Al Hanissim lists a series of disadvantages that we had against the Syrian-Greek army and the miracle that Hashem provided for us in helping us defeat them. The list starts with giborim b’yad chalashim, the mighty in the hands of the weak, and then rabim b’yad me’atim, many in the hands of the few. These disadvantages are clearly understandable from a military perspective. However, the next three are more difficult to understand: reshaim b’yad tzadikim, the evil in the hands of the righteous, temei’im b’yad tehorim, the defiled in the hands of the pure, v’zeidim b’yad oskei Torasecha, and the wanton in the hands of those who study Your Torah.  Why are we listing these disadvantages? Why were they less equipped to fight because they were righteous, pure people who studied Torah?

Perhaps the idea is that even in war, there are certain moral and ethical standards. A military without ethics will destroy everything in its path including its own civilians. A military fighting an ethical war will go out of its way to avoid unnecessary casualties. This put the army of righteous, pure people who studied Torah at a military disadvantage. Therefore, in Al Hanissim, we thank Hashem for that aspect of the miracle of the war.