This coming year, 2026, we will celebrate TU BISHBAT, the “New Year of the Trees “, Monday February 2nd.  This “new year or cycle” is a halachic concept that holds significance for some precepts of the Tora related to agriculture. These precepts connected to the land are called “Mitsvot hateluyot ba-arets,” “commandments that apply to the products of the land (vegetables, trees, grains),” and almost all of them are observed exclusively in the land of Israel. For example: teruma (offerings for the Cohanim), ma’aser (tithes), shebi’it (letting the land rest every seven years), etc.

Tu Bishbat is essential for determining the age of trees and thus, for example, establishing which tithe cycle they belong to, as we will explain below.

MA’ASER (מעשר):
The tithe is like a “tax” of 10% separated from the harvest. There are two types of tithes. First, there is ma’aser rishon, which was a tenth of the land’s produce given to the Leviim. The Leviim did not have their own land to work on; their role was to serve alongside the Cohanim in the Bet haMiqdash and to teach the Tora to the people. The Cohanim and Leviim were the teachers and rabbis of Israel during the time of the Bet haMiqdash.

Apart from this first tithe, during the first, second, fourth, and fifth years of the seven-year cycle, another tithe called ma’aser sheni, or “second tithe,” was separated and had to be consumed by its owners in Yerushalayim. It was also possible to redeem the fruits and consume other products in Yerushalayim.

In the third and sixth years, ma’aser ‘ani, the tithe for the poor, was separated from the harvest and given to the needy.

Now we can better understand the function of Tu Bishbat. Tu Bishbat is the date on which we determine the age of the trees, helping to establish which tithe cycle the fruits belong to.

ORLA (ערלה):
Another practical application of Tu Bishbat is the commandment of ‘orla, the biblical prohibition (Vayiqra 19:23) against eating the fruit of trees during their first three years after planting. Tu Bishbat is the cutoff point for determining the end of these three years.

Why was Tu Bishbat established as the New Year for the trees? Our rabbis explain that by the time Tu Bishbat arrives, most of the year’s rain has already fallen. The trees have absorbed the precipitation and now exude sap with new vitality, marking the end of one cycle and the beginning of another.

One more interesting and practical aspect of the mitsva of ‘orla: unlike the tithes and other agricultural commandments we have mentioned, the prohibition of ‘orla also applies outside of Israel. This means that when a Yehudi plants a tree, no matter which country they are in, they must not consume the fruits of that tree during the first three years (Shulchan Arukh, YD, 294: 8).

HOW DO WE CELEBRATE TU BISHBAT?
In the Tora or the Mishna, there is no mention of any celebration of the 15th of Shebat. This day is not considered a holiday or the commemoration of a historical event, and there are no prohibitions or ritual ceremonies prescribed by the Tora for this day. However, for several centuries, the custom has been to hold a se’uda (a meal or serve a dish) of fruits on TU BISHBAT to remember the fruits of Israel.

There are no precise halachic instructions on how to celebrate this meal, but there are several customs.

In many communities, it is customary to eat all kinds of fruits from trees tonight and/or during tomorrow, especially the seven species for which the land of Israel is praised in the Tora. Israel is described as “… a land of wheat and barley, grape, fig, and pomegranate; a land of olive oil and date honey” (Deut. 8:8).

Many communities have the custom of organizing a formal Seder for TU BISHBAT, reciting the beracha ha’ets over the fruits of the tree, and the corresponding blessings for any other foods made with wheat or barley (usually mezonot), etc. Each beracha is followed by a prayer, “Yehi ratson…”

Many consider it a special zejut to eat fruits from the land of Israel and recite a beracha over them during this Seder.

The Jews of Aleppo, Syria, had a very special custom for TU BISHBAT. On this day, they would read the Ten Commandments along with the sharach, the translation into Arabic composed by Rabbi Sa’adia Gaon (882–942). This custom was done in preparation for the reading of Parashat ITRO, which contains the Ten Commandments and usually falls on the Shabbat following TU BISHBAT.

In 1890, a new custom was introduced in Israel to celebrate TU BISHBAT. The writer and teacher Rabbi Zeev Yaabetz (1847–1924) took his students to plant trees in Zikhron Yaakov in celebration of TU BISHBAT. This custom was adopted in 1908 by the Jewish Teachers’ Union (histadrut) and later by Keren Kayemet leIsrael.

1. While in jail, Yosef correctly interprets the dreams of the imprisoned Pharaoh’s officers. Two years later, Pharaoh has a dream. He is standing by the Nile when he sees seven fat cows coming out of the river and seven skinny cows eating the fat ones. Pharaoh has a second dream: seven healthy ears of wheat come out of a stalk, followed by seven thin ears. And the seven healthy ears are swallowed by the thin ones. Pharaoh was troubled and called all the wise men of his land, but none could understand his dream’s meaning. The officer tells Pharaoh about Yosef, and Yosef was immediately taken out of jail and introduced to Pharaoh.
2. Yosef satisfyingly interprets Pharaoh’s dream: both dreams contain a single message: there will be seven years of plenty in Egypt followed by seven years of severe famine. Yosef proposed a plan to store grain during the years of plenty as a reserve for famine. Pharaoh is very impressed by Yosef’s wisdom and appoints him to oversee Egypt’s economy and second in command. Pharaoh orders the Egyptians to bow down to Yosef, changes his name to Tzafenat Pa’aneach, and gives him a priest’s daughter as his wife. Yosef was then only 30 years old.
3. Yosef stores extra grain in the cities. Two sons are born to him during this time: Menashe and Efraim. The seven years of plenty end and famine arrives in Egypt. When the people started complaining to Pharaoh, Yosef opened the silos and started selling the grain. Starving people come from all over Egypt to buy food. Hunger also reaches the entire Middle East. Jacob sends all of his children, except Binyamin, to buy food in Egypt. When Yosef sees his brothers, he pretends he doesn’t know them while they do not recognize him. Yosef deliberately accuses his brothers of being spies and imprisons them for three days.
4. On the third day, Yosef frees them all except Shimon, whom he holds hostage, and allows the brothers to return to Canaan. He also warns them that they can only return to Egypt if they arrive with Binyamin to establish their innocence. The brothers acknowledge to themselves that what was happening to them was a punishment for selling Yosef and express their repentance. Yosef instructs his servants to deposit the money the brothers had paid for the food in the grain sacks they were given. The brothers return to Canaan and tell everything that happened to Jacob. Jacob is very disturbed by the events and initially refuses to send Benjamin to Egypt because he is unwilling to the possibility of losing Rachel’s only remaining son. However, in the end, after the food supplies run out and Yehuda personally guarantees his return, Jacob agrees to send Binyamin. He sends his sons to Egypt with generous gifts for the Egyptian ruler.
5. The brothers arrive in Egypt. Yosef orders his assistant to invite them and join him for the evening meal. The brothers arrive at Yosef’s house, they meet Shimon, and when Yosef arrives, they give him the gifts that Jacob sent. Yosef gets very emotional seeing his younger brother Benjamin. The brothers sit down to eat and enjoy a good dinner, and Yosef gives presents to everyone and extra gifts to Benjamin. In the morning, the brothers return, but only after Yosef has his royal cup planted in Benjamin’s food sack. Yosef then sends an officer to confront the brothers and to find the “stolen” silver goblet. The brothers are brought back to Yosef, who demands that Binyamin, the alleged thief, be punished by remaining there as a slave.

