Chanukah was not only a struggle for simple religious freedom; it was also a revolt against financial desecration.

Chanukah was not only a struggle for simple religious freedom; it was also a revolt against financial desecration.

The Greek-Seleucid oppression before Chanukah is usually remembered for forced Hellenization: bans on Torah observance, desecration of the Temple, and attempts to erase Jewish identity.

But there was another, less discussed dimension of the tyranny: economic persecution used as a religious weapon.

This was not ordinary imperial taxation.

The Seleucid regime treated the Temple treasury as state revenue, seizing consecrated funds that existed solely to sustain the Divine service. What was sacred was reduced to a source of cash.

Even more disturbing, the High Priesthood was transformed into a revenue-generating office, sold to the highest bidder in exchange for increased tribute. 

The holiest role in Judaism, meant to embody sanctity and devotion, was monetized to satisfy imperial fiscal demands.

This was not merely corruption. It was a profound insult to Judaism itself.

By weaponizing money, taxation, and financial pressure, the regime turned economics into a form of religious persecution. 

A form of taxation that defiled what Judaism holds sacred and stripped the community of spiritual autonomy.

Chanukah, then, was not only a fight for religious freedom, but a revolt against a system that also weaponized money and taxation to defile what Judaism holds sacred.

The triumph of the weak over the mighty with taxes as a major player is something recurring throughout history.

Woe to the governments who don't understand this.