The Three Stories of Hanukkah

[We thank You] for the miracles,

for the redemption,

for the mighty deeds,

for the acts of deliverance

and for the wars that You performed for our ancestors in those days at this season.

In the days of Matityahu, son of Yohanan the High Priest, the Hasmonean and his sons,

when the evil Greek kingdom

rose up against Your people Israel

to make them forget Your Torah

and to turn them away from the statutes of Your will—

You, in Your abundant mercy,

stood by them in their time of distress,

You defended their cause,

You judged their grievances,

You avenged them.

You delivered the mighty into the hands of the weak,

the many into the hands of the few,

impure ones into the hands of the pure,

the wicked into the hands of the righteous,

and malicious ones into the hands of those who engage with Your Torah.

And You made Yourself a great and holy name in Your world.

And for Your people, Israel,

You performed a great deliverance and redemption to this very day.

Afterwards, Your children entered the Holy chamber of Your house,

cleared Your Temple,

purified Your Sanctuary,

and kindled lights in the courtyards of Your Sanctuary,

and designated these eight days of Hanukkah to thank and praise Your great Name.

What is Hanukkah (What is the significance of Hanukkah?)

The Sages taught: On the 25th of Kislev, the days of Hanukkah are eight. One may not eulogize on them and one may not fast on them. For when the Greeks entered the Sanctuary they defiled all the oils that were in the Sanctuary. And when the Hasmonean monarchy overcame them and emerged victorious over them, they searched and found only one cruse of oil that was placed with the seal of the High Priest. And there was [enough] there to light [the menorah] for only one day. A miracle occurred and they lit from it for eight days. The next year they instituted and made [those days] holidays with praise and thanks.

The Sages taught: When the first human being [Adam] saw that the daylight kept getting shorter, he said: "אוי לי!" Woe is me! Maybe it's because I sinned [because I messed things up not listening to God in the Garden of Eden] that the world is becoming dark around me and is returning to chaos and formlessness. And this is the death that was sentenced upon me from Heaven [from God].

(Adam had eaten from the Tree of Knowledge, knew the punishment was death, so the daylight decreasing

and thought this was the beginning of his punishment.)

He went and spent eight days in fasting and in prayer. Once he saw the season of Tevet, [the winter solstice], and saw that the daylight kept getting longer, he said: This [must be] the way of the world [that days get shorter until winter and then longer until summer]. He went and celebrated a holiday for eight days.