Judaism Defined: Mattathias and the Destiny of His People

Scholars have questioned every aspect of the story of Mattathias in 1 Maccabees; the revisionist narrative turns Mattathias and his Maccabees from the heroes of the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah and idealistic fighters for religious freedom, into merely ambitious men who ruthlessly strove for power and usurped the high priesthood of Judaea.
Dr. Benjamin Edidin Scolnic takes a fresh, unbiased approach to every element of the story: the incident at Modeïn, Mattathias's priestly credentials and th...