The Jewish Monitor (Fort Worth-Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 10, No. 11, Ed. 1 Friday, December 3, 1920 Page: 1 of 16
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VOL. X NO. 11.
FORT WORTH-DALLAS TEXAS FRIDAY DECEMBER 3 1920.
Price 5 Cents.
(All Rights Reserved)
Men tell many tales of Judas the
Maccabee that lion of God many stor-
ies of his light-hearted daring his
purrity of heart and love for Israel.
But few know how he wooed and won
the maid Helen golden-haired captive
of Nicanor only to lose her in the
end.
In the early days of the struggle
Jurity of heart and love for Israel
udas Maccabeus met his Syrian gen-
eral Apollonious in battle. The Lord
was on his side and though his troops
were new in warfare Judas won a
great triumph; the heathens were
" either slain in battle or saved their
lives in flight for they were sorely
afraid seeing that Appolonius their
captain had fallen. But the men of Ju-
das were filled with new courage upon
that day; they rejoiced in their own
strength and the strength of their cap-
tain Judas; and Judas took from the
dead hand of Appolonius his great
two-edged sword in token of his vic-
tory. This was the sword that Judas
the Maccabee ever afterwards carried
as long as he did battle for Israel and
it was this sword he still held when in
the last days he fell fighting upon the
battlefield.
Now this victory over Appolonius
was but the first of many which Ju-
das the Hammer won over the ene-
mies of Israel. Although at first his
men were untried for battle hungry
and ragged some without helmets and
others without spears still he tri-
umphed over the trained warriors An-
tiochus sent against him. For the
Lord was on his side and he was a
mighty man of valor. Moreover the
enemy fought in a strange land but
to Judas bred in the hills about Mo-
din the mountains of his home land
were as well-known to him as the
features of his beloved. And since he
fought also to avenge her Helen
whom the Syrians held captive he
fought with the strength of King
. David in the olden days.
As a boy in Modin Judas had loved
his cousin Miriam a bright-haired
little maid who laughed at his clumsy
wooing but loved him none the less.
And he had dreamed even then of
wedding her and taking her to his
father'! house as his wife. But that
waa m the days before Antiochus be-
gan to trouble all Israel and a true
man dared have no wife but the
sword.
Among those whom the Syrians
took captive when they swept over
the land like an army of devouring lo-
custs were the wife and daughters of
Judas's uncle. In the fastness of the
hills about Modin he often thought of
her bright-haired Miriam a captive
in the hands of the enemy. So that
when he fought Judas waged war not
alone for the glory of God and the
freedom of Israel but also in her
name seeking to rescue her or at least
to avenge her death.
There is no need to tell of the Mac-
cabee's battles for are they not writ-
ten in the books which bear his name
nor of the death of Antiochus the
Madman passing away amid tortures
more horrible than those devised
for Israel's martyrs. But no man has
set down the tale of his meeting with
Miriam the golden-haired Jewish
maiden whom the Greeks called Hel-
en and how he lost her in the end.
It was in the household of Nicanor
.THE TWO-EDGE SWORD
"The Praise of God is in their mouth and a two-edged Sword in
Hand." A Story for Chanukah by Elma Ehrlich
Levinger. Copyright 1920 by Elma Ehrlich Levinger.
their
that Judas met her the day he came
to make a treaty of peace with the '
new governor over Judas. They say
that Demetrius the king had sent Ni-
canor to Jerusalem to overcome Ju-
das the Maccabee by force of arms;
but that Nicanor seeing him loved
him as his own brother and prayed
that there should be peace between
them. And although at first Judas
feared the heaten general's craft he
soon gave his heart glad to have peace
for the land was weary of warfare.
So Judas came often to the house
of Nicanor at Jerusalem not only be-
cause the governor was his friend but
to see Miriam whom the Greeks call-
ed Helen. For at the beginning of the
war when the victorious armies of
Antiochus had swept the land the
soldiers of the king had carried away
many women and children into cap-
tivity. Miriam and her sisters had
been taken into the household of Ni-
canor where they found their lot
pleasant serving his wife a gentle
mistress disposed to deal kindly with
the Jewish captives. Miriam's rare
beauty had won her many privileges
and when under the gentle compul-
sion of those she served she adopted
the Grecian dress and customs and
changed her name to Helen she was
treated less as a servant than a
daughter of the household. And her
desertion of the ways of her fathers
troubled her but little for in those
days many fell away from the faith
and it was a hard thing to remain a
Judean.
But when Helen met Judas after
their long separation she hated her-
self for her disloyalty to her people
and vowed that should she be tested
again she would show herself true-
hearted and loyal even as Judas and
his brethren had been.
"It was so easy to follow the ways
of the Greeks" she told Judas one
evening as they sat together in the
gardens about Nicanor'a house at Je-
rusalem. "My brethren have always
loved the ways of the Grecians in their
hearts and when these people were
kind to me." She clung to him with
sudden passion. "My Judas when will
you take me away from this house? I
cannot be a Jewess in the home of Ni-
canor. But when we dwell together"
'.'I dare not take a wife In these un-
certain times'' he tot J her finding it
hard to speak so calmly for he loved
her exceedingly and longed to listen
to her pleading. "Now there seems to
be good will and trust between Syria
and Judea; Nicanor is my friend and
I trust him as a man trusts a broth-
er. Yet there are too many Judeans
among us who are restless and unsat-
isfied. To satisfy their lust for power
they may seek to sow dissension be-
tween the court and tn who seek to be
faithful subjects of the king so long
aa he allows us to worship the God of
our fathers in peace and safety. And
should these troublemakers by any
- again force our necks under
tf S.ho woud keep the fith
.' "Lf -'..defend our rights
even ; .'I"
He droppeu W nd his own
brown fingers tigi... " about his
sword-hilt. Helen's eyes glanced along
the richly ornamented sheath and she
shuddered a little. For she knew that
it was the two-edged sword of Apol-
lonius he carried the sword he had
taken from the corpse of his terrible
enemy; she was frightened to think of
Judas whom she loved for his tender-
ness no longer her lover but the he-
roic leader terrible as a lion upon the
battle field.
