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How could the righteous Hashmoneans who brought Chanukah (חנוכה) salvation suffer complete destruction? The shiur develops Rav Tzadok HaKohen's chiddush that the original Hashmoneans established a legitimate parallel kingship based on Torah (תורה) SheBe'al Peh. Only when Yannai HaMelech massacred the Torah scholars did their rule become an illegitimate usurpation of Yehuda's monarchy.
Rabbi Yeshaya Greenberg ZT"L addresses a fundamental paradox: how could the Hashmoneans, the righteous heroes who brought salvation during Chanukah (חנוכה), have suffered complete destruction? The Ramban (רמב"ן) explains that they violated "Lo yasur shevet mi'Yehuda" (the scepter shall not depart from Yehuda) by usurping the kingship that belonged to the tribe of Yehuda. However, this creates a deeper question - how could such great tzadikim make such a grave error? Rav Tzadok HaKohen provides a revolutionary explanation that resolves this difficulty. He argues that the original Hashmoneans never violated any prohibition. Instead, they established a legitimate parallel kingship based on Torah (תורה) SheBe'al Peh (Oral Torah), which is associated with the priesthood and Levi. This was similar to the kingship of the sages ("Ma'an malki rabanan") and was not in conflict with the eventual restoration of Davidic monarchy from Yehuda.
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Talmudic sources regarding Hashmonean dynasty
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