sons after them did rule over Israel from that day till the destruction of the Beit haElohim [Temple of God], a period of two hundred and six years.)

(77) (Therefore do the children of Israel observe these days in all the lands of their dispersion, as days of feasting and joy, for eight days beginning with the 25th of Kislev.

(78) From that day and evermore, this festival shall not depart from the holy places of Israel, for their Kohanim, Levi’im, and sages ordained it for themselves and their descendants and pledge to keep it forever.)

(79) (May God who performed miracles on their behalf, do wonders for us so that the words of the Torah may be fulfilled even as it is written “I will show him wonders even as in the days of thy going forth from the land of Egypt.”[3] Amen.)(May God who performed miracles on their behalf, do wonders for us so that the words of the Torah may be fulfilled even as it is written “I will show him wonders even as in the days of thy going forth from the land of Egypt.”[3] Amen.)