Daniel and Lalou Holdt's kinship with

Judas Maccabaeus, 
King of Judea

69th great-grand-uncle

 



Led the Maccabean revolt against Hellenistic rule


Judas was the third son of Mattathias the Hasmonean, a Jewish priest from the village of Modiin. In 167 BCE Mattathias, together with his sons Judas, Eleazar, Simon, John, and Jonathan, started a revolt against the Seleucid ruler Antiochus IV Epiphanes (our 67th great-grandfather), who since 175 BCE had issued decrees that forbade Jewish religious practices. During Anthiochus' onslaught against the Jews his troops ransacked the Holy Temple, and sacrificed a pig to the Greek god Zeus on the altar in the Holy of Holies. What occurred in 168-167 BC is one of the bloodiest, saddest chapters of Jewish history. But out of it came one of the greatest triumphs and miracles ever experienced by the Jews. For after Mattathias' death in 166 BCE, Judas assumed leadership of the revolt in accordance with the deathbed disposition of his father. The First Book of Maccabees praises Judah's valor and military talent, suggesting that those qualities made Judas a natural choice for the new commander.


Which is what the celebration of Chanukah is all about.


Against all odds, a small band of faithful Jews, led by Judas the Maccabee, defeated one of the mightiest armies on earth, drove the Greeks from the land, reclaimed the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and rededicated it to the service of God. When they sought to light the Temple's Menorah (the seven-branched candelabrum), they found only a single cruse of olive oil that had escaped contamination by the Greeks. Miraculously, they lit the menorah and the one-day supply of oil lasted for eight days, until new oil could be prepared under conditions of ritual purity. To commemorate and publicize these miracles, the sages instituted the festival of Chanukah.
 

  


Back to Kinship with Distinguished world citizens

Back to genealogy page (English)       Tilbage til slægtsside på (Danish)

Jacob Holdt's homepage (English)       Jacob Holdts hjemmeside (Danish)