כי זה שנתים הרעב בקרב הארץ ועוד חמש שנים אשר אין חריש וקציר 

There has been famine in the land for two years now, and for the next five years, there will be no plowing, no reaping.

Genesis 45:6

Popular wisdom notwithstanding, modern archeology helps us to corroborate some historical aspects of the Tora’s narrative. Sometimes, it also provides us with cultural or historical tools to understand some little details that the Tora tells us that might go unnoticed. 

Let’s see now a couple of examples.

THE REASON FOR THE FAMINE

We all know Yosef’s story and rise as the Vizier of Egypt. Yosef interpreted Pharaoh’s dream, who saw seven full cows coming up from the Nile and seven thin, unhealthy cows coming from the Nile. Yosef interpreted the dream, predicting that Egypt would benefit from seven years of abundance followed by seven years of famine. 

Famine also affected other regions in the area, such as the land of Israel (Canaan). That’s when Yosef’s brothers came to Egypt for food, and Yosef recognized them, and after a dramatic reunion and reconciliation, his father and his brothers settled in Egypt.

Personally, and although I never thought much about the subject, I always assumed that the years of famine in Egypt were due to the same factor that determined hunger in the land of Israel: a severe drought. The problem with this assumption is that there is virtually no rain in Egypt (between 10 and 15 days a year), and Egypt’s abundant water comes exclusively from the Nile. But if lack of rain is not a phenomenon that could affect Egypt, what caused starvation in Egypt?

THE ARCHIVES OF AMENEMHAT

Modern archeologist and egyptologist David Rohl refers to ancient archives that recorded the measurements of the river Nile. Records show that the average level of the Nile was approximately 30 feet height. When the river dropped to, say, 25 feet, fewer crops were expected since the waters that annually overflowed the river would cover less land. When this happened, Pharaohs lowered the taxes to alleviate the farmers. On the other hand, when the river level rose to 40 or 45 feet, the water covered more territory, producing more crops, and taxes were obviously up. 

The most exciting thing for our subject is the records of a gradual and “exceptional” flood of the Nile in the time of Amenemhat III, which allows us to entertain a perhaps different explanation of some of the details of Yosef’s story.

TOO LITTLE OR TOO MUCH WATER

The archives record that in the times of Amenemhat, the Nile rose to 50 feet, producing an unprecedented abundance in Egypt. But then, and according to these identical records, the waters rose higher and higher, reaching almost 70 feet high! And suddenly, the abundance of water became a national emergency. The waters of the Nile rose like tsunamis, destroying the levees, drowning the cattle, and razing the adobe houses. The water did not recede. And it flooded the land during the plowing and sowing seasons. And as a result, there was no harvest. The starvation caused by these floods threatened Egypt on an unprecedented scale.

According to what was discovered in these archives then, it is possible that the famine in Yosef’s time was not a product of the drought but of the overflowing of the Nile.. This data would allow us to understand better a mysterious (or superfluous) little word that our Tora incidentally mentions, as in passing. 

When Yosef tries to comfort his brothers, who feel guilty about having sold him as a slave to Egypt, he tells them that in all these events, the Divine Providence intervened. It was God who sent Yosef to Egypt to save its people from famine. And then Yosef says (Genesis 45: 6): “… two years of hunger have already passed, and there are still five more years in which [the land] will not be plowed or harvested”

It is obvious why the Tora says that there will be no harvest. But why would Yosef mention that the land will not be plowed? Typically, every year, the farmer tries to plow and sow at the right season, even after a year of drought, hoping for the rain to come. The variable is the harvest, not the plowing.

We can understand now that in Egypt, the problem was not the drought but the flooding that prevented the plowing and sowing of the land.

Thanks to the discoveries of these archives, we can better appreciate the exquisite accuracy of the biblical story, even in what seems to be an extra and otherwise, irrelevant detail, like: “that the land will not be plowed”.

WHEN YOU DREAM OF COWS 

Ramban asserts that the cows represent “plowing” and wheat represents “harvesting”.

The records of the Nile may help us understand the symbolism of Pharaoh’s dream, and his confusion, differently. “The cows that rise from the Nile” represent the rise of the Nile. Usually, “the cows are full, healthy, that is, the annual flooding of the Nile brings food and prosperity. The mysterious and confusing element of Pharaoh’s second dream is that he saw seven “thin”, “hungry” cows coming up from the Nile. These skinny cows were an oxymoron for Pharaoh because the flooding of the Nile was supposed to be a source of abundance, not hunger!

The extreme flooding of the Nile for so many years in a row, as David Rohl suggests, was an exceptional phenomenon in the history of Egypt. In that case, it is not surprising that neither Pharaoh nor any of his advisers were able to understand the meaning of that mysterious dream until Yosef came to the Royal Palace. 

