Antiochus Epiphanes
declared: “Let’s sacrifice a pig,”
and in the holy sanctuaries
took steps to be the biggest wig,
far greater than the Jewish God
who hates the smell and taste of swine,
declaring thus the first jihad
against the Jews of Palestine.
The Maccabees were very brave,
abhorring gifts of pagan porkers;
like Britons, none would be a slave,
these ancestors of most New Yorkers.
“No pig,” they said, “God disapproves,
because for show it never chews
cud, and though has four split hooves,
it’s hazer trayf for all frum Jews.”
So… Judas Maccabeus fought
in the pro-Zion premier league!
versus anti-Torah tort,
of Antiochus, anti-Shemite Greek,
most unlike Cyrus, quite unwilling
to be like Japheth in the Tent,
old Noah’s blessing not fulfilling —
I think in Gen. 9:27 it meant.
On Hanukkah we all remember
how Jews prevented pagan porcine
pest in Kislev, Jews’ December,
recalling, too, how, man-of-warsome,
miracles by God helped win
a war against what He forbade;
like Maccabees we Jews dimin-
ish darkness, eight-night Light Brigade.
The name Japheth is associated with the Greek Titan Iapetos, who was the ancestor of the Hellenic peoples, perhaps identified as such in Gen. 9:27:
יַ֤פְתְּ אֱלֹהִים֙ לְיֶ֔פֶת וְיִשְׁכֹּ֖ן בְּאׇֽהֳלֵי־שֵׁ֑ם וִיהִ֥י כְנַ֖עַן עֶ֥בֶד לָֽמוֹ׃
May God enlarge Japeth (and make him beautiful), and let him dwell in the tents of Shem, and let Canaan be a slave to them.”
The Netsiv (Rabbi Naphtali Tsvi Berlin) explained that this verse may be a prediction of the Persian emperor Cyrus’ encouragement of the Judeans to return to Judea and rebuild the temple that Nebuchadnezzar had destroyed.
Gershon Hepner is a poet who has written over 25,000 poems on subjects ranging from music to literature, politics to Torah. He grew up in England and moved to Los Angeles in 1976. Using his varied interests and experiences, he has authored dozens of papers in medical and academic journals, and authored “Legal Friction: Law, Narrative, and Identity Politics in Biblical Israel.” He can be reached at gershonhepner@gmail.com.
