Chanukah..short lived reprieve

A few weeks ago I watched Oliver Stone's Alexander. The movie starring Colin Farrel was not that great but I thought the battle scenes were magnificant.
We're so used to reading and mentioning the Chanukah miracle in passing, a sort of G rated version of events. But if one studies the History of the Chashmonoim ..one finds a dramatically different picture. The bloody battles of those times (elephants and all) left thousands of Jews dead in the most greusome fashion.
After the miracle..the Jews lived in peace for just a few years before a long succession of Hellenized and corrupt Chashmonai Kings ascended the thrones. Many, like Antygonys, had tens of thousands of Chachomim killed in horrific bloodbaths.

And yet we see the power of a miracle...a moment of time when some light shone through the darkness.

A moment of short lived hope that lasts until today.

May the spirit of Chanukah always give us hope.