RABBI LAZER BRODY ON CHANUKA BAD TREE BAD APPLE

An old Ukrainian folk expression says that Bad trees yield bad apples. And in like manner, the down-home American saying is that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. And the Gemara agrees. The Gemara on the last page of tractate Succa tells a hair-raising story of a young Jewish woman who was the daughter of Bilega, one of the twenty four priestly clans, or “orders” of Cohanim. This young lady, Miriam, not only went “off the derech” as we unfortunately say nowadays, but she surpassed her Helenistic peers and became an apostate. She even married a Greek officer! And that's not all...