If you were like me, you may have dreamt of being a Maccabee as a kid. But who were the Maccabees?

You know the story; they tried to kill us, we won, let’s eat. Sound familiar? Well, actually the Greeks weren’t out to kill us (as long as we behaved). In fact, they liked Jewish scholarship and culture. Jewish studies would have been featured prominently right next to the departments of mathematics and linguistics in their universities.

They just had one problem. “What’s with this G‑d business?” they asked. “This is the age of enlightenment! Don’t go out on a limb to follow traditions you cannot understand. Serve yourself, not G‑d. Be a Jew, but be a rational Jew.” So they forbade learning about G‑d and His commandments.

Only a small band of Jews had the courage to stand up against the mighty Greeks. They said, “We serve G‑d. We are Jews, and our belief in Him is unshakable. Judaism does not change with the soupe du jour!”

That is a Maccabee!

The proof of their victory is that we’re still here, and the ancient Greeks are long gone. But their ideology lives on, only in a different disguise. It’s that Hellenist inside us that says, “Just be like everyone else. Don’t do mitzvahs if they inconvenience you or make you stick out. Just do what your neighbors do.”

This Chanukah, don’t follow the crowd. Light the menorah with passion and pride for all to see!

Be a Maccabee.

Happy Chanukah!

Ezra Krybus,
on behalf of the Chabad.org Editorial Team