When the fearsome Alexander Yanai came to power, he strengthened the position of the Sadducees, the deniers of the Oral Law. To the traditional Jews or Pharisees, this was grounds for civil war. Rabbi Wein brings to life the Talmudic stories that reveal Alexander Yanai’s paranoia and the defiance that led to one of the bloodiest periods of Jewish history.

• the Sadducees - Jewish deniers of Oral Law
• the Pharisees - ready to defend Judaism at all costs
• Alexander Yanai - from prison to the palace
• Simchas Bais Ha Sho'eva - the rebellion that sparked a war
• Shlomtzion Ha Malka - the righteous queen who (temporarily) restored the peace