My ongoing journey through the Torah

Chanukkah: what is it

November 29, 2006 on 8:46 am | In Chanukkah, Holidays | No Comments

I wrote the following post on my livejournal blog a year ago.  That’s almost 1 BM (year 1 before marriage).  Thought I would share it again.  Chanukkah begins this year at sundown at December 16th and ends at sundown on December 23rd.

I’ve been reading up on Hanukkah (Chanukkah, or a few other spellings) for the past few weeks. I believe I understand it now. Let me know if I have it right:

168 BCE
• The Hellenist Syrians (Syrians that worshiped the Greek gods) seized the Holy Temple in Jerusalem after the Syrian king Antiochus outlawed the Jewish religion. The Holy Temple was rededicated to the worship of Zeus
• Shortly later, a Syrian officer ordered the high priest, Mattathias, to eat pork in the village of Modiin. Since the eating of pork is forbidden in the Torah, Mattathias refused. Out of fear a fellow villager offered to eat the pork instead. Mattathias became enraged and slew both the villager and the Syrian officer. He fled into the mountains with his family
• Mattathias, along with his sons, led guerilla-like raids on the Syrians. This attracted like minded Jews in the foundations of an army.

168-165 BCE
• Mattathias dies leaving his eldest and bravest son Judah Maccabee to build the army

165 BCE
• After many battles, the Maccabee army retook the Holy Temple in Jerusalem even though it was outnumbered and possessed inferior weaponry
• The Temple was found to have been desecrated and required to be rededicated to G-d. Part of the ritual of dedication is the lighting of the menorah for eight days.
• Due to the Syrian occupancy of the Temple, only enough oil was found to keep the menorah lit for a single day. Myth? As if by divine intent, the menorah stayed lit for the full eight days.

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