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After the Hasmoneans won the war, the Jewish community faced the question of what to do with its victory. Victorious sides throughout history, including in Jewish history, have often been uncertain about how to use their success. The Hasmoneans had won the war, but what would happen next? How would they create an independent state, and how would they ward off the Greeks?
What happened is that Simon, the surviving Hasmonean brother and the ruler of the country, made an alliance with the Romans to safeguard the country from a new attack by the Greeks. He allowed the Romans to bring their troops onto the land of Israel, so to speak, somewhat like a United Nations peacekeeping force that would keep the Greeks out of the country. The Romans did keep the Greeks out, but they stayed in the country. It is like someone who brings in a bear to get rid of a pesky mouse: the bear gets rid of the mouse, but then how do you get the bear out of the house? That is what happens here.
Simon was a righteous person. He had the support of the Sanhedrin, the great Jewish court, and the support of the rabbis and of the people. He was the high priest, because the Hasmoneans were from the family of the priests, and he was also the ruler. The rabbis always objected to the concentration of power in one person, so that one person would be both high priest and ruler of the country. They regarded this as a bad thing, too much power in one person. But Simon was a righteous and good person, and he did not abuse that power or take advantage of it. So the rabbis, so to speak, made peace as long as he was both the ruler and the high priest.
The rabbis also objected to the fact that the Hasmoneans conducted a forcible conversion of a tribe that lived in the south of Israel, the Idumeans. They were converted to Judaism, but not necessarily out of conviction; it was more out of force and political considerations. The rabbis always opposed conversions for ulterior motives.
This is based on the Jewish idea that one need not be Jewish in order to have an eternal soul and merit the world to come, to be immortal. Of all the monotheistic religions, Judaism is the only one that is not exclusive. There was an advertisement in the New York subway in the 1960s that said, "You don't have to be Jewish to enjoy Levy's Rye bread." Similarly, you don't have to be Jewish in order to get into the world to come. Catholicism insists that the only way an immortal soul can be saved is through belief in Jesus, and Islam believes the only way an immortal soul can come to the world to come is through belief in Muhammad. Judaism does not hold that view. Judaism does not have an exclusivity, and therefore, whereas the other religions have a reason to try to convert the whole world to their faith because they are doing you a favor by getting you to the world to come, Judaism has no such compulsion. Judaism says you can remain whatever you are, provided you follow the seven basic Noahide laws, which are the basis of civilization: not to kill, not to murder, not to steal, not to be immoral, to be truthful, and so on. You do not have to be Jewish, and you do not have to take on any of the ritual observances of Judaism.
Therefore, conversion was always based on the conviction of the convert that this is what he or she truly wanted, and not on ulterior motives, such as the idea that one wants to marry into the faith, does it for money, or does it because of coercion. The Jews were always very reticent to accept such converts. Since the Hasmoneans converted the Idumeans by force, the rabbis did not approve at all and did not think it was a good idea.
Here, then, were the problems that existed in Jewish society: too much concentration of power in one person, and an entire group of people who now said they were Jewish but never truly were. Out of this group would come Herod the Great and the other collaborators with the Romans, who would eventually help bring about the destruction of the Jewish state instead of strengthening it.