Hanukkah is an eight-day Jewish celebration commemorating the rededication of the Temple at Jerusalem in 165 B.C.

Date:   12/4/2006 2:57:46 PM ( 18 y ago)

Hanukkah is an eight-day Jewish celebration commemorating the rededication of the Temple at Jerusalem in 165 B.C. It celebrates the freedom of people to be who they want to be, and to worship according to their own beliefs. The story of Hanukkah is also known as the Festival of Lights or the Feast of Dedication. It has been told for centuries in Jewish homes all over the world. To learn more about the history of Hanukkah, read the following story.

Two thousand years ago, the Jewish people lived in Jerusalem, the capital of Judea. It was in Jerusalem that the Jews built a beautiful temple where they went to worship. The Jews believed in the existence of one God but did not recognize the power of kings. This put them in a troublesome position in 336 B.C., when Alexander the Great conquered the Persian Empire. Alexander placed the Jews under the rule of Syrian kings who did not tolerate the Jewish belief in one God.

The worst of the Syrian kings was Antiochus Epiphanes, who was known as "the mad king." He was the cruelest of kings, and forced the Jews to bow down to him and worship him as their God. When the Jewish people refused to acknowledge Antiochus as their king, he destroyed their holy temple, defiled their altars, tore down the holy ark, burned the holy Torah, and killed many of the Jews.

Despite this horrible cruelty and oppression, the Jewish people did not give up. When a Syrian soldier sacrificed a pig at a Jewish altar (this was sacrilegious in the Jewish tradition) a peasant named Mattathias killed the soldier. Determined to fight his oppressors, Mattathias fled to the mountains with his five sons and formed a guerrilla army. Although these "Maccabees," as they were called, had no training and no weapons, they vowed to overcome the rule of the Syrian kings. After three long years of fighting, the Maccabees defeated the Syrian soldiers and reentered the city.

The Maccabees found that their holy temple had been ruined when they returned to Jerusalem. They cleaned the blood from the holy Torah scrolls and purified the ruined altars. After much work, the Maccabees finished rebuilding the temple and rededicated it to the Jewish people on the 25th day of the Kislev (December). In celebration, they relit the eternal light using the only holy oil they could find. Although there was only enough oil for the light to burn for one day, it miraculously burned for eight days and eight nights.

To this day, Jewish people have celebrated this Festival of Lights every year at Hanukkah, the Hebrew word for dedication. Every night for eight nights, while someone recites the Hanukkah blessing, a candle is lit on the menorah. The menorah is the candelabra that symbolizes the story of Hanukkah. It is traditionally lit at sunset, and the candles are placed from right to left, lit from left to right, and placed in front of a window. The menorah holds eight candles placed on the same level, and one candle, called the shammash, that sits higher or lower than the rest. The shammash is used to light the other candles on each successive night. On the eighth night, all nine candles of the menorah burn brightly. Families gather to celebrate, play games, and enjoy festive meals together. Gifts are traditionally exchanged too, one on each night of Hanukkah.


 

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