Maccabee: an Epic in Free Verse

Wisconsin Bookwatch, Jan, 2005

Maccabee: An Epic in Free Verse

Howard Rubenstein

Granite Hills Press

PO Box P, El Cajon, CA 92022-8010

1929468083 $24.95

Maccabee: An Epic In Free Verse is an astounding modern-day epic poem based upon the the Biblical books of the Maccabees. Praising the valiance of those who resisted tyranny, as well as condemning the murder and slaughter of oppressors, Maccabee presents the violence of the Old Testament saga in plain terms, without glossing over atrocities committed. Of especial note are the comments about people who strove to comfort themselves by claiming that those who suffered and died were martyrs, when they were in fact murder victims and Torah law forbids human sacrifice. A moving and powerful way to experience a bloody chapter in history. The children of Israel kindle lights/for eight days each year/during the holiday of Hanukah/to celebrate the rededication of the Temple,/their survival as a people,/and the rededication of their lives/to justice, liberty, and peace.//There is a light/within the righteous/and courageous spirit/that burns longer than eight days./It burns forever.