The Chashmonaim are our heroes. The Rambam (Hilchos Chanukah, beginning of Chapter 3) states that “the Kohanim Gedolim won the war [against the Greeks], killed [the enemy], rescued Klal Yisroel from them, appointed a king from among the Kohanim, and restored monarchy to Klal Yisroel for more than two hundred years.” On the other hand, the Ramban (Bereishis 49:10) castigates the Chashmonaim for not obeying the edict of Yaakov Avinu that no shevet may be appointed to royalty other than Yehudah. In fact, he concludes that for this transgression, they were eventually all wiped out. Is this a machlokes between two major Rishonim or two sides of a coin?
Rav Moshe Sternbuch, gaon av bais din of the Badatz of the Eidah Hachareidis (Teshuvos Vehanhagos, Chanukah, page 521), suggests a path reconciling the two seemingly opposite positions. He innovates the idea that the Chashmonaim held that since they never conquered all of Eretz Yisroel, they were permitted to appoint a temporary king until the time would arrive when shevet Yehudah could once again take over, establishing Malchus Bais Dovid properly and officially. He explains the Ramban’s position as criticizing the Chashmonaim for appointing a king, even though he didn’t carry all the trappings and power of someone from shevet Yehudah. According to this approach, they were simply enacting a stop-gap measure until a fully legitimate hierarchy could be created.
Rav Sternbuch demonstrates that this idea answers many ancient questions. Shaul Hamelech did not even try to eradicate Amaleik, since he felt that he was not the long-range candidate for king of Yisroel and could leave this mitzvah for the proper heir from shevet Yehudah. They were also waiting for the rest of Klal Yisroel to come up from other lands, when the mitzvah to wipe out Amaleik would become effective. Additionally, since the halacha (Rambam, Hilchos Melachim 1:3) is that a king cannot be appointed without a novi, which was impossible in the time of the Chashmonaim, they were not rebelling against the rule of Yaakov Avinu. Chagai, Zechariah, and Malachi, the last of the nevi’im, had passed away, and the Chashmonaim saw the need for a king. They therefore asserted the rule of asking the Sanhedrin for a temporary dispensation to appoint a king from a shevet other than Yehudah.
As Rav Sternbuch concludes, this leads us back to the Ramban. If the Chashmonaim acted so favorably, why indeed were they punished so harshly? He answers that the Kohanim conducted the monarchy in the same way that Klal Yisroel had become accustomed to kings from shevet Yehudah. This itself was a violation of Yaakov Avinu’s instructions.
To all this, we must add an extraordinary assertion by the Chazon Ish. During one day of Chanukah, the Ponovezher Rov was visiting the Chazon Ish. The Rov quoted from Al Hanissim of Chanukah: “You delivered the strong into the hands of the weak, the many into the hands of the few, the impure into the hands of the pure, the wicked into the hands of the righteous, and the wanton into the hands of the diligent students of the Torah.”
The Rov asked, “We understand that the weak and the few winning over the strong and the many was a great miracle. But why is it a miracle that the pure, righteous, and diligent were victorious as well?” The Chazon Ish answered that “this tefillah is defining why they won. Their triumph was because they were pure, righteous, and studied Torah. This was no physical conquest. We prevailed on Chanukah purely because of our spiritual superiority” (Sefer Mafik Margaliyos, reprinted in Otzar Hasippurim Moadim, page 641, No. 624, with a haskamah from Rav Chaim Kanievsky).
The Chazon Ish is clearly stressing the incredible spiritual gevurah of the Chashmonaim, which is all the more puzzling when we consider the timeless opinion of the Ramban and others about the Chashmonaim’s dereliction in seizing the monarchy as Kohanim, not members of shevet Yehudah.
If I may be so bold, I would like to quote from my recently published book, Days of Gratitude, Days of Triumph (ArtScroll, page 23), which actually began as an article in this newspaper. We quoted there from the Tiferes Shmuel of Alexander (Chanukah 2) that “Klal Yisroel’s spiritual state at the time of Chanukah was shefal hamatzav—a lowly condition.” He teaches that Hashem took pity on us and judged us based upon what we would do in the future, not where we were at that time.
We also learned from the Ozherover Rebbe (Aish Dos, Chanukah) that the word Chanukah derives from the Hebrew word chein, which refers to an undeserved type of charm. The fact that the Chashmonaim knew very well that their usurpation of the monarchy was imperfect and at best ephemeral made them extremely humble. They had no illusions about their own greatness or perfection. The Ozherover Rebbe, who was known to stress the middah of anavah in all aspects of our lives, taught that a large measure of the success of the Chashmonaim flowed from their humility itself.
Furthermore, the concept of reaching into the future to obtain zechusim that have not yet been gained is also noted by the Sigheter Rebbe (Yeitev Ponim, Chanukah 6), who relates the word Chanukah to the word chinuch, which means teaching. Chinuch always references doing something now, which might not register completely until sometime in the future. Here, the reverse was true. We were already able to access something that would happen in our future.
We should add here that Rav Yaakov Kamenetsky used this idea as well to explain a halacha. The Shulchan Aruch rules that a Jewish child should not be nursed by a gentile. The Vilna Gaon offers as a source that Moshe Rabbeinu would not nurse from anyone but his mother Yocheved. Rav Yaakov, among others, asks the obvious question: Moshe Rabbeinu’s situation was unique, since he was destined to speak directly to Hashem. So, can we extrapolate from this to everyone else? Rav Yaakov answers simply that every Jewish child should also be treated as a potential Moshe Rabbeinu. This, too, is an example of viewing someone as the potential of their future, not solely based upon who they are at the moment (see also Rashi, Bereishis 21:17, regarding Yishmoel).
This approach mirrors another concept in my book (page 50), based on a teaching of my rebbi, Rav Yitzchok Hutner (Pachad Yitzchok, Chanukah, Maamar 3). Rav Hutner asks a powerful question: Every day of Chanukah, we recite several times in Al Hanissim that the Greeks tried to make us forget the Torah. Yet, it seems that, on one level, they succeeded. The Mishnah (see meforshim to Chagigah 16a) tells us that one of the results of the Greek edicts against Klal Yisroel was that certain laws were forgotten, resulting in machlokes about various aspects of the Torah. On the surface, this would suggest that the Yevonim won this battle.
However, as my rebbi explains, the opposite is true. The Gemara (Eruvin 13b) rules that when the great sages of the Mishnah or Gemara disagree, in truth, they are all correct. On various levels and in different times, the opinion of each Tanna or Amora is accurate. Thus, far from being spiritually defeated, the Torah triumphed and was expanded by the introduction of what appear to be conflicting opinions, all of which are true and eternal.
We can now apply this to the seeming contradiction in our view of the Chashmonaim. Were they transgressors who usurped the role of shevet Yehudah, or were they tzaddikim and holy people who brought about a miraculous victory for Klal Yisroel and a Yom Tov for all time?
The answer lies in their remarkable humility. The Chashmonaim understood that the monarchy they were establishing would be short-lived. They knew that their melucha could not be perfect. Yet they risked their lives, purified the Bais Hamikdosh, and became the vehicle for astonishing miracles. They not only took no credit for these events, but believed that these wonders happened despite them, not because of them.
Of course, this refers primarily to the first and early generations of the Chashmonaim. In later generations, many of them lost sight of their own imperfections and exchanged humility for arrogance. But today, we commemorate those who recognized their limitations and gifted us the radiant Yom Tov that we will celebrate in just a few days, be’ezras Hashem.
