11/27/2013 0 Comments What is Hanukkah?Every year my family celebrates the Jewish festival of Hanukkah (or Chanukah) instead of Christmas. Now this does not mean that we completely ignore the birth of Jesus, we just choose to celebrate it in a different way. Many people have asked me about what exactly Hanukkah is so, by request of a friend, I will be post something for every night of Hanukkah explaining what it is about and what our family does to celebrate it. Since tonight is the first night of Hanukkah, I thought I'd start off by answering: WHAT IS HANUKKAH? Hanukkah, The Feast of Dedication, lasts for eight nights. Every night a new candle is lit on a Hanukkah menorah (a candelabra) counting up the days. On the first night one candle is lit, on the second night two candles and so forth. The story of Hanukkah dates back to 165 B.C. when the Greeks took over Judea under Antiochus IV. There was no freedom of religion for the Jews at that time, but there was a group called the Hasidim that still tried to live their faith and study Torah (the 1st 5 books of the Bible). Their leader was a man by the name of Mattathias. He led the Hasidim against the Greeks in a battle to gain back their freedom. Mattathias sadly died in combat and his son, Judah, nicknamed The Maccabee, (which means The Hammer) took over his fathers role as leader. (sorry, I couldn't resist! ) Now back to the story... Finally after many long battles, the Hasidims were victorious and took back their right to religious freedom and to their temple! Tradition says that when the joyous Jews arrived at their beloved temple they were shocked at the state it was in! The temple was so corrupted that they had to begin the process of cleaning and re-purifing. When at last the temple had been purified, the priest went to light the giant menorah that stood in the temple's inner court. But there was a slight problem... The people only had enough oil to last for one day. You: Oh that's no problem! Couldn't they just go buy some at the market or make some? Well... no. You see first off the temple menorah required a special oil that wasn't sold anywhere, it was made only by the Levites (a Jewish tribe set aside by God for temple work). Secondly, this special oil needed a total of eight days to make. And thirdly, the temple menorah was commanded to always be lit as a foreshadowing of Jesus's (Yeshua) coming whether or not the Jews realized it. (remember "I am The Light of the World" ?). Also the menorah was the only source of light in the temple, without it the priest couldn't see to do their priestly duties. So to recap, the Jews had a menorah that needed to burn continually and only enough oil for one day. BIG PROBLEM! In the words of a cartoon character: "I AM TOTALLY FREAKING OUT!" Peg from Peg+Cat Well the Jews decided to go ahead and light the menorah anyway and the Levites set about to making new oil. But after eight days when the new oil had been made and was ready, the Jews were shocked to find that the little bit of oil that was only suppose to last ONE day had lasted the whole EIGHT days required to make the new! So the Jews (because they were Jews) declared that a holiday lasting for eight days starting on the twenty-fifth day of Kislev (the name of a Jewish month) be established as a memorial to rededicating the temple and to the miracle of the oil that lasted for eight days. YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So that's the history of Hanukkah! Clear as mud? Good! No? Not really? Well maybe these guys can help fill in the gaps for you. Love,
Susan
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