Festival of Lights

To recap the story of Hanukkah, the historical events upon which the celebration is based are recorded in Maccabees I and II, two books contained within a later collection of writings known as the Apocrypha. In the year 168 B.C.E., the Syrian tyrant Antiochus Epiphanes sent his soldiers to Jerusalem. They outlawed practicing Judaism and the Temple was renamed for the Greek god Zeus.  Antiochus offered Jews two options:  conversion or death.  A resistance developed and a third option, war, was successfully waged against the Syrians, who had superior numbers but were none-the-less defeated.

Hanukkah, which means “dedication,” is the festival that commemorates the rededication of the Temple following the defilement caused by the Syrians.  When the Maccabees entered the Temple, they immediately relit the ner tamid (eternal light). They found only a single jar of oil, which was sufficient for only one day. The messenger who was sent to get more oil took eight days, and miraculously, the single jar of oil continued to burn until his return. The rabbis of the Talmud attributed the eight days of Hanukkah to the miracle of this single jar of oil.