Successful battles, a reflection on 1 Maccabees 5:1-23

The Jews had rebuilt and rededicated the temple. Their neighbors reacted angrily. They resolved to destroy all the Jews that lived among them.

The Gentiles were very upset that adherents of a different religion from theirs had constructed a worship center. War ensued.Violent war, even against people with common ancestry. Opposition arose.   But Judas  and his brothers fought many battles against the Gentiles, crushing them.

Opposition to worship centers not in the mainstream continues to our time; e.g., http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/04/islamic-center-of-murfreesboro_n_5439867.html

Questions raised by U. Rappaport in the Oxford Bible Commentary/ The Apocrypha, edited by Martin Goodman: Did Simon rescue all the Jews in Galilee? How many Jews were left there?