Judas Maccabeus (or Judah Maccabee, also spelled Machabeus, or Maccabaeus, Yehudah HaMakabi, Judah the Hammer) was a Kohen and the third son of the Jewish priest Mattathias. He led the Maccabean revolt against the Seleucid Empire (167 BC-160 BC) and is acclaimed as one of the greatest warriors in Jewish history alongside Joshua, Gideon and David.
The Jewish feast of Hanukkah ("Dedication") commemorates the restoration of Jewish worship at the temple in Jerusalem in 165 BC, after Judah Maccabee removed the pagan statuary..