Illuminating Hanukkah

Most people know at least a little bit about Hanukkah: that it’s a Jewish holiday, it involves candles and a menorah, and it’s usually celebrated in either November or December. But there is a whole history behind the holiday that most Christians don’t know or only know a small portion. Here is a condensed history behind this minor (meaning it’s not an observed religious day of rest), but beloved Jewish holiday.

About 200 B.C.E., the Land of Israel, also known as Judea, was ruled by the King of Syria Antiochus III. During his reign, he allowed the Jewish people to practice their religion without fear of persecution because the rest of the Syrian-Greek populace worshipped Greek gods.

However, Antiochus III died and his sons took control, first Seleucus IV then Antiochus IV Epiphanes. His sons weren’t as tolerant of Judaism as their father was. In fact, Antiochus IV outlawed it and gave the Jews an ultimatum: convert to the Greek religion or die. As everything about the Syrian-Greek religion went against Judaism, the Jews refused.

This refusal led to many Jews being massacred by Antiochus’ soldiers, and the holiest temple in Jerusalem—Second Temple—was desecrated by installing a statue of Zeus and by sacrificing pigs to it. Two major and bloody battles occurred between the Syrian-Greek army and a makeshift Jewish army called the Maccabees. The Maccabees were led by a Jewish priest named Mattathias and his five sons. When Mattathias died, his son Judah took over the small army. The Maccabees were well outnumbered by the Syrian army, yet they were able to drive out the Syrians from Jerusalem within two years.

The Maccabees went to the Second Temple, removed the Greek idols and statues, rebuilt the altar and lit the menorah, which they had to remake because the original gold one had been taken by the Syrian king to pay the heavy taxes imposed by the Romans. All they could find to light it was one jar of olive oil, but it was only enough for keep it alight for one day, if they were lucky. They sent a man out to find more oil, which took him eight days. And during those eight days, the menorah didn’t go out. This miracle told the Jews that God had taken them under His protection. Judah rededicated the Second Temple on the 25^th of the month of Kislev in the year 3622 of the Hebrew calendar, and Hanukkah means “rededication” in Hebrew.

Another version of Hanukkah claims that the Antiochus IV reign over Jerusalem caused a civil war. Some Jews conformed to the new Syrian-Greek religion and were known as Hellenists, while others kept to their Jewish faith and were determined to keep their laws—enforcing them if necessary. Judah and the Maccabees won out and kept Judea for the Jews for more than a century. There’s no mention of the relighting of the menorah, nor the one day’s supply of oil lasting eight days. Some scholars suggest that Hanukkah came about as a delayed observance of Sukkot (a celebration consisting of seven days of feasting, prayer and festivities), as it fell during the time of the Maccabean Revolt.

Hanukkah is centered around the lighting of a nine-branched menorah known in Hebrew as a hanukiah. On each of the eight days, a candle is added to the hanukiah after sundown. The ninth candle, which is called shamash (“helper”), is used to light the other candles. This year, Hanukkah begins at sundown on December 24^th and concludes at sundown on January 1^st, 2017.