The eight-day Jewish celebration known as Hanukkah or Chanukah commemorates the rededication during the second century B.C. of the Second Temple in Jerusalem, where according to legend Jews had risen up against their Greek-Syrian oppressors in the Maccabean Revolt. Hanukkah, which means “dedication” in Hebrew, begins on the 25th of Kislev on the Hebrew calendar and usually falls in November or December. Hanukkah 2022 begins on the evening of Sunday, December 18 and ends on the evening of Monday, December 26. Often called the Festival of Lights, the holiday is celebrated with the lighting of the menorah, traditional foods, games and gifts.
History of Hanukkah
The events that inspired the Hanukkah holiday took place during a particularly turbulent phase of Jewish history. Around 200 B.C., Judea—also known as the Land of Israel—came under the control of Antiochus III, the Seleucid king of Syria, who allowed the Jews who lived there to continue practicing their religion. His son, Antiochus IV Epiphanes, proved less benevolent: Ancient sources recount that he outlawed the Jewish religion and ordered the Jews to worship Greek gods. In 168 B.C., his soldiers descended upon Jerusalem, massacring thousands of people and desecrating the city’s holy Second Temple by erecting an altar to Zeus and sacrificing pigs within its sacred walls.
Did you know? The story of Hanukkah does not appear in the Torah because the events that inspired the holiday occurred after it was written. It is, however, mentioned in the New Testament, in which Jesus attends a "Feast of Dedication."
Led by the Jewish priest Mattathias and his five sons, a large-scale rebellion broke out against Antiochus and the Seleucid monarchy. When Matthathias died in 166 B.C., his son Judah, known as Judah Maccabee (“the Hammer”), took the helm; within two years the Jews had successfully driven the Syrians out of Jerusalem, relying largely on guerilla warfare tactics. Judah called on his followers to cleanse the Second Temple, rebuild its altar and light its menorah—the gold candelabrum whose seven branches represented knowledge and creation and were meant to be kept burning every night.
The Hanukkah 'Miracle'
According to the Talmud, one of Judaism’s most central texts, Judah Maccabee and the other Jews who took part in the rededication of the Second Temple witnessed what they believed to be a miracle. Even though there was only enough untainted olive oil to keep the menorah’s candles burning for a single day, the flames continued flickering for eight nights, leaving them time to find a fresh supply. This wondrous event inspired the Jewish sages to proclaim a yearly eight-day festival. (The first Book of the Maccabees tells another version of the story, describing an eight-day celebration that followed the rededication but making no reference to the miracle of the oil.)
You shall make a menorah [out] of pure gold. The menorah must be made by hammering [its form out of a solid piece of gold]. Its base, its shaft, its cups, its knobs, and its flowers shall be of it [the same piece of gold].
(א) וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר יְהוָ֖ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֥ה לֵּאמֹֽר׃ (ב) דַּבֵּר֙ אֶֽל־אַהֲרֹ֔ן וְאָמַרְתָּ֖ אֵלָ֑יו בְּהַעֲלֹֽתְךָ֙ אֶת־הַנֵּרֹ֔ת אֶל־מוּל֙ פְּנֵ֣י הַמְּנוֹרָ֔ה יָאִ֖ירוּ שִׁבְעַ֥ת הַנֵּרֽוֹת׃ (ג) וַיַּ֤עַשׂ כֵּן֙ אַהֲרֹ֔ן אֶל־מוּל֙ פְּנֵ֣י הַמְּנוֹרָ֔ה הֶעֱלָ֖ה נֵרֹתֶ֑יהָ כַּֽאֲשֶׁ֛ר צִוָּ֥ה יְהוָ֖ה אֶת־מֹשֶֽׁה׃ (ד) וְזֶ֨ה מַעֲשֵׂ֤ה הַמְּנֹרָה֙ מִקְשָׁ֣ה זָהָ֔ב עַד־יְרֵכָ֥הּ עַד־פִּרְחָ֖הּ מִקְשָׁ֣ה הִ֑וא כַּמַּרְאֶ֗ה אֲשֶׁ֨ר הֶרְאָ֤ה יְהוָה֙ אֶת־מֹשֶׁ֔ה כֵּ֥ן עָשָׂ֖ה אֶת־הַמְּנֹרָֽה׃
(1) Adonai spoke to Moses, saying: (2) Speak to Aaron and say to him, “When you mount the lamps, let the seven lamps give light at the front of the lampstand.” (3) Aaron did so; he mounted the lamps at the front of the lampstand, as Adonai had commanded Moses.— (4) Now this is how the lampstand was made: it was hammered work of gold, hammered from base to petal. According to the pattern that Adonai had shown Moses, so was the lampstand made.
