If you can’t see the sea, then the tomb can’t be Maccabee
by
Damien F. Mackey
There
may be a reminiscence of the Maccabean tomb in the story of the priest,
Jonathan ben Uzziel, a semi-legendary character of whom little is known.
Archaeologists in their enthusiasm for the location, Horbat Ha-Gardi, at Modi'in-Maccabim-Re'ut in central
Israel, as being, potentially, the site for the tomb of Jonathan the
Hasmonaean, priest-brother of Judas Maccabeus, and of Simon, who built the elaborate
tomb, are making some significant geographical (topographical) mistakes, so I
believe.
One of these is, as I have insisted in my article:
Must look elsewhere for Maccabee town, Modein
(3)
Must look elsewhere for Maccabee town, Modein
that the grand tomb had to be in the sight of sailors in
the sea (I Maccabees 13:29):
“… and beside the suits of armor carved ships,
so that they could be seen by all who sail the sea”.
This
description cannot possibly apply to any site “in central Israel”.
Far more
excusably, but of no less significance regarding outcomes, is their failure to
realise that Judas Maccabeus was the same person as Gamaliel’s “Judas the
Galilean … in the days of the Census” (Acts 5:37), when Jesus Christ was born (cf.
Luke 2:1).
That
necessitates that the ‘ancestral home’ of the Maccabees (cf. I Maccabees
13:25) was situated in Galilee.
Hence we
would expect Jonathan’s tomb to have been visible to sailors, not in the
Mediterranean, but on the Sea of Tiberias.
Ancient
Jewish burials, indeed, are found in Tiberias: Tiberias - Archaeology in
Israel
Tiberias
by
Jacqueline Schaalje
Tiberias has more than
beaches or stifling summer heat. Just off Lake Galilee, there are rich
archaeological remains and the graves of many famous rabbis, testifying to the
city’s glory as the once capital of Jewish learning. ….
Tomb of
Jonathan ben Uzziel
There may be
a reminiscence of the famous Maccabean tomb in the story of the priest,
Jonathan ben Uzziel, a semi-legendary character of whom little is known.
He purportedly
belonged to the very same era as Jonathan Hasmonaean (revised):
Jonathan ben Uzziel |
Hebrew writer | Britannica
“… Jonathan ben Uzziel, a pupil of Hillel, the
famous rabbinic sage of the 1st century bce–1st century ce …”.
Regarding
his tomb as a place of pilgrimage, we learn that it has been traditionally
located in Galilee, at least - but “tucked away” in Amuka, some 34 km distant
from the Sea: Tucked away site of
pilgrimage - Review of Tomb of Jonathan Ben Uzziel, Amuka, Israel - Tripadvisor
Tucked
away site of pilgrimage
Review
of Tomb of Jonathan Ben
Uzziel
Reviewed
September 20, 2017
“Jonathan
Ben Uzziel is mentioned in the Talmud but his grave was only found and formally
set up at a pilgrimage a few decades ago. …”.
Jonathan ben Uzziel -
Wikipedia
Tomb
According to
tradition, the tomb of ben Uzziel is located in Amuka, Galilee near Safed, Israel.
According
to Zev
Vilnai,
Rabbi Shmuel
ben Shimshon wrote
about the tomb in 1210: "There is a large tree next to it, and the
Ishmaelites [Arabs] bring oil and light a candle in his honor and make vows in
his honor."
An
illustration of Yonatan ben Uzziel's tomb appears in "Ancestry of fathers
and prophets" (Hebrew: יחוס אבות ונביאים), a book printed in 1537.
It is
customary to visit ben Uzziel's tomb on Rosh Chodesh, the first day of the
lunar month, and on 26 Sivan (the day on which he died), although visitors
arrive all year round.
A practice
that began in the 17th century was to pray at the gravesite for a good marriage
partner, for children, satisfaction from one's children, a good livelihood,
health and happiness. Many unmarried men and women pray there for a match.
Doing so is considered a segula (propitious
remedy) for finding one's mate within the coming year. ….
Zev Vilnai
offers two theories for this custom (these do not seem to be original theories,
as they had been referenced in the Haredi community before he published them):
…. (a) The practice developed from the Pseudo-Jonathan
translation of the Bible on Deuteronomy 24:6, where he writes that anyone who
prevents the connection between a husband and wife forfeits his portion in the
world-to-come; (b) The practice is based on a mistaken reading of Rashi …. who writes in reference to a place
called Harpania (Aramaic: הרפניא) "Everyone goes
there: all ineligible men (pesulim) who cannot find a woman turn and go
there. And it is deeper (Amuka) and worse than Gehinnom." The words
"and it is deeper (Amuka)" are the headwords to Rashi's next
comment, and do not relate to his preceding comment about men going to Harpania
to look for women. However, the mistaken reading connects Rashi's words to the
community named Amuka.
It is also
widely believed that Jonathan ben Uzziel was single or childless, so men in
similar situations seek to benefit from his special powers, but nowhere in the
writings of Chazal is this stated. ….
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