With the death of Alexander, the Greek empire divided into two rivaling ones: the Seleucid Empire of the north and the Ptolemaic Empire of the south. Precariously sandwiched in between was the Land of Israel. The deceptively peaceful period that saw the creation of the Septuagint turned out to be the calm before the storm of Greek oppression, the Maccabee rebellion, and the Chanukah victory and miracle.

• the story of Chanukah told with historical detail
• the two sides of the Septuagint
• the origin of the fast of the 10th of Teves
• Judah Maccabee and his brave, self-sacrificing family