The breaking point came at Mod'aith. According to the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12th-century Hebrew chronicle preserved by Moses Gaster in 1899, after Antiochus departed for Macedon, he left behind officers with a single command: "Blot out the very memory of Judah from the face of the earth. Let anyone who even mentions the name 'Jew' be slain. But let those willing to assimilate live, and call them 'Javan.'"
Phillipos and his captains carried out these orders ruthlessly, killing every Jew they found observing the Torah. The sole exception was a group that had fled with Mattathiah ben Jochanan to the town of Mod'aith. Mattathiah refused to bear the reproach of seeing God's law trampled.
When the Macedonian officers arrived at Mod'aith and set up an altar for idol worship, they ordered the people to sacrifice. A Jewish man stepped forward to comply. Mattathiah drew his sword and killed him on the spot. Then he turned on the Macedonian officer and killed him too, pulling down the altar with his own hands.
Standing in the town square, Mattathiah raised his voice: "Whoever is zealous for the Lord, let him follow me!" He and his five sons fled to the mountains, where the pious faithful—the Hassidim—gathered around them. Their numbers grew. Mattathiah became the first to raise his hand against the Macedonian kingdom, and he issued a ruling that would reshape Jewish law: the obligation to fight even on the Sabbath when survival demanded it.
With his sons and brothers, Mattathiah led the Hassidim across the land of Judah. They pursued those who had hidden from the oppressors, rallied the fearful, and struck down collaborators until none remained. They circumcised their sons. The chronicle declares that through Mattathiah, "great salvation was brought about by the Lord."
XC. (1) The king then went on his way to Macedon,
and commanded Phillip and the captains whom he had left
in the land of Judah, saying, ' Blot out the very memory
of Judah from the face of the earth, and let him who but
mentions the name " Jew " be slain; but let all those live
who are willing to be assimilated with our people, and be
called " Javan." ' (2) Accordingly Phillip and the captains
with him destroyed all whom he discovered observing the
Torah, with the exception of those who fled with Mattathiah,
the son of Jochanan to Mod'aith. For Mattathiah would
not bear the reproach of the uncircumcised, but was zealous
for his God, and, weeping, he said, ' Woe unto me, 0 my
mother, that thou didst give me birth to behold the breach
of my people.'
(3) Then he sent his son Judah secretly to say to the
Jews, ' Whoever of you are on the side of the Lord, come
to me.' There gathered unto him a 'large assembly of
268 [xc. 4
Hassidim, and Mattathiah addressed them in the follow-
ing words, ' Why multiply words ? The only thing that
remains for us to do is to pray and to fight. Let us
strengthen ourselves and die in battle, but not as sheep
led to slaughter.' When they heard these words they all
of them took courage (braced themselves up), and said each
one to his neighbour, ' To thy tent, 0 Judah. Eule again
over thine own land. It is enough, King Antiochus. Now
sharpen thy sword, 0 people of Judah, and beware of thy
life, 0 nation of Macedon.' From that day the Macedonian
yoke was broken asunder from the shoulders of Judah.
(4) When Phillip and the chiefs of the king heard these
words they went against them with a large army. When
they were going against them, they found on the way men,
women, and children of Judah in a cave all observing
the Sabbath. Coming to the entrance of the cave, they
said to them, ' Come out and profane the Sabbath, and
perform the command of the king and live, and do not
allow yourselves to die.' But they said, * We shall not
come out nor shall we profane the Sabbath day. Let the
heavens and the earth be witness that we die in our
integrity.' Phillip then commanded fire to be brought and
placed at the mouth of the cave. Then, placing some wood
upon it, he filled the cave with smoke, so that they were all
suffocated.
(5) The chiefs of the king then marched upon Matta-
thiah, to the mount of Mod'aith, and found him, his sons,
his brothers, and a few of his people of the assembly of
the Hassidim fully armed for war, for they had brought
their wives and children to that mountain. The chiefs of
the king approached Mattathiah with words of peace, saying,
* 0 honoured among thy people, perform the command of
the king and live and do not die.' (6) But Mattathiah
answered very proudly, saying, ' I obey the command of
my King; do you obey the command of yours.' At this
the chiefs were confused, and, being silent, did not say
another word; for they wondered at Mattathiah, and were
thinking how they could capture and slay him as they had
slain the other pious men. (7) But suddenly one of the rene-
gade Jews among the chiefs of the king said, ' I am aston-
ished at the chiefs of the king and his army. How long
will ye hold your peace and not perform the command of
the king by rising up against Mattathiah, who was insolent
enough to refuse to obey the king's command ?' And
after he had spoken thus he unsheathed his sword, and,
cutting off the head of a swine, he took it in his hand and
carried it to the altar which they had built to sacrifice to
the king's vanities. Then, placing the head of the swine
upon the altar, he offered it with frankincense to the idols
of Antiochus. (8) When Mattathiah beheld this he was
exceedingly wroth, and his fury burnt within him. Then,
drawing his sword, he leaped upon the sacrificing Jew,
and, severing his head from his body, he held it up on
high before the chief of the king who approached Matta-
thiah, while the body fell down from the altar upon which
he stood. He also killed the king's chief, and put the
rest of them to flight, levelling to the ground a number of
the crowd. Then, sounding the Shofar, he gave the signal
for war. (9) He was the first one to raise his hand against
the Macedonian kingdom. He also commanded us to
fight on the Sabbath, and he will stand by us to defend
us in this matter. It is written in the book of Joseph ben
Gorion the priest. (10) Mattathiah with his sons and
brothers then marched forth, and with them a large band
of the Hassidim. They pursued those who had hidden
themselves, and smote and discomfited them, until there
did not remain one in the whole land of Judah. They then
circumcised their sons. Thus, great salvation was brought
about by the Lord through Mattathiah.