“Emuna” is generally translated as faith, and is understood as “believing in the existence of God”. But the Emuna / faith of Yosef went far beyond a passive faith/belief type. Yosef’s Emuna consisted of focusing his mind in God in bad times and in good times . His active faith guided his steps: stopping him before doing something morally wrong and motivating him to do what is right.   There is a fundamental difference between Yosef and his ancestors. HaShem spoke and communicated directly with Abraham, Itshaq and Ya’aqob. But HaShem never spoke directly with Yosef. In that sense, Yosef is similar to us: we do not have the privilege of a “direct” prophetic  revelation from God. Like Yosef, we also have to actively seek HaShem, think about Him, feel His presence and mainly, allow Him to guide our steps.

LIVING UNDER GOD’S SIGHT

When harassed by Potiphar’s wife (Gen. 39: 9) Yosef had HaShem in his mind. At the time of that particular event, Yosef saw in his mind the image of his father Jacob, who reminded Yosef that what was about to happen with Potiphar’s wife was not be right in the eyes of HaShem. It is not rare or unusual than God’s memory appears by remembering our parents, especially what THEY taught us about God.  The most important manifestation of  Emuna should take place on the moral sphere. Emuna means: feeling that HaShem is watching us. This aspect of Emuna will prevent us from doing what is wrong in His eyes.

BAD BEGINNING. GOOD ENDING.

Later on, we see that Yosef’s Emuna also helped him to forgive his brothers. Yosef told them that when they sold him to slavery (Bereshit 50:19): “It is possible that you thought to do me wrong, but HaShem transformed that evil into a great good, to achieve what we are seeing today: saving the lives of many people”. Yosef’s Emuna made him realize that, many times, what today seems like a big problem, tomorrow turns out to be a great solution.

FAITH IN BAD TIMES

When Potiphar’s wife falsely accused him of sexual harassment, Yosef was taken to jail. He was imprisoned for a  crime he did not commit. Apart from being a slave, Yosef was now a criminal. Nothing lower than that position in Ancient Egypt. Yosef had no hope of getting out of jail. He had no family to be looking for him and no one who knew him or cared about him. And yet, in this unjust and desperate situation, Yosef did not abandon HaShem. Many people in those circumstances would have lost their faith thinking: “If HaShem does not help me, why should I continue to believe in Him and be guided by His laws?”. Or “If this is happening to me, maybe God does not exist… “. When one is the victim of a great injustice, it is very possible that he would feel that HaShem abandoned him, or that ח”ו God does not exist. But Yosef persevered. He had HaShem present even in jail and never stopped believing in Him (40: 8).

FAITH AND HUMILITY

We read in this week’s Parasha, that Pharaoh suddenly needed the services of Yosef. The Egyptian monarch takes Yosef out of jail and tells him his dream. Yosef listens to Pharaoh’s dream and realizes what it means. The Tora does not say that HaShem revealed to Yosef the meaning of Pharaoh’s dream, as it happened with Daniel and Emperor Nebukhadnetsar a thousand years later. Yosef interprets the royal dream, apparently, on his own. Any average individual would have boasted of possessing a great wisdom or superpowers to interpret dreams. Yosef, however, did not attribute to himself the interpretation of the dream. “God [and not me!] is the one who will reveal the [meaning of] Pharaoh’s dream,”   said Yosef (Bereshit 41:16).   This too seems to be the reason Yosef did not ask anything in return for his service. When an opportunity of this kind arises, when, for example, the authorities take an inmate out of jail to ask for some type of information or to use some of his talents, the prisoner realizes that he has the possibility of getting out of jail, and he tries to make a “deal” with the authorities to go out. Yosef did not ask anything in exchange for interpreting Pharaoh’s dream. Because he attributed the interpretation to God, not to himself.

FAITH IN GOOD TIMES

It is important to have Emuna, faith in HaShem in bad times. But the most significant achievement in regard to a person’s Emuna is to keep HaShem in mind when he or she is in good health, happy and financially well. The faith of many people fails when facing the challenge of affluence, wealth and well-being. Then, a person might forget HaShem because he feels he does not need him any more ח”ו. Our Hakhamim warned us about this phenomenon when they told us גדול נסיון העושר מנסיון העוני that “the challenge of wealth” , having HaShem present when I’m well, “is more difficult than the challenge of poverty”, having God in mind when we require His help.

YOSEF, THE MANAGER

Yosef was sold by his brothers and transported to the slave market in Egypt, where Potiphar, a minister in Pharaos court, acquired him. In Potiphar’s house, Yosef stands out. His master realizes that the slave he had bought for manual labor was a genius at administration. And he also inspired trust. Potiphar leaves all his assets and household, probably hundreds of people, in the hands of Yosef. Seemingly, Yosef had found his final destination; even though he was away from his family, at least he was in a privileged position. Being promoted to “manager” was the ultimate dream, the utopia, of any slave. However, got worse for Yosef. Potifar’s wife provokes him. But Yosef does not succumb, and he rejects her advances with great subtlety but firmness. He tried to reason with the woman and explained to her that what she wanted to do would be a great sin against her husband and, above all, against God. “How could I do something so wrong and sin against God” (Gen. 39:9). But Potiphar’s wife did not take Yosef’s rejection well: she felt offended that a man, a slave under her command! rejected her. And she falsely accused Yosef of abuse. Potiphar, I think, did not believe his wife – if he had, he would have killed Yosef on the spot – but he could not ignore her and had to save his family’s honor, so he sent Yosef to a dungeon.

YOSEF, IN AND OUT OF PRISON

Yosef’s situation is now desperate. His sentence is for life. Yosef goes from being a successful manager with privileges to the lowest level a human being could reach in Egypt: a slave sentenced to prison. In Egypt, the value of a slave’s life was probably less than that of a horse or a dog. What can be said then about the insignificant value of a slave in prison? However, thanks to his personality and hardworking character, Yosef also wins the trust of the head of the prison, who, like Potifar, leaves the administration in the hands of Yosef.

