My father’s second yahrzeit is 27 Kislev, the third day of Chanukah. My father would often observe that the Chashmona’im were the first army in history to engage in battle not for a military victory, nor a territorial conquest, or even for political reasons. Their motivation was purely for ideological reasons. The survival of Torah was their only concern. Their battle was with the Syrian-Greek overlords as it was with the Hellenist Jews who looked to uproot the Torah as the spiritual force behind Judaism. This is alluded to in the Al HaNisim, in which we thank Hashem for delivering the wicked into the hands of those who are dedicated to Torah.