But Judas laughed and kissed her.
"Fear not" he said "for perhaps I am
over zealous and see a sword in every
hand although my former enemies
offer me gifts and friendship. Let us
wait but a month longer or at most
two. Then if there seems to be a last-
ing peace for Judea I shall bring you
to my house as my bride and the pain
of our long parting will be wiped
away in our love." Thus spoke the lion
of Israel never dreaming how soon
he was to learn that for him there
could never be peace or fulfillment un-
til he slept with his fathers his bat-
tles over at last.
For even at that moment Alcimus
that false priest in Israel was pour-
ing lying tales into the king's ears
saying that Nicanor was playing the
part of a traitor to his master that
he secretly aided Judas in his rebel-
lious plans and hoped to place him
upon the throne in the king's stead.
All this did Alcimus treacherously
tell Demetrius the king and Demet-
rius listened willingly right glad to
hear evil reports of the hated Judeans.
So he sent urgent letters to his gov-
ernor Nicanor accusing him because
of his friendship for Judas bidding
him at once send Judas the Maccabee
in chains to the royal court at Antl-
och. Helen heard of the matter for she
was treated as a daughter of the house
of Nicanor and she learned also how
the great captain shrank from be-
traying his friend yet dared not face
the anger of his king. And when she
pleaded with Nicanor begging him to
defend Judas he would promise her
nothing: he only threatened her
should she betray what she had learn-
ed to her lover.
The two met for the last time in the
gardens of Nicanor and Helen broke
down utterly and wept when she told
Judas of the king's decree. "I am be-
traying Nicanor who has always been
as a father to me" she said "but I
cannot see you come to hanrn Come
no more to this place and no longer
seek Nicanor in friendship. For after
a bitter struggle he has determined to
send you a prisoner to the king.'
Juda's fact (rrew white in the moon-
light as he listened. "I do not believe
you" he said harshly. "Nicanor it my
true friend and you seek to breed ha-
tred between us. I would have been
as likly to give over my father's white
head to the guards of Antiochus as
Nicanor to betray me to the king. I
do not believe you."
She shrank a little but continued
to plead with him. "1 can give you
proofs" she urged. "Go from this
place while there is still time. And if
you have ever loved me take me with
you for my life is not safe should Ni-
canor lam I have betrayed him. Not
that I care to live should I be forced
to part from you again' and she clung
to him kissing his robes and hands
as a suppliant might and humbling
herself before him.
But Judas sprang to his feet thrust-
ing her aside. "I will seek Nicanor"
he said quietly "and learn the truth
from his own lips.''
She barred his path "I will not let
you go. He waits for you now and
there are others with him. There is a
plot to overcome you and send you in
chains to the king."
"I do not believe you" he said
again in the same quiet hard tones.
"I am seeking Nicanor now" and he
sought to pass her. But she clung to
his robe and detained him.
"Have I ever lied to you before?"
"No but you acted a lie all the
months when you pretended to be a
Greek."
"I did it to save myself."
"Old Eleazar and the little children
of Hannar did not think to save
themselves' he answered harshly.
"How do I know but that even now
you are using me for a tool seeing to
set me against Nicanor for some pur-
pose of your own ? But there will nev-
er be enmity between us for he is my
heart's brother. Nothing that you can
say or do will persuade me that there
is treachery in his heart"
The woman who had once been Mir-
iam stood before him very fair and
white the moonlight falling upon her
golden hair and honey-colored robes.
Her face contracted with pain at hia
words; then she grew suddenly calm.
"You will know I am not lying
when I prove that I am no longer
afraid" she answered him clearly.
"When I was a coward before I clung
to life in the hope that I might look
upon your face again. But now I will
not live to see you slain or dishonor-
ed.'' Leaping forward she seized the
hilt of the great two-edged sword of
Apollonius and drew it from its
sheath. Judas gave a cry of horror
but he was too late. She fell at his
feet her life blood staining the honey-
colored robes a deep crimson her faca
quivering in the agony of death.
Judas threw himself beside her
seeking to staunch her wound crying
upon her to forgive him ere she died.
But she did not answer. At last he
rose to his feet his face very old d
tired. Should he seek Nicanor now and
ask him the cause of her sudden mad-
ness? Or for one evening at least
might he cease to be the warrior and
mourn the love of his youth?
Even as he hesitated he saw several
armored men passing through the
outer court and into the house of Ni-
canor. They wore the livery of the
king's household and aa they crossed
the threshold one drew out a scroll
Judas strained his ear to listen.
"Is our prisoner ready?" asked the
(Continued on Page 16).
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Fox, George. The Jewish Monitor (Fort Worth-Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 10, No. 11, Ed. 1 Friday, December 3, 1920, newspaper, December 3, 1920; Fort Worth, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth296789/m1/1/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; .