Yosef takes care of two VIP prisoners, Pharaoh’s ministers. Both had very strange dreams. And Yosef, who knew a lot about dreams, tells one of the two ministers, the one in charge of Pharaoh’s beverages (making sure that the drinks were not poisoned), that he was going to be released and restored to court. And Yosef takes advantage of this fortuitous circumstance and asks the minister to remember him, and as payback for interpreting his dream positively, he begs him to tell Pharaoh, through one of his officers, to release Yosef from prison, since he is innocent!

A HAPPY END

But as the days or weeks go by, Yosef realizes his hope is a fantasy. Pharaoh’s minister forgot Yosef and consciously erased him from his memory. Because, naturally, the last thing the minister would have wanted was something to remind his boss — who had given him a second chance — of his days in jail! One day, however, Pharaoh has a disturbing dream, and no one can interpret it. At that moment, the minister –knowing that now he was not “asking” but “doing” Pharaoh a favor– informs him that there is a young Hebrew man in jail who knows how to interpret dreams. Yosef is brought into the palace and then, as we all know, becomes Pharaoh’s right-hand man, which allows him to identify his brothers and eventually reconcile with them.

WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IF…?

One of the great life lessons that Yosef’s story teaches us is that we often desperately want something to happen NOW. We pray and beg HaShem and do everything we can to achieve it… and in the end, it might NOT happen. But after a while, we might be looking at our lives and realize that THANKS TO WHAT WE WANTED TO HAPPEN AND DID NOT HAPPEN, we now have a better opportunity, or we are now in a better position!

Yosef desperately wanted Pharaoh’s minister to exert all his influence to get out of prison. I suppose that Yosef must have waited impatiently day and night for someone to come and get him out of jail on behalf of Pharao’s minister. But imagine for a second if that had happened: Yosef would be now out of jail, with no money, no family, and with the record of an ex-convict slave. He could not have gotten very far…. He would have been sold as a slave a second time. And in the best of cases scenario, he would have ended his life being a good slave manager in someone’s household. The same would have happened if Potiphar’s wife would not have accused Yosef of improper behavior.

PATIENCE AS A FORM OF FAITH

Yosef learns and teaches us that patience is a form of Emuna, faith. Because many times, things that happen or are not happening to us are eventually for our own good. All the negative experiences that Yosef lived at first made him get lower and lower, to the point of despair. But when Yosef hits rock bottom unexpectedly, and without Yosef ever dreaming of such a scenario, Yosef’s life improves meteorically.

Not all of us have the same privilege as Yosef. It is not always possible to see an excellent final resolution for all our problems in life. However, this lesson is so important. I hear virtually every day of someone who did not get the job he so much wanted or someone who failed in a potential shidduch date or in a business deal. We might feel then that God has abandoned us. But then, I hear many people saying, “thanks to the fact that what I so much wanted didn’t happen, HaShem helped me to get something better. “Now I realize that God protected me from a terrible business/job/shidduch, etc.”

This is a critical attitude to cultivate in life. Knowing that (or even: strategically acting as if… ) when what I pray for is not happening, ultimately, something better might be waiting for me around the corner.

Shimon and the First Independent Jewish State

During these days of Hanukka, I have tried to convey to my readers that the miracle of Hanukka extends beyond the small jar of oil that lasted eight days. This Providential event marked the beginning of a 23-year period, from 165 BCE to 142 BCE, in which our ancestors, the Hashmonayim, defeated the Greek invaders and their Jewish Hellenized allies, culminating in the establishment of the first independent Jewish state! This story, where miracles combine with unparalleled bravery, is unfortunately not well-known despite its relevance in our times.

Let us now explore the final chapter of the epic saga that we commemorate during Hanukka.

Why Yonatan Does Not Conquer Jerusalem

After the deaths of Eleazar, Yohanan, and Yehuda in battle, only two of the five Hashmonayim brothers remained: Yonatan and Shimon. Yonatan assumed leadership and, after two years of struggle, managed to expel the powerful Seleucid general Bacchides from Israel. However, to everyone’s surprise, when Bacchides fled Israel in 159 BCE, Yonatan did not immediately attempt to reclaim Jerusalem. Instead, he settled in Michmash and became the de facto leader of the Jewish people. But what was Yonatan doing in Michmash, and why didn’t he liberate Jerusalem immediately?

Yonatan spent seven years recruiting and training a powerful Jewish army of 40,000 soldiers capable of confronting invading forces and defending the Jewish people. This marked the first time in centuries that the Jewish people had an army of such magnitude. Now, Seleucid emperors—or those vying for the throne—not only sought to avoid conflict with Yonatan and his army but also competed to offer the Jews material benefits in exchange for Yonatan’s support.

The Importance of Having an Strong Army

At the time, the Seleucid king was Demetrius Soter. However, a young adventurer from Smyrna, Alexander Balas, claiming to be the son of Antiochus Epiphanes, challenged Demetrius and started a civil war for the throne. Both Demetrius and Balas offered various concessions to the Jewish army support. Yonatan sided with Alexander Balas, who eventually defeated Demetrius. Once this occurred, and with the support of the new emperor, now his ally, Yonatan entered Jerusalem without resistance during the festival of Sukkot in 152 BCE and was appointed as the High Priest (Cohen Gadol).

This event was, in every sense, a second Hanukka, as Jerusalem had been under Hellenist control for nine years, and the Bet haMiqdash had been desecrated and used once again as a pantheon for Greek gods. However, a few years later, Demetrius II, the son of Demetrius Soter, defeated Balas and reclaimed the Seleucid throne. Surprisingly, the new king, far from seeking revenge against Yonatan, recognized the importance of having the Jewish army on his side and offered him even more privileges than his predecessor.

The Peace Agreement

Conflicts among Seleucid leaders persisted. Now, Tryphon, a powerful Greek general, sought to usurp the throne from Demetrius II. In 143 BCE, Tryphon arrived in Israel with 30,000 soldiers, intending to retaliate against Yonatan, defeat him, and weaken Demetrius. Tryphon deceived Yonatan by inviting him to Acco for peace talks. When Yonatan arrived, Tryphon killed him.

