Chanukah Time Machine
Step into the Time Machine and zoom backwards to 175 BCE when Antiochus began to enforce Hellenistic culture on all peoples who came under his rule. Follow the events as they unfold and as time moves forwards to 141 BCE.

175 BCE	174 BCE	173 BCE	172 BCE	167 BCE	166 BCE	165 BCE	164 BCE	163 BCE	161 BCE

167 BCE - The beginning of the revolt
Mattathias, the Hasmonean, son of Yochanan the High Priest, left Jerusalem and settled in Modi'in, a Judean village nearby. When urged by the king's forces to offer sacrifices to pagan gods, Mattathias not only refused, but killed a Jew who was about to do so. Mattathias mobilized a group of loyal Jews, who fled to the mountains, searching for freedom from the yoke of religious persecution by the Greeks. When the group was followed there by the Greeks, 6,000 Jews began the fight back.

166 BCE - Judah takes over
When Mattathias died, he urged his five sons, Simon, Judah, Elazar, Yochanan and Jonathan, to continue the struggle against the Greeks, under the leadership of Judah. Judah proved his military genius in a successful ambush of Apollonius, the military leader of Samaria, who had been planning an attack on the Jews.

165 BCE - More victories
Victories were achieved against Ptolemy, Gorgias and Nikanor and a Greek army of 47,000 was eventually defeated by a Jewish army of 4,000 using guerilla warfare. 3,000 Greek soldiers were killed and the rest scattered in panic.

164 BCE - The Temple purified
At Bet Zur 10,000 loyal Jews cut off the huge force of 65,000 that was sent by Lysias. 5,000 soldiers were killed by Judah's smaller army, forcing Lysias to acknowledge the great determination of the Jews and to retreat to his capital, Antioch. This retreat was heralded by Judah as the first step in the Jewish victory over the Greek oppressors, and was celebrated by the purification and rededication of the Temple on the 25th of Kislev. Known as "Chanu-kah" in Hebrew, the word can be understood to mean "they rested on the 25th." One sealed flask of oil, enough for one day's fire, was found in the Temple. Miraculously the oil lasted for eight days.

Later, various wars were waged and won by the Jewish army under Judah's leadership, notably those against the heathen peoples in the Gilead who attacked the Jews fearing a return to the establishment of a Jewish state. Furthermore, Judah led a siege of the Akra, the Hellenist fortress near the Temple, from which Syrians had attempted to interrupt Temple service. This siege led to attempts by the young king Antiochus V to eliminate the Jewish army.

163 BCE - Ups and downs
Forces led by Lysias wore down the Jewish army at Bet Zekhariyah, resulting in the death of Eleazar and in Judah's retreat. As a result of an attempt at usurping the regency by Antiochus IV's confidante, Phillip, Lysias was able to persuade the young Antiochus to abandon his siege of Jerusalem. For Antiochus provisions were low and the Jews had proved themselves resistant to defeat - a truce was therefore declared between Antiochus and the Jews.

Sadly, the end of the revolt was followed by the beginning of a Civil War after Demetrius replaced Antiochus V, who had usurped Antiochus IV, as king. Alcimus was appointed High Priest and was used to trick and betray the Jewish rebels, sixty of whom were killed after guarantees of peace by the Greeks.

161 BCE - Judah dies
Victory was achieved by Judah and his army of 3,000 against Nikanor's army of 35,000. The victory was celebrated on 13th Adar, but was followed by an attack by Bacchides and Alcimus at Elasa which led to the death of Judah in battle. Jonathan, Judah's younger brother, assumed leadership and fled across the Jordan. After failed attempts to catch Jonathan, Bacchides finally made a peace which lasted for two years before further attempts were made to eliminate Jewish power. Later assurances of peace led Jonathan to establish a base at Michmash, north of Jerusalem. Jonathan soon moved to Jerusalem and became High Priest, re-formed the army, besieged Akra, and received support from Demetrius II, only to be tricked and killed by Tryphon who had established himself as Regent king and wanted to crush the growing power of Judea. Simon, another of Mattathias' sons, was urged to lead the Jewish army against Tryphon. Tryphon was subsequently forced to return to Syria in 142 B.C.E. The Akra was finally cut off from its base of support which resulted in its inhabitants being expelled from their stronghold in 141 B.C.E. The Jews entered the Akra on 23rd Iyar with great joy and declaring the day to be a festival. The revolt was over: Eretz Yisrael was free!