The Forgotten Megillah of Hanukkah

בס"ד

There is a little known megilah that tells the true story of the Hanukkah miracle. Megillath Antiochus, originally written in Aramaic and later translated to Hebrew, takes the story of Hanukkah and condenses all its glory into a total of 76 verses.

R' Saadia Gaon (d. 942) is the first to make mention of this brief, but powerful scroll. He held it in high esteem, attributing its authorship to none other than the five Maccabean brothers themselves. The literary  style of the book suggests that it was written to be read in the synagogue. Indeed, it was once read in Italian synagogues and is found in the oldest Italian Mahzor from 1568. Its placement in the Mahzor and old Torah manuscripts (either just after the Torah or along with the five megilloth) suggest that it was regarded as almost equal to the canonical books of the Hebrew Bible. Today, however, the Baladi Yemenite community is the only liturgical tradition that still reads Megillath Antiochus on Shabbath Hanukkah. Most Jews are altogether unaware of its existence.

So what happened? Who wouldn't want a beautiful story of heroism read publicly? The unfortunate answer is..... many, many people. One look at this Megillah and its offensive nature becomes readily apparent.

Its message is simple and clear; freedom to serve the Almighty, or death. No compromise, no surrender. Serve G-d freely or die trying. This, dear reader, is not the message that exile Judaism wished to teach its people. Exile Judaism sought to get by, to avoid drawing attention, to placate. Even today, the deep-seated exile mentality skews our perception. The events described in Megillath Antiochus just don't represent modern "Jewish" ethics.

Examples of "offensive" passages:

v 17-27

Yochanan was admitted to Nicanor, who said: "You are one of the rebels who-rebel against the king and do not care for the welfare of his government!" Yochanan replied: "My lord, I have come to you; whatever you demand I will do." "If you wish to do as I please," said Nicanor, "then take a swine and sacrifice it upon the altar. You shall wear royal clothes and ride the king's own horse; you shall be counted among the king's close friends." To this, Yochanan answered: "My lord, I am afraid of the Israelites; if they hear that I have done such a thing they will stone me. Let everyone leave your presence, so as not to inform them." Immediately Nicanor ordered everybody out.

At, that moment Yochanan ben Matityahu raised his eyes to heaven and prayed; "My G-d and G-d of my fathers Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov, do not hand me over to this heathen; for if he kills me, he will boast in the temple of Dagon that his god has handed me over to him." He advanced three steps toward Nicanor, thrust the dagger into his heart, and flung him fatally wounded into the court of the Temple. "My G-d," Yochanan prayed, "do not count it a sin that I killed this heathen in the Sanctuary; punish thus all the foes who came with him to persecute Judea and Jerusalem." On that day Yochanan set out and fought the enemy, inflicting heavy slaughter on them. The number of those who were slain by him on that day totaled two thousand seven hundred. Upon returning, he erected a column with the inscription: "Maccabee, Destroyer of Tyrants."

v 33-36

So drastic was the king's edict that when a man was discovered to have circumcised his son, he and his wife were hanged along with the child. A woman gave birth to a son after her husband's death and had him circumcised when he was eight days old. With the child in her arms, she went up on top of the wall of Jerusalem and cried out: "We say to you, wicked Bagris: This covenant of our fathers which you intend to destroy shall never cease from us nor from our children's children." She cast her son down to the ground and flung herself after him so that they died together. Many Israelites of that period did the same, refusing to renounce the covenant of their fathers.

v 37-40

Some of the Jews said to one another: "Come, let us keep Shabbat in a cave lest we violate it." When they were betrayed to Bagris, he dispatched armed men who sat down at the entrance of the cave and said: "You Jews, surrender to us! Eat of our bread, drink of our wine, and do what we do!" But the Jews said to one another: "We remember what we were commanded on Mount Sinai: 'Six days you shall labor and do all your work; on the seventh day you shall rest.' It is better for us to die than to desecrate Shabbat." When the Jews failed to come out, wood was brought and set on fire at the entrance of the cave. About a thousand men and women died there.

v 59-63

When the sons of Matityahu discovered that Yehudah had been slain, they returned to their father who asked: "Why did you come back?" They replied: "Our brother Yehudah, who alone equaled all of us, has been killed." "I will join you in the battle against the heathen," Matityahu said, "lest they destroy the house of Israel; why be so dismayed over your brother?" He joined his sons that same day and waged war against the enemy. The G-d of heaven delivered into their hands all swordsmen and archers, army officers and high officials. None of these survived.

This is the true story of Hanukkah and that's what makes this book unacceptable these days. Today we have a kinder, gentler Hanukkah and we don't need some barbaric old book reminding us of the real thing. The oil miracle, which most Jews believe to be the reason for festival, barely gets a mention at the end of the story. In fact, the megillah explicitely states that (contrary to contemporary belief) lights are kindled on Hanukkah to commemorate the military victories that enabled the re-dedication of the temple.

To some, Megillath Antiochus' violent themes, lack of jelly donuts, latkes,dreidels, etc., and its praise for the Maccabees instead of the Maccabeats, are a turnoff.

As for me, I'll be praying with the Baladi Yemenites this Shabbath. I suggest you do the same. If that's not an option, you can read Megillath Antiochus at home. Here's a .pdf file with English translation.

Hanukkah Sameah and G-d bless,

Yoel Keren

Update: I went to my local Baladi Yemenite congregation and asked the Gabbai if they would be reading the Megillah. He looked at me as if I was out of my mind. I explained which Megillah I was speaking of and he said he'd never heard of it. He asked someone else and was told that there was never such a thing among Yemenite Jews. However, I was blessed to find this audio recording of a Yemenite Hakham reading Megillath Antiochus in the Aramaic original.

The text at the end of the video explains that the custom has been forgotten in the last couple of generations. I find this kind of thing heartbreaking.