After Yonatan’s death, the leadership of Judea passed to his younger brother, Shimon. With the powerful army Yonatan organized, Shimon fought, defeated, and expelled Tryphon from Eretz Israel.

The State of Israel

Shimon continued working toward the ultimate aspiration of the Hashmonayim and the entire nation of Israel. He fortified Jerusalem and strengthened his army, and in 142 BCE, 23 years after the great rebellion of Matityahu and his sons, the grand dream became a reality. In the Bet haMiqdash, in Jerusalem, the eternal capital of the Jewish people, Shimon, son of Matityahu Hashmonayi and the sole survivor of the five brave brothers, declared the establishment of an independent Jewish state in the land of Israel: Judea יהודה.

On the day the new Jewish state was established, Shimon declared these immortal words, still relevant to Medinat Israel today:

“We have not taken a foreign land, nor have we seized property that is not ours. We have reclaimed the inheritance of our ancestors, which was unjustly taken by our enemies. And when we had the opportunity and the strength to do so, we recovered our freedom.”

“לא ארץ נכריה לקחנו, ולא ברכוש נכרים משלנו – כי אם נחלת אבותינו, אשר בידי אויבינו בעת מן העיתים בלא משפט נכבשה. ואנחנו כאשר הייתה לנו עת, השיבונו את נחלת אבותינו“
(Sefer Hashmonayim I, Chapter 15, Verses 34–35)

The new state was immediately recognized by Demetrius II, who, for the first time, exempted the Jews from paying taxes to the Seleucid Empire. Shimon was assassinated in 135 BCE and succeeded by his son Yohanan Hyrcanus, who continued to lead the Jewish people and expand the territory of Judea. The fledgling State of Israel endured, with its ups and downs, for nearly 100 years.

ABRAHAM AND ISAAC

At the beginning of Jewish history, when we were not yet a people or even a tribe, but merely a small nuclear family, a painful pattern repeated itself more than once: abuse. Our first two patriarchs, Abraham and Isaac, had to face existential threats when, due to drought and famine, they left their place of residence and became vulnerable refugees. When Abraham emigrated to Egypt, he knew that the locals might kill him in order to seize his wife Sarah. That is why he had to pretend she was his sister. Abraham had cut ties with his family in Haran; he did not belong to a powerful nation nor did he have a large extended family. There was no one who could defend him or avenge his blood if he was attacked. He was completely vulnerable. Abusable. The same thing happened in another city, Gerar, and it was repeated a generation later with Isaac. He too had to hide that Rivka was his wife. God intervened directly and protected our matriarchs.

Abuse, which in its extreme expression—taking women by force—had sentenced the generation of the flood to extinction, remained present. Apparently, Sodom and Gomorrah were not the only places where foreigners were abused: the complete lack of basic human rights for the poor and the refugee was the rule, not the exception.

Incidentally, in light of this terrible normalization of the abuse of the unprotected in that era, we can better appreciate the extraordinary revolution of the Tora, which commands not only not to abuse but to “love the foreigner,” to actively care for the non-Jew—the ger toshab—who comes to seek refuge in our land. This mitsva constitutes a total inversion of the moral order of the ancient pagan world, where the law of the jungle prevailed.

JACOB

In this week’s Parasha we read about an episode that is not identical but very similar, which happened with Jacob. When our third patriarch and his family arrived in Shekhem, the powerful local prince took Dina, Jacob’s daughter, carried her off, abused her, and held her by force.

Jacob did not react. He was obviously devastated but remained passive, like his father Isaac and his grandfather Abraham. Perhaps he was afraid to react because he knew the enemy had a numerical advantage. Or perhaps he thought that, just as had happened with his ancestors, direct Divine intervention was imminent. But there was no Divine intervention. God did not appear in dreams to Hamor or to his son to warn them not to touch Jacob’s daughter.

Two of Jacob’s sons, however, did react. They understood perfectly that the law of the fittest prevailed in the Middle East and that they could not survive if they showed weakness. It was also unrealistic to passively expect miracles. Ein somkhim al hanes: “miracles are not guaranteed.” The rules of the game had changed—perhaps because now they were able to defend themselves.

Through a cleverly planned strategy, they deceived the aggressors, incapacitated them, attacked them by surprise, destroyed the city, and rescued their sister Dina.

Jacob, surprised by his sons’ unprecedented military operation, reproached them for what they had done. He feared retaliation from the neighboring peoples, who were far more numerous than his family. But the military operation of Shimon and Levi produced an unexpected effect. The Tora states explicitly that a “Divine fear” (hittat Eloqim) took hold of the neighboring peoples and dissuaded them from attacking Jacob’s sons. That supernatural, miraculous fear made the locals feel that the Jews were unpredictable and that it was not wise to mess with them. God’s more subtle intervention manifested itself, but only once they had acted.

SHIMON AND LEVI

Abraham had a very small family: three people. Isaac, four. Neither of them could do without direct Divine intervention to rescue their wives; they simply did not have the minimum number of people required to do so.

Shimon and Levi, on the other hand, were fully aware that although the enemy possessed a numerical advantage, defeating them was possible. They had such strong self-esteem and emunah that they launched into combat even without the help of their other brothers, who remained waiting in the rear.

Shimon and Levi represent the new generation: a generation that does not surrender to abuse and uses intelligence to compensate for numerical disadvantage, defending itself with determination.

They did not wait passively for miracles; instead, they sought another type of Divine intervention—one that accompanies the military operation, not one that replaces it.

And in the long term, this became the normal modus operandi of Divine intervention in the fights of the people of Israel against their enemies. As the Tora states unambiguously (Devarim 20:4):

כִּי ה׳ אֱלֹ-הֵיכֶם הַהֹלֵךְ עִמָּכֶם לְהִלָּחֵם לָכֶם עִם־אֹיְבֵיכֶם לְהוֹשִׁיעַ אֶתְכֶם

HaShem will go with you (holekh imakhem) when you go out to fight against your enemies, and He will grant you victory.

Help comes once Israel defends itself, goes out to battle, and refuses to become a victim.

