The Story of Hanukkah

By Edwin Davis

A Jewish Temple was seized by Syrian-Greek soldiers in 168 B.C.. The temple was then dedicated to the god Zeus. The Jewish people were upset but afraid to fight back. The Emperor Antiochus made the observation of Judaism to be punishable by death in 167 B.C.. He compounded the insult by ordering Jews to worship the Greek gods. The Jewish resistance started in a town called Modiin which lay near Jerusalem.

The Jewish people were gathered by force and ordered to kneel before an idol and eat the flesh of a pig, which are both against the Jewish faith. When a high priest named Mattathias refused to do the will of the Greeks a villager offered to take his place, which outraged the priest. Mattathias drew his sword killing the villager and the Greek officer. He and the rest of the village then rose up against the remaining soldiers killing them all.

Mattathias and his family, along with other Jews willing to fight the Greeks hide in the mountains. After Mattathias died in 166 B.C. his son Judah Maccabee, "The Hammer", lead the Jews to victory and the rebels, who would come to be known as the Maccabees or Hasmoneans, eventually took back their land from the Greeks.

After the defile of their temple by worshiping of idols and the slaughtering of swine the Jews wanted to purify the temple by burning ritual oils in the temples menorah, but found only one days worth of oil. The Jews lit the menorah any way and through the miracle of Hanukkah the menorah burned eight days giving them enough time to find fresh supple.

Hanukkah begins at sunset on Tuesday, December 20, 2011 and ends at sunset on Wednesday, December 28, 2011. A candle is lit for each day until the eighth candle on the eighth day.

Remember we live in a land with the freedoms of speech and religion. Just because it's not your religion doesn't mean you can respect someone else's beliefs.

Feel free to say Merry Christmas or Happy Hanukkah to me if you like, I welcome them both.