I’m going to ask you at the end of this article to weigh in on
Chanukah. In truth, if the battle of Chanukah were fought today,
which side would each of us be on? The traditional view of
Chanukah is straightforward. About twenty-one hundred years ago,
traditionalist forces, led by Yehuda HaMakabi ("Judah the
Hammer") cleared the Jerusalem Temple of Greek influences.
Sources tell us that in 167 BCE King Antiochus IV ordered an
altar to Zeus erected in the Temple. He banned circumcision and
ordered pigs to be sacrificed at the altar. Antiochus's actions
provoked a large-scale revolt. Yet, he was not alone. Modern
scholarship posits that the king was intervening in a civil war
between traditional and Hellenized Jews. These were times when
“empire fever” was sweeping the region. It was becoming less
fashionable for small cities and states to worship local Gods,
whether they were material or transcendental. Many Jews embraced
Greek culture which was perceived by many to be more modern and
sophisticated. Greek insp