Al HaNissim discusses the miracles Hashem performed for us in this war. We say, מעטים ביד ורבים חלשים ביד גבורים מסרת עוסקי ביד וזדים ,צדיקים ביד ורשעים ,טהורים ביד וטמאים, "You delivered the mighty into the hands of the weak, the many into the hands of few, tame'im into the hands of the tehorim, resha'im into the hands of tzaddikim, sinners into the hands of those who study Torah."
We understand the first half of the phrase: the mighty and the many were miraculously delivered into the hands of the weak and few. But why is it miraculous that sinners and resha'im were given over into the hands of the righteous and those who studied Torah?
The Bardichover Rav zy'a answers that the final words of this line refer to the wave of teshuvah that happened in response to the miracles that occurred at that time; טמאים טהורים ביד, the impure people did teshuvah and became pure. צדיקים ביד רשעים, the resha'im changed their ways and became tzaddikim. תורתיך עוסקי ביד וזדים, sinners began to study Torah.
When the Jewish nation witnessed the miraculous war, that the weak and the few won against the mighty Greek army, the resha'im among them did teshuvah. The resha'im at that time were called the מתיונים. They were Jewish people who wanted to be like the Greeks. When they saw the miracles, they did teshuvah and returned to their heritage.