MEDINAT ISRAEL

It is impossible to ignore the parallel between what happened with Shimon and Levi and what is happening today in Medinat Israel.

Shimon and Levi represent a generational change: they are the brave young men who have lost the fear of confronting the enemy, who are no longer a defenseless minority, and who use not only their strength but also their Jewish intelligence to defeat those who seek our destruction.

A final reflection, somewhat interpretative:

Shimon represents among the tribes the least observant one, as we see in the Tora, especially in the episode of Bil‘am.

Levi represents the opposite: it is the most observant tribe, the one that will give rise to the Kohanim who will serve in the Bet HaMiqdash, but when there is a war of survival (milchemet mitsva), they join the army. And Shimon and Levi are fighting together!

In post–October 7 Israel, a very significant social and cultural process is taking place: more and more young religious haredim, who study Tora, prepare themselves in academies or technological institutes with professional careers. And also, little by little, more of them are enlisting in the army, especially in special units where religious observance is stricter.

According to Shlomo Filber, a demographic analyst, although the haredi population today in Israel constitutes around 15%, its demographic growth is, B”H, the highest in the Western world, with more than six children per family (see here Filber’s article).

According to Filber, the new Israeli army, in the coming years, will have at least 50% religious soldiers—dati leumi and haredi. That is, it will be a modern version of the partnership between Shimon and Levi.

Like Jacob’s family, Israel is growing demographically in a miraculous way, and its army is preparing to incorporate thousands of young scholars of Tora who understand that they must defend their “families” and that Divine intervention will accompany them and grant them victory when they face their enemies.

The Israel Defense Forces in the immediate future will not only be “an army with more Jews,” but “an army with more Judaism.”

THE END OF YEHUDA MACABEE

General Lysias arrived in Antiochia, the capital of the Seleucid kingdom, defeated Philipus, and became the regent of the 9-year-old king Antiochus V. This situation was highly favorable for the Jews but only lasted for a couple of years. In 161 BCE, general Demetrius Soter killed Lysias and the young emperor Antiochus. Demetrius resumed the military campaigns against Judea, seeking to conquer Jerusalem and appoint his allies, the Hellenistic Jews, in a position of power. Demetrius sent his best general, Bakchides, with 20,000 men and 2,000 riders to kill Yehuda the Macabbee and end the Jewish rebellion. Bakchides did not arrive by sea, as Greek troops usually did, but reached by land from the Northwest, taking Yehuda by surprise. With a small local army of 800 men, Yehuda was defeated and killed. The consequences for the Jews were disastrous. Josephus Flavius writes that the new anti-Jewish decrees and persecutions of faithful Jews carried out by Demetrius were more intense and brutal than in the days of Antiochus Epiphanes. The Greeks wanted not only to reconquer Judea but also to take revenge on the Jewish fighters. 

Bakchides enforced Greek laws in Jerusalem and nominated a corrupt priest, Alqimos, to manage the Temple. In his first official act as High Priest, Alqimos publicly executed 60 rabbis. Thousands of Jews were killed or taken as slaves under Bakchides’ rule. Without Yehuda Maccabee, without a Jewish army, without Jerusalem and the Bet haMiqdash, it seemed that the rebellion that had begun with Matitiyah seven years earlier had come to a tragic end. 

BETRAYAL 

Some miracles, like the oil that lasted for eight days, are a matter of exclusive Divine intervention. And there are other miracles where Divine intervention is combined with human courage, strength, and greatness.

The following is the sort of human miracle that happened with Yehuda’s surviving brothers: Yochanan, Shimon and Yonatan. 

Along with the few surviving Jewish fighters, they decided to not give up: they will keep fighting for their children. Yonatan took over the leadership of the military resistance and began to plan his subsequent attacks against the powerful Bakchides. Bakchides, on the other hand, mounted a search campaign seeking to kill the Jewish fighters. He offered a big reward for the heads of the Hasmoneans and their families.

To confront the Greeks, Yonatan decided to replicate the early tactics of Yehuda’s fighters: avoid direct confrontation with the Greeks and instead attack them by surprise. Yonatan fled to the Judean desert near Tekoa, where his men could hide in caves. However, climbing the mountains and accessing the hidden caves was arduous and dangerous. Yonatan and his men could access the caves, but the fighters’ families – women and children – could not. 

Yonatan decided to rely on Yehuda’s allies and enemies of the Seleucides: the Nabateans. The Nabateans were nomadic people who lived in the Arabian Peninsula and had forged a military alliance with Yehuda. They agreed to shelter Yonatan’s fighters’ families. Yonatan sent the women and children to the Nabateans with his brother Yochanan and a few soldiers. But the Nabateans, driven by the attractive reward offered by Bakchides, betrayed Yonatan, and tragically, they killed Yochanan, the women, and the children… Only one soldier escaped the massacre and brought the tragic news to the Jews hiding in Tekoa. 

WHAT WAS THE WORST MOMENT IN JEWISH HISTORY?

For seven days, Yonatan and his men mourned and wept bitterly over the death of their wives and children. It is impossible to imagine the feelings of the Jewish warriors. The strongest motivation for men to risk their lives in battle is the knowledge that they are fighting for their families and that one day they will return home to their wives and children. But now that they were all killed, why and for whom should Yonatan’s men fight? 

Everything indicated that they would give up their fight. This may have been the most critical moment in the history of the people of Israel. Our people’s future and our religion’s survival were in the hands of a handful of men who lost hope because their families were murdered in cold blood. The Hellenists seemingly had won. Traditional Judaism would disappear and be replaced by a Greek/secular version of Judaism: a predecessor of Christianity.

RISING FROM THE ASHES

Miraculously, Yonatan vowed to keep fighting. He drew strength from his faith in the Creator and his love for the Tora. He rose from mourning, removed the ashes from his head, and decided that the rebellion against the Greek oppressors would continue while he was alive. First, he carried out a surprise attack against the Nabatean. In doing so, he followed in the footsteps of Dina’s brothers, Shimon and Levi, who punished ​​the city of Shekhem. The enemy would now know that whoever betrayed Yonatan and the Jews would suffer the consequences and be reached by the long arm of their Jewish army. Then, Yonatan dedicated himself to recruiting more Jewish fighters from the village to start a war of attrition against Bakchides’ army. For two years, from 161 BCE to 159 BCE, the improvised Jewish army did what Yehuda had done at the beginning of the resistance: they attacked by surprise small Greek troops and their supplies, mainly under cover of darkness.

