The Miracle of Hanukkah

Every year in November or December (but always on the 25^th of Kislev on the
Hebrew calendar), Jewish people all over the world celebrate Hanukkah,
the Festival of Lights. Hanukkah, which is the Hebrew word for “dedication,”
commemorates the miracle that occurred during the rededication of the
Holy Temple in Jerusalem in 165 B.C. after the Jews’ great victory over
the Syrians.

At the time the Syrian King, Antiochus IV, controlled Judea. He ordered the Jews to worship Greek gods and outlawed all Jewish rituals in an attempt to force them to abandon their religious beliefs. Then the Syrians seized the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and dedicated it to Zeus, the Greek god.

Outraged, many Jews refused to submit to Antiochus. Mattathias, a High Priest, and his five sons openly resisted the Syrians and were forced into hiding in the mountains near Jerusalem. Their numbers grew as other Jews joined them and they organized attacks on the Syrian army. After Mattathias’ death, his son Judah Maccabee led the rebellion and over a period of three years, the Jews fought thousands of well-armed professional Syrian soldiers. Against all odds they drove the Syrians from their homeland.

Upon entering the Holy Temple, the Jews found it had been defiled and ransacked by the Syrians. After cleansing and repairing all they could, they wanted to rededicate the Temple in a ceremony that included lighting a menorah which must burn continually. Their search produced only enough oil to light the menorah for one day with no hope that it would last while they pressed and consecrated more oil. But miraculously, the oil in the menorah burned for eight days. At the end of the eight days, more oil was ready, so the light in the Holy Temple was not extinguished.

By lighting a candle in a menorah each night during the eight days of Hanukkah, Jewish families commemorate this miracle.