Chanukah: Pleasure from Within - Not From Defeating Others

Rabbi Zweig presents a fascinating analysis of the Greek mindset during the Chanukah (חנוכה) story, beginning with a compelling question from the Rambam (רמב"ם)'s account in Hilchos Chanukah. The Al Hanissim prayer describes the Greeks' objective as religious suppression—forcing Jews to abandon Torah (תורה) and mitzvos. Yet the Rambam adds that the Greeks also seized Jewish property and daughters. This creates a paradox: if their goal was religious conversion, why antagonize more Jews by stealing their wealth and families? Such actions would only expand the base of Jewish resistance beyond those committed to religious values, making their objective harder to achieve. Rabbi Zweig explores this question by examining the nature of warfare in Greek and Western culture. He argues that warriors don't fight merely to achieve objectives—they fight for the experience of victory itself. A soldier gains no satisfaction from defeating a weak, unprepared opponent. The Greeks needed a worthy adversary to create a meaningful sense of conquest. By antagonizing more Jews through theft and kidnapping, they weren't being foolish—they were deliberately raising the stakes to make their eventual domination more satisfying.