Jewish Holiday: The Story, Meaning, and Traditions of Hanukkah

 Hanukkah - The Jewish Festival of Lights 

Hanukkah is the Jewish Festival of Lights and it remembers the rededication of the second Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, in Israel. This happened in the 160s BCE/BC (before Jesus was born). (Hanukkah is the Hebrew and Aramaic word for 'dedication'.) Hanukkah lasts for eight days and starts on the 25th of Kislev, the month in the Jewish calendar that occurs at about the same time as December. Because the Jewish calendar is lunar (it uses the moon for its dates), Kislev can happen from late November to late December.

In 2019, Hanukkah will be from the evening of Sunday, 22nd December until the evening of Monday, 30th December.

During Hanukkah, on each of the eight nights, a candle is lit in a special menorah (candelabra) called a 'hanukkiyah'. There is a special ninth candle called the 'shammash' or servant candle which is used to light the other candles. The shammash is often in the center of the other candles and has a higher position. On the first night, one candle is lit, on the second night, two are lit until all are lit on the eighth and final night of the festival. Traditionally they are lit from left to right. A special blessing, thanking God, is said before or after lighting the candles and a special Jewish hymn is often sung. The menorah is put in the front window of houses so people passing can see the lights and remember the story of Hanukkah. Most Jewish families and households have a special menorah and celebrate Hanukkah.

Hanukkah is also a time for giving and receiving presents and gifts are often given on each night. Lots of games are played during the time of Hanukkah. The most popular is 'dreidel' (Yiddish) or 'sivivon' (Hebrew). It's a four-sided top with a Hebrew letter on each side. The four-letter are the first letter of the phrase 'Nes Gadol Hayah Sham' which means 'A great miracle happened there' (in Israel, 'there' is changed to 'here' so it's 'Nes Gadol Hayah Po'). Each player put a coin, nut or chocolate coin in a pot and the top is spun. If the letter is 'nun' (נ) come up nothing happens, if it's 'gimel' (ג) the player wins the pot, if it's 'hay' (ה) you win half the pot and if it's 'shin' (for 'there' ש) or 'pe' (for 'here' פ) you have to put another item into the pot and the next person has a spin!

Food fried in oil is traditionally eaten during Hanukkah. Favorites are 'latkes' - potato pancakes and 'sufganiyot' - deep fried doughnuts that are then filled with jam/jelly and sprinkled with sugar.

The Story behind Hanukkah

About 200 BCE/BC Israel was a state in the Seleucid Empire (an empire ruled under Greek law) and under the overall charge of the King of Syria. However, they could follow their own religion and its practices. In 171 BCE/BC, There was a new King called Antiochus IV, who also called himself Antiochus Epiphanes which means 'Antiochus the visible god'. Antiochus wanted all the empire to follow Greek ways of life and the Greek religion with all its gods. Some of the Jews wanted to be greek, but most wanted to stay Jewish.

The brother of the Jewish high priest wanted to be greek, so he bribed Antiochus so he would become the new High Priest instead of his brother! Three years later another man bribed Antiochus, even more, to let him become the High Priest! To pay his bribe he stole some of the objects made of gold that was used in the Jewish Temple.

On his way home from having to retreat from a battle, Antiochus stopped in Jerusalem and he let out all his anger on the city and the Jewish people. He ordered houses to be burned down and tens of thousands of Jews were killed or put into slavery. Antiochus then went to attack the Jewish Temple, the most important building in Israel to Jews. The Syrian soldiers took all the treasures out of the temple and on 15 Kislev 168 BCE/BC Antiochus put up a statue of the Greek god Zeus in the center of the Jewish Temple (but it had the face of Antiochus!). Then on 25 Kislev he desecrated the holiest place in the temple and destroyed the Jewish holy scrolls.

Antiochus then banned practicing the Jewish faith & religion (if you were found out you and all your family were killed) and made the Temple into a shrine to Zeus. There were many Jews killed for their faith. Soon afterward a Jewish rebellion started.

It began when a 'former' Jewish Priest, called Mattathias, was forced to make an offering to Zeus in his village. He refused to do so and killed a Syrian Soldier! Mattathias's sons joined him and killed the other soldiers in the village. Mattathias was an old man and died soon after this, but his son Judah then took charge of the freedom fighters. Judah's nickname was 'Maccabee' which comes from the Hebrew word for hammer. He and his troops lived in caves and fought an undercover war for three years. They then met the Syrians in an open battle and defeated them.

When they got back to Jerusalem, the Temple was in ruins and the statue of Zeus/Antiochus was still standing. They cleaned the Temple. They rebuilt the Jewish altar and on 25 Kislev 165 BCE/BC, exactly three years after the statue was put up, the altar and Temple were rededicated to God.

There are several theories about why Hanukkah is celebrated over eight nights. One legend says that when Judah and his followers went into the Temple there was only enough oil to burn for one night, but that it burned for eight nights. Another story says that they found eight iron spears and put candles of them and used them for lighting in the Temple.

Hanukkah and Christmas

The dates of Hanukkah and Christmas might well be associated, because 25 Kislev was when the Temple was rededicated and the early Church chose December 25th because they took over the birthday of the Greek god Zeus/Roman god Jupiter.

Overall, the true purpose of the holiday is actually not based on religion. It is a festival reminding the Jewish people of our forefathers' courage and the ultimate triumph of rededicating the Temple. Regardless of our numbers, Hanukkah signifies the importance of possessing the strength to stand up for what we believe is right even if others disagree or work to oppress us.