Hanukkah

The Jewish celebration of Hanukkah began this year on December 14^th and continues until December 22^nd. Hanukkah celebrates the rededication of the Jerusalem temple in about 164 B.C., after it had been desecrated by the Greek ruler, Antiochus Epiphanes.

Antiochus tried to compel the Jews to adopt the Greek culture and religion. Atrocities committed in connection with these efforts included plundering the temple, setting up statues of Greek gods in the temple, and sacrificing pigs on the temple altar.[1] In 167 B.C. a Jewish priest named Mattathias and his five sons led a Jewish revolt which ultimately expelled the Greeks from Jerusalem. Mattathias and his sons’ family name was the Hasmoneans, but they are better known by the nickname, Maccabees, from the Hebrew word for “hammer.”

As the Maccabees prepared to rededicate the temple, they found to their dismay that they had only enough sacred olive oil to light the temple menorah[2] for one day, and that seven days would be required to obtain more. Miraculously, the sacred oil lasted for eight days. This miracle—and the rededication of the temple—is celebrated in the Feast of Dedication, now commonly known as Hanukkah (or Chanukah), which means “dedication” in Hebrew.

This Feast of Dedication is mentioned in John 10:22, when Jesus went to Jerusalem during the festival.

[1]. Pigs were “unclean” and therefore were unfit for either food or sacrifices. See Leviticus 11:7-8. The Jews considered sacrificing a pig on the temple altar to be an abomination. Among other things, Antiochus also killed many of the Jewish people, burned Jewish scriptures, and prohibited various Jewish practices such as circumcision.

[2]. The menorah was a lampstand to light the inside of the Holy Place in the tabernacle and later the temple. The lampstand had seven oil lamps—one in the center and three on each side of the center lamp. The lampstand is described in Exodus 25:31-40 and Exodus 37:17-24.