Chanuka - A Model for Celebrating Israeli Independence
This article has been written by Rav Ari Shvat (Chwat), Rosh Midreshet Tal Orot in Michlelet Orot, Elkana. He has graciously offered to share his wisdom with the readers of Tzipiyah.com, and given me a few, very powerful and all very relevant, articles to share with you. This is the third part of the second article. Enjoy!
We can find the answers to the aforementioned oppositions to the State of Israel- the existence of a state not based on the laws of the Torah and leadership of someone who is not from the house of David- in the words of the Rambam summarizing the reason of celebration on Chanuka:
“In the period of the second Temple, the kings of Greece issued decrees against the Jews, invalidated their religion, and did not allow them to observe Torah and miztvot. They confiscated their money and their daughters, and they broke into the sanctuary and defiled the pure. And the Jews suffered greatly, and they were very intensely pressured. Until the G-d of their fathers’ had mercy on them and rescued them from their hands and saved them, and the sons of Chashmonai the high priests, rose up and killed them (the Greeks) and saved the Jews from their hands, and they appointed a king from the priests, and Jewish sovereignty returned for more than 200 years until the destruction of the second Temple”. [1]
The Rambam specifies that the Hasmoneans were priests - what difference does it make if they were from the tribe of Reuven or Shimon, or if they were Kohanim, Leviim or Israelites? And, in case we did not notice the first time, the Rambam repeats the fact once again: “and they appointed a king from the priests”. The Rambam is undoubtedly relating to the halachic problem posed by the appointing of a king who is not from the tribe of Yehuda, who is not the mashiach ("the anointed" one"). The Ramban also refers to this problem in his commentary on the blessing of Ya’acov to Yehuda “the scepter will not leave Yehuda, nor the ruler from between his legs”:[2]
“And in my opinion, the kings who reigned over Israel (the Kingdom of Israel, as distinct from the Kingdom of Judah) from the other tribes after David, disobeyed their father (Ya'acov) ... and when the people of Israel continued to crown kings from the other tribes, king after king, and did not return to the kingship of Yehuda, they transgressed (his) will and were consequently punished... this was also the cause of the Hasmonean’s punishment, because they were extremely righteous people...and nevertheless, they received a significant punishment... because they reigned even though they were not descendants of Yehuda and the house of David, and they completely "removed the scepter". And it is also possible that they sinned in their kingship because they were also priests... they should not have ruled, just done Hashem's (Temple) service”.
As for the Rambam, his opinion is even more severe than that of the Ramban, inferring that it is even asur m'd'oraita:
“We are warned not to appoint a king who is not from the people of Israel... it is already known from the books of the prophets that David and his descendants merited the kingdom forever. For all those who believe in the Torah of Moshe, the greatest of all the prophets, the king can only be from the descendants of Shlomo. And anyone who is not from this honorable descent, regarding kingship is considered “a foreigner”, just as anyone who is not a descendant of Aharon is called “a stranger” regarding the service in the Temple. This is clear and there is no doubt whatsoever.” [3]
Clearly, when the Rambam emphasizes twice (!) that the Maccabees were priests, and they established a kingdom from the priests, he is saying, "I am not naïve. I realize that this is problematic". Yet, despite the fact that it was forbidden, nevertheless, we celebrate the fact that “Jewish sovereignty returned”. National independence is so important, that it is better to a have a non-ideal Jewish government, than not to have a Jewish government at all. If this is the Rambam's opinion regarding the Hasmonean dynasty, there is no reason that his approach to the present State of Israel would be any different, in that regard.
And should the critic of the State of Israel base his claim on the Ramban who says that the Hasmoneans sinned in the very essence of their kingship, he will find his answer at the end of that very paragraph:
“From here they learned that a king from the priests is not anointed... for this is the honor of Yehuda... and therefore, even if the Jews appoint a king from the other tribes, as a necessity of the period, he is not anointed so that he won't have the glory of "kingship", rather they should be like judges and officers”.
We see that, in the Ramban’s opinion, the punishment of the kings of Israel and of the Hasmoneans was because they were anointed with oil and claimed “the glory of kingship”. Even more problematic, the Maccabees were priests, who are only meant to be anointed for a different purpose, the service of Hashem. However, someone who is needed to rule for a certain period, neither he nor the nation are transgressing the prohibition. Just as it is allowed to appoint judges (like Yehoshua, Gidon, etc.) and officers who are not from the family of David, so too, having a prime minister is allowed, for they are far from being "kings".
In addition, it should be noted that the Ramban himself is the one who particularly emphasizes, that the mitzva of conquering the Land of Israel, which applies in all generations, is “not to abandon her to the hands of any other nation”.[4] In other words, we are obligated to have Jewish sovereignty in the Land of Israel. If necessity dictates to have a leader from a different tribe (e.g. if we do not know who is from the family of David, or if that descendent is not competent nor popularly accepted), not only are we allowed, but we must appoint a leader from another tribe. Even then, we should not crown him as king. In today's reality, the democratic process solves the halachic problem of the forbidden monarchy, in a very elegant way, and obviously poses less of a problem, than that of the Maccabean dynasty.
Moreover, the opinion of the Rambam and Rabman, that the Maccabees sinned, is not accepted by all of the rishonim. In the opinion of the Ran, “the scepter will not leave Yehuda” is not a commandment, and not even a warning, and accordingly, there was no transgression at all. [5]
The Rambam also refers to the question of the non-religiousness of the state in his words about the kingdom of the Hasmoneans. He inserts the historical fact, that the kingship of the Hasmonean’s continued for more than 200 years, into his halachic work. What connection does this historical fact have to halacha?
It seems that the Rambam comes to emphasize that we must thank Hashem for every single year of Jewish sovereignty, even if it was temporary and eventually ended, and if its spiritual level is lacking, like the Hasmonean dynasty. The majority of the kings of this dynasty were Sadducees, Hellenists, and some were even idolators![6] Not to mention the bloodshed and moral corruption between man and his fellow man. The g'mara states that the figure of 200 years of Hasmonean rule includes 103 years that the kings were from the dynasty of the wicked Herod and his family![7]
According to the Rambam, there is an obligation (and even a precedent), to celebrate all 200 years of Jewish independence, even if that government is far from ideal! Consequently, how much more do we have to give thanks for a state that is simply irreligious, not idolatrous, and democratic, thus avoiding the problem of crowning a "non-Judean" king.
The question is, why does the Rambam consider Jewish sovereignty to be so important, even justifying the religiously problematic?
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[1] Rambam, Hil. Chanukah 3,1.
[2] Breishit 49, 10. It should be noted that Ramban apparently was not familiar with the Book of Maccabees I, where it explicitly states that the Maccabees themselves, the sons of Matityahu, did not call themselves "king", but rather "נשיא", president, or "ראש", head. Only from their descendent Aristobulus and on, did the rulers refer to themselves as kings. This is an important לימוד זכות and justification for the Maccabean heroes.
[3] Rambam, Sefer HaMitzvot, Lo Ta’aseh 362.
[4] Ramban, Additions to Sefer HaMitzvot, Mitzvat Aseh 4.
[5] Drashot HaRan, Drasha 7.
[6] See the ref. "Chashmonaim" and "Hordus" in the Encyclopedia Otzar Yisrael.
[7] Avodah Zara 9a.
