“Latkes and sour cream” might be “peaches and cream” on the Hanuka holiday. However, metaphorically, it was not so for the Maccabean Kingdom after tfheir victory, which Jews celebrate for these eight days and nights. Many presume that Judah Maccabee and his three surviving Hasmonean brothers rode off into the sunset and their Second Temple Jewish Commonwealth lived happily ever after (until the Romans razed Jerusalem 200 years later and then crushed successive revolts). Alas, that was not the case. What was the true fate of Hasmonean Monarchy and why does it matter for us today?
If, as we shall see, the Maccabees’ successors embodied all of the evils that the prophets Gideon and Samuel warned would attend a Jewish monarchy, what does that mean for the celebration of Hanuka, our prayers for a messianic king, and the dysfunctional democracy of modern Israel?
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