Heroes or rabble-rousers? The real story of the Maccabees

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A Bernard Picart copper plate engraving circa 1730 depicting the Maccabees. (Public Domain)

by Gil Shefler

NEW YORK (JTA) -- In 165 BCE, a group of warriors led by Judah Maccabee and his band of brothers ushered in a new era in Jewish history when they routed the soldiers of the Greek-Syrian empire and rededicated the Holy Temple in Jerusalem.

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