Judas Maccabaeus: The Jewish Struggle Against the Seleucids (review)

140 SHOFAR ries-the serious and the humorous, together with the tongue in cheek-and he himself has a keen sense for the meaning of these stories. All these stories together point the direction taken by Judaism. Perelmuter is careful to show the great diversity among the creators of rabbinic Judaism. There certainly was not a single party line, but rather sharp differences in education, life style, and perspective on life among the early rabbis. Perelmuter even brings in Elisha, teacher of Meir. Elisha apostasized in agony over the pain of God's absence, but in spite of that he and Meir remained friends, for those who continued in faith also felt the pain of the unanswered Jobean questions. Yet all of these rabbis, diverse though they were, helped to shape the process of survival through creative change and indestructible faith. An important theory put forth by Perelmuter is the notion of Judaism and Christianity as siblings (thus the title of the book). It is an incorrect view, he points out, to hold that Judaism is the parent and Christianity the child. Rather, early rabbinic Judaism was a mutation designed for survival after the destruction of the Jewish state, developing from the fourth century B.C.E. until 70 c.E. This is the common background for both rabbinic Judaism as it was reorganized around Yavneh, on the one hand, and the appearance of the early Christian gospels, on the other; these are parallel responses to the destruction of Jerusalem and the Jewish state. In this sense rabbinic Judaism and Christianity are siblings-with Judaism as long-range messianism and Christianity as short-range messianism. Perelmuter's work is a sensitive guide, engaging the reader in the detective work of understanding the creation of rabbinic Judaism. The title may be a little misleading-the book does not address the beginnings of Christianity in any direct way. But it does provide a sensible and exciting guide into the creative world of the rabbis-a guide at the same time to the very world of thought in which the beginnings of Christianity are to be found. Certainly a fruitful way of dialogue between these two siblings is to engage thoughtfully in these stories from the Midrash. Theodore M. Ludwig Valparaiso University Judas Maccabaeus: The Jewish Struggle Against the Seleucids, by Bezalel Bar-Kochva. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989. 672 pp. $125.00. The book under review is the most voluminous study to date of the life and times ofJudas Maccabaeus. It follows a decade after the author's Hebrew Volume 9, No.4 Summer 1991 141 monograph on the subject, of which this is a thoroughly revised and much expanded version. In Part I, Bar-Kochva evaluates the military situation of the Seleucid empire and of its Jewish opponents, paying particular attention to the number of combatants and to the types of armaments available to each side in the conflict. B. goes to great lengths to demonstrate how the different armies performed on the various battlefields. Part II opens with a brief, yet original, evaluation of the sources. It continues with an introduction, a very literal translation, and a verse-by-verse commentary for those portions of First Maccabees that include battles against Seleucid forces (3:10-4:36; 6:18-63; 7:26-32, 39-50; 9:1-22). Second Maccabees is brought into the discussion only sparingly because the author considers it extremely unreliable, even though he admits that it is more precise than First Maccabees in its references to the Seleucid command structure . A third portion of the book contains twelve appendices on various subjects . The ones on the Akra in Jerusalem (pp. 445-465) and on defensive warfare on the Sabbath (pp. 474-493) deserve particular attention. In addition , there are six excursuses, over twenty detailed maps, and several tables and diagrams, mostly to illustrate the course of military campaigns and battles . A number of black-and-white photographs show different types of hellenistic armor and of war elephants. A list of abbreviations, an extensive bibliography (pp. 592-620), and very full indices conclude this impressive tome. Bar-Kochva tries to reconstruct every battle of Judas Maccabaeus in...