What if the Maccabees had lost?

Come Chanukah, Jews around the world will celebrate the miracle of long-lasting oil, and the enduring power of the Jewish spirit. “Not by might and not by power, but by spirit alone”–the words of the prophet Zechariah–will be chanted in synagogues, and sung to Debbie Friedman’s melody, by young Jewish children The thoughts of many Jews will be focused on the present and the future of the Diaspora community.

In Israel, our brothers and sisters will light their chanukiot (Chanukah menorahs) just as we will. However, their thoughts will likely be on what lessons can be learned from the Maccabees, from a military perspective, in the wake of October 7–as well as the meaning of Chanukah, of rededication, in a deeply divided country.

A question that few of us ever consider is: What would have happened if the Maccabees had lost the battle, in 163 B.C.E.?

We rarely speak of the powerful voices within the Jewish people in favor of the wave of Hellenism sweeping over the world, which had come in full force to Jerusalem. Had the Maccabees lost the war, the tiny country of Judea would have most likely succumbed to the Greek influence along with the rest of the world and, with it, what we know today as Judaism.  Our belief system and way of life would have likely been subsumed into Greek thought and culture.

Further, far from this being a tragedy for the Jews alone, the end of Judaism would have had a powerful impact on the future of the world. Had the Maccabees lost and the Hellenistic trajectory of the Priests in Jerusalem continued, Judaism as we know it would have ceased to function- and, subsequently, there would have been no Christianity or Islam. As a result, the most basic ideas of the Torah would have never been disseminated around the world.

The Torah’s particular understanding of the holiness of marriage, the centrality of family, a higher moral code emanating from G-d, and most notably, the belief in a G-d who created every person b’tzelem Elohim -in the Divine image–would have been lost along with the Jews. The idea that every person in this world has inherent worth was not part of the Greek worldview; it comes directly from Genesis. Not simply the belief in one G-d and the commanding voice from Sinai, but the revolutionary concept that every human being from Adam and Eve on have the imprint of the image of G-d would have disappeared from the Earth.

Therefore, one can also credibly argue that without the Chanukah victory, the Enlightenment, as well as the ideas that inspired the founders of this country, would never have come to be. Imagine for a moment that these words of our Declaration of Independence had never been written, and how that would have changed the history of the world:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.

When we gather around our chanukiot this year, let us pause for a moment and consider the light saved by the Maccabean revolt. Each night as we kindle another candle, let us reflect on how the light of the fire kindled underneath an altar rededicated to G-d and Torah in Jerusalem spread throughout the world… in ways that Judah Maccabee never could have imagined. There is much to celebrate in the victory of Chanukah-for the Jewish people and for the world itself.

Rabbi Michael S. Siegel is the Senior Rabbi and The Norman Asher Rabbinic Chair of Anshe Emet Synagogue.