Definition: Maccabees is the name of a priestly Jewish family which ruled Palestine in the second and first centuries B.C.E. and wrested Judea from the rule of the Seleucids [under Antiochus IV r. 175-164 B.C.] and their Greek practices. The Jewish holiday Hanukkah commemorates the Maccabees' recapture of Jerusalem and reconsecration of the Temple in December 164 B.C.E.
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