Hanukkah: The Civil War We Forgot

Was Hanukkah really a war of Jews vs. Greeks — or a Jewish civil war we chose to forget?

Was Hanukkah really Jews vs. Greeks — or a Jewish civil war we chose to bury under a story about oil?

In this episode of Madlik Disruptive Torah, Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz revisit the Hanukkah story through the sources. From Maccabees I and the politics of Ptolemy vs. Antiochus, to the lone Talmudic mention of the oil miracle (Shabbat 21b), they show how a messy internal power struggle became a clean miracle narrative.

Key Takeaways

1. Hanukah began as a Jewish civil war — not just Jews vs. Greeks.
2. Each generation rewrites the Maccabees to fit its own battles.
3. The shamash — the helper candle — may be Hanukkah's real hero today.

Timestamps

[00:00] Hanukkah beyond oil and miracles

[03:12] Why the Talmud barely explains Hanukkah

[05:01] The forgotten Jewish civil war

[07:22] Hellenists vs. Maccabees reexamined

[09:48] Power, empires, and internal factions

[12:30] Modern culture wars through Hanukkah

[14:55] Why the rabbis hid the conflict

[17:05] Hillel vs. Shammai as metaphor

[19:10] The shamash in Israeli children's stories

[23:40] Hanukkah as a model for unity

Links & Learnings

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Transcript here: https://madlik.substack.com/