THE WITHDRAWAL OF BAKCHIDES

In 159 BCE, general Bakchides got tired from fighting the Jews. He was frustrated at his inability to capture Yonatan and the constant attacks against his troops. He also realized that the war against the Jews – even if he were to win – would not result in any significant prestige for himself. In the eyes of the Greek Empire, he was in Judea to punish a handful of insurgents. Seen no glory for him in this endeavor, Bakchides left the land of Israel and set his eyes on fighting other battles easier to win, and that would advance his military career. Thus, Yonatan, Shimon, and the Jewish soldiers again achieved a great victory against the Greeks. Jerusalem –ruled by Hellenist Jews– was now within reach, and the Bet haMiqdash was ready for a second Hanukka. But surprisingly and seemingly against all logic, Yonatan did not rush to conquer Jerusalem, as Yehuda had done previously in 165 BCE. Instead, Yonatan settled in the city of Mikhmash for seven years.

Why? We will find out BH in our next chapter 

ELEPHANTS JOIN THE BATTLE

The miracle of the oil that lasted for eight days was not the last Providential act of Hanukka. Although they were already expelled from Jerusalem, the Hellenistic Jews and the non-Jews living in Israel did not give up in their fight to reform Judaism and asked the Seleucids for support to regain control over Jerusalem and the Temple. General Lysias, who was now closer to Antiochus and far more powerful than before, decided to put an end to “the Jewish problem” once and for all. According to the historian Josephus Flavius, Lysias’ orders to his soldiers were precisely these: “Conquer Judea, destroy Jerusalem, enslave the survivors and eliminate the Jewish nation from the face of the earth.” In an unprecedented action, Lysias sent 100,000 soldiers and 20,000 horse riders —an astonishingly large army even in terms of today— to finish off Yehuda Maccabi and his rebels.

Additionally, for the first time in the Land of Israel, the Greek armies arrived with African elephants: 32 animals specially trained for battle. Each elephant carried several soldiers armed with bows, arrows, and spears. And the elephants were protected by dozens of foot soldiers. Lysias came from the South and was getting ready to surround Jerusalem when Yehuda heard of his arrival. The Jews realized that it would be impossible to defeat this mighty army.

THE DEATH OF ELAZAR

The only chance left to the Jews was to eliminate Lysias and thus sow confusion and chaos in the ranks of the Greek army. Yehuda entrusted this delicate “suicide mission” to his brother Elazar, who did not hesitate to accept it. Elazar had to identify the elephant that was best protected and assume that Lysias would be there. With great bravery, Elazar and his men overcame the barrier of soldiers who guarded one of the elephants and pierced the animal with a spear. The elephant, tragically, collapsed on Elazar and killed him (today, in the area where this battle took place – Bet Zekharia, in Gush Etzion – there is a small settlement called Elazar in his honor). Yehuda realized that he had exhausted all his resources. He could not face the army of Lysias, who emerged unscathed from the frustrated attack attempt in which Elazar lost his life. Yehuda had no choice but to entrench himself in Yerushalayim, resist and die fighting to the end. It was the month of Shebat, the year 164 BCE. Lysias began the siege of Jerusalem with his 120,000 soldiers. Yehuda had only between 2,000 to 3,000 soldiers with him. After conquering Jerusalem, he declared victory over the Seleucids, ended the war, and sent thousands of his fighters back home.

WAS THIS THE GREATEST MIRACLE OF HANUKKA?

Lysias began his attack on Jerusalem. The Jews tried to resist, but the Jewish forces grew weaker and weaker little by little. The end was imminent. I imagine the brave Yehuda and his soldiers debating whether they should fight to the death, surrender and be sold as slaves, or perhaps take their own lives. There was nothing more for them to do. The end or the surrender of Yehuda and his men also meant the end of Judaism as we know it. 

But on the 22nd of Shebat, 164 B.C.E., something extraordinary and miraculous happened. Lysias and his colossal army suddenly disappeared. No one understood what was happening until they heard the news: Antiochus died in Antiochia (Turkey). His son, Antiochus V, who was at the time nine years old, was going to be the next emperor. And his deceased father assigned Lysias to be his son’s regent (guardian), which would make him de facto the new emperor until the child came of age. Now, while Lysias and his army were in Judea, Philippus, a prominent general in Antiochus’ army, declared himself the regent of little Antiochus V and took control of the capital city. Lysias, therefore, had to leave Jerusalem immediately without any delay. In this surprising and miraculous way, right before Lysias took Jerusalem, the Jews were saved from a massacre.

AND THEN MORE

But that was not all. Right before leaving Jerusalem, Lysias left a letter to Yehuda. First, he told the Jewish leader that he canceled all the anti-Jewish decrees established by Antiochus. Why? Because in antiquity, the norm was that any laws and ordinances set by a King expired with his death unless the new monarch wished to renew them. Lysias assured Yehuda that the Jews would be left alone, but in return, Lysias asked Yehuda for a small favor: to send him some of his brave combatants and enlist them in his army to help him defeat Filippo in Antioquia. Yehuda accepted. In this miraculous way, Yerushalayim and the people of Israel were saved again by the invisible hand of God.

PS: It is worth clarifying that the 22nd of Shebat was celebrated as a holiday for about 230 years until the destruction of the Bet HaMiqdash in the year 68 of the common era. After the destruction of the Temple, Judea lost its independence and became a Roman province, and it was impossible then to celebrate a military, national victory. .

