This is the second installment of Arutz Sheva’s eight part Hanukkah special, In The Footsteps of The Maccabees. For Part One, click here.

In the Binyamin Region of Samaria, along Route 60 between the Israeli towns of Ofra and Shiloh, lies the site of the first major battle between the Maccabean Jewish revolutionaries and the Syrian-Greek army.

The battle of Wadi Haramia marked the first major test of the rebels’ new leader, Yehudah (Judah) the Maccabee, following the death of his father and predecessor Matityahu.

It was to be followed by an even greater battle in Beit Horon, against a far larger military force – one which tested the courage and faith of even the hardy Maccabees.

Stay tuned tomorrow evening for Part Three, where we’ll visit the site of the third epic battle of Judah Maccabee in the Ayalon Valley.