Mattisyohu zt"l

הרב מתתיהו בן יוחנן זצ"ל

Cheshvan 15 , 3596

Father's Name: Yochonon

Matisyahu ben Yochanan (known in English as Mattathias ben Johanan) was a 2nd-century BCE Jewish priest (Kohen) and the patriarch of the Hasmonean dynasty who ignited the Maccabean Revolt

The Spark of Rebellion: In 167/170 BCE, the Seleucid-Greek king Antiochus IV Epiphanes ordered Jews to offer pagan sacrifices. In Modiin, Matisyahu refused to obey, killed a Hellenized Jew who stepped forward to comply, and attacked the Seleucid royal commissioner.
The Maccabean Revolt: He and his five sons fled to the Judean hills, rallying a guerrilla army to fight for religious freedom and Jewish independence.
The Five Sons: His sons—Judah Maccabee, Yochanan, Shimon, Eleazar, and Jonathan—led the military campaign after his death, culminating in the liberation and rededication of the Second Temple (commemorated by Hanukkah).
Death: He died of old age around 139 BCE near the start of the rebellion, passing leadership to his son Judah.