כשנכנסו יונים להיכל טמאו כל השמנים שבהיכל וכשגברה יד בית חשמונאי ונצחום בדקו ולא מצאו אלא פך אחד שהיה מונח בחותמו של כהן הגדול שלא נטמא ולא היה בו להדליק אלא יום אחד ונעשה בו נס והדליקו ח' ימים. לשנה אחרת קבעו ח' י"ט. ומה ראו לעשות חנוכה ח' ימים והלא חנוכה שעשה משה במדבר לא עשה אלא שבעה ימים שנא' ומפתח אהל מועד לא תצאו שבעת ימים וגו' ואומר ויהי המקריב ביום הראשון את קרבנו וגו' ובשביעי הקריב אפרים. וכן מצינו בחנוכה שעשה שלמה שלא עשה אלא שבעת ימים שנא' כי חנוכת המזבח עשו שבעת הימים והחג ז' ימים ומה ראו לעשות חנוכה זו ח' ימים אלא בימי מלכות יון נכנסו בית חשמונאי להיכל ובנו את המזבח ושדוהו בשיד ותקנו בו כלי שרת והיו מתעסקין בו ח' ימים. ומה ראו להדליק את הנרות אלא בימי מלכות יון שנכנסו בית חשמונאי להיכל שבעה שפודין של ברזל בידם וחפום בעץ והדליקו בהם את המנורה. ומה ראו לגמור בהם את הלל אלא שכל תשועה ותשועה שהקב"ה עושה להם לישראל היו מקדימין לפניו בהלל בשירה ובשבח ובהודאה כענין שנא' ויענו בהלל ובהודו לה' כי טוב וגו' מצות חנוכה נר איש וביתו והמהדרין נר לכל נפש ונפש והמהדרין מן המהדרין בש"א יום ראשון מדליק שמונה מכאן ואילך פוחת והולך ובה"א יום ראשון מדליק א' מכאן ואילך מוסיף והולך. שני זקנים היו בצידן אחד עשה כדברי ב"ש ואחד עשה כדברי ב"ה
because when the Greeks entered the Temple they defiled all the oil there. When the hand of the Hasmoneans was made strong and they defeat the Greeks, they checked (in the Temple) and only found one jar of oil sealed with the mark of the High Priest which remained undefiled. Though there was only enough in it to light for one day, a miracle occurred through it and they lit the Temple lamps from it for eight days. The following year they decreed these to be eight days of celebration. And what justification did they see for making Channuka eight days? Wasn’t the dedication (channuka) which Moshe did in the wilderness only seven days? As it says “And you shall not leave the entrance of the Tent of Meeting for seven days…” (Vayikra 8:33) And it says “The one who brought his offering on the first day was…” (Bamidbar 7:12) and on the seventh day Ephraim made his offering. So too we find at the dedication which Shlomo made that it only lasted seven days, as it says “…for the inauguration of the altar they made seven days, and the feast seven days.” (Divre HaYamim II 7:9) So what reason did they see to make this dedication eight days? In the days of the kingdom of Greece the Hasmoneans entered the Temple, built the altar, plastered it with plaster and for seven days they were preparing the vessels for service. The re-dedication done by the Hasmoneans it to be marked for all generations. And why is it a practice for all generations? They fixed it when they came out from a narrow place into broad spaces, and they said praises and thanksgiving, lighting lamps in purity. Since the Greeks had gone into the Temple and defiled all the vessels, there was nothing with which to light. When the Hasmoneans were victorious, they brought seven skewers of iron, covered them with tin and began to light.
Questions to Ask one another other!
1. Why do we Light the Menorah every Year?
2. What does the Menorah Mean to You?
3. Do you have any positive memories Associaed with the Menorah?
The tradition of the Menorah dates back to the story of Exodus (Exodus: Chapter 25). God commanded the Israelites to light the Menorah in the portable Temple in the wilderness. The flames of the seven-branched Menorah became a metaphoric “guiding light” for the Israelites, and the Menorah and the Eternal Light became fixtures in every Jewish house of worship.
In the story of Hanukkah, Antiochus and the Syrian Greeks sought to extinguish the flames of Judaism by forbidding traditional Jewish practice and desecrating the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, literally putting out the lights of Jewish worship. Mattathias, Judah, and the Maccabees rekindled Jewish life by defeating the Greek empire, returning home from victory and turning their energies to purifying and re-dedicating the Temple, including re-lighting the Menorah.
Lighting the Menorah allows each of us—adults and children—to participate in the ongoing miracle of renewing the light of Judaism, generation to generation. And we recognize that today we are blessed to be able to do so freely, without fear of persecution.