This is the story of one of Yehuda Maccabee’s battles, likely unknown to most readers, which I only recently learned about by reading the Book of Maccabees directly. The most chilling aspect of this story is its relevance to the present — specifically, to Israel and the Jewish world in 2023 and 2024. In this story, there is an invincible Jewish army achieving crushing victories over its enemies and the ensuing adverse reaction of the gentile world to Israel’s victories. This resentment towards the Jew’s triumphs in Judea translated into antisemitic hostility against the Jews in the diaspora. What happened then is SO similar to what happens today that it’s frightening. And then there is the “icing on the cake”: what Yehuda Maccabee does in an extraordinary act worthy of Moshe, Yehoshua, or the Messiah. Something, in some form, I wish will be repeated in our days. I would have loved to expand on this story and delve into each sentence to show the reader the parallels between the past stories of the Hashmonayim battles and the present of Israel. But I will resist this temptation and leave that task to the reader.     With much emotion and admiration for our Maccabean heroes, I share with you the most beautiful unknown story of Hanukka.

Israel. 164, BCE. The neighboring gentile nations witnessed the Jewish army’s incredible triumphs and their overwhelming victory over the Great Seleucid Empire. They were not pleased. But they knew that the Jews were too strong to confront directly. 

The Jewish triumphs made them thirsty for Jewish blood, and they needed a weaker, more accessible target. The natural candidates to channel their resentment were obviously the Jews of the diaspora. 

A tremendous wave of Antisemitism erupted, among other places, in the region of Gilead (today, northern Jordan), where tens of thousands of Jews lived. The massacres began, and the Giladites  Jews were forced to entrench themselves in fortresses. 

Desperate and terrified, they sent an urgent message to Yehuda HaMaccabee. 

“Our gentile neighbors — the Ammonites — are organizing an attack against us, led by General Timotheus. We are trapped in the Gilead fortress, under siege, and they are preparing to enter and kill us. They have already killed a thousand Jewish men and taken their wives and children captive. Please help us and save us before it is too late!”

Yehuda and his men had just rededicated the Temple and experienced the well-known miracle of Hanukka (one small jar of oil could keep the Menorah ablaze for eight whole days) when they received this message. 

He immediately took eight thousand men and, joined by his brother Yehonatan, headed Eastward to help his fellow Jews in Gil’ad. 

They traveled over three days— crossing the Jordan River, tracking through the desert for 150 kilometers— and were exhausted. They encountered the Nabateans, a nomadic tribe, who confirmed the desperate situation of the Jews in Gilead and informed Yehuda that Timotheus indeed planned on destroying the Jewish fortresses and massacring all the trapped victims –the very next day! 

Without pausing for a break, Yehuda and his men reached the city of Bozrah and found the enemy soldiers carrying ladders and battering rams on their way to kill the Jews. In Maccabean custom, Yehuda and his men blew their Shofarot, called out to God for Divine assistance, and bravely charged into battle. When Timotheus’ men heard that the famous  Yehuda HaMaccabee had come to fight against them, they dropped all weapons and fled for their lives. 

Yehuda pursued them and killed thousands and then proceeded to strengthen the other cities in the Gilead.  Timotheus assembled a much larger army, hiring local Arab mercenaries to bolster his forces, and stationed them by a turbulent and dangerous river. The Jewish army approached from the other side, and Yehuda led the way, crossing the river without hesitation or fear, and his men followed.  When seeing this, Timotheus’ men, taken aback by the Maccabean bravery, abandoned their weapons and fled in fear. 

But our Maccabees were not done yet. They knew further action needed to be taken in order to permanently save their brothers, who were constantly vulnerable to enemy attacks. 

Yehuda made a wise and historic decision: he gathered the Jews of Gilead and led them back to the land of Israel.

They crossed the Jordan River together, as Yehoshua Bin Nun had once done, and embarked on a journey reminiscent of our Exodus from Egypt. The Jews crossed the Judean desert until they reached Bet She’an and the fortified cities in Israel, where fellow Jews joyfully welcomed the Olim Chaddashim (new Jewish immigrants) back home. 

Their next stop was the Bet HaMikdash, the Holy Temple, where the newcomers offered sacrifices to God and thanked their Creator for saving them from certain death and for protecting Yehuda’s army, which had miraculously suffered no casualties. 

“And Yehuda gathered all Israel who were in Gilead, from the smallest to the largest, along with their wives, children, and belongings, forming a vast camp to return to the land of Judea. And they crossed the Jordan into the great valley before Bet She’an. Yehuda gathered all the stragglers and encouraged the people throughout the journey until they arrived in Judea. They ascended Mount Zion with joy.”

HEBREW:

Excerpt from the Original Hebrew Text and Translation:

Maccabees, Chapter 5

“In the morning, [Yehuda and his men] lifted their eyes and saw a countless multitude carrying ladders and machines to capture the fortress and fight against the Jews… Yehuda said to his soldiers: ‘Fight today for our brothers!’ He went out with three groups behind them, blew the shofarot, and cried out to Heaven in prayer. When Timotheus’ camp knew it was the Maccabee, they fled from him, and he struck them with a great defeat.”

“And Yehuda gathered all Israel who were in Gilead, from the smallest to the largest, along with their wives, children, and belongings, forming a very large camp to return to the land of Judea.”

“And they crossed the Jordan into the great valley before Bet She’an. Yehuda gathered all the stragglers and encouraged the people throughout the journey until they arrived in Judea. They ascended Mount Zion with joy.”

Excerpts from the Original Hebrew Text and Translation:

Maccabees, Chapter 5

“In the morning, [Yehuda and his men] lifted their eyes and saw a countless multitude carrying ladders and machines to capture the fortress and fight against the Jews… Yehuda said to his soldiers: ‘Fight today for our brothers!’ He went out with three groups behind them, blew the shofarot, and cried out to Heaven in prayer. When Timotheus’ camp knew it was the Maccabee, they fled from him, and he struck them with a great defeat.”

“And Yehuda gathered all Israel who were in Gilead, from the smallest to the largest, along with their wives, children, and belongings, forming a very large camp to return to the land of Judea.”

“And they crossed the Jordan into the great valley before Bet She’an. Yehuda gathered all the stragglers and encouraged the people throughout the journey until they arrived in Judea. They ascended Mount Zion with joy.”