Hanukkah is all about rededication to God and a miracle. It is also about a bloody civil war fought for religious freedom. The history is recorded in the Apocryphal book of Maccabees. There were 3 parties to this war. Jews wishing to follow their religion in peace without the Hellenizing influence of Greece, the ruling Greeks of the Seleucid Empire, and a group of Hellenized Jews who sided with the Greeks and wished to shut down religious practice. So in many ways it was a battle between religion, paganism and secularism.

Alexander the Great conquered the known world, including Judea. His rule was lenient and many Jews during this time became enamored of Greek culture, turning away from their own lifestyle and religion, following a more Greek lifestyle (Hellenized Jews). Upon his death his Empire was split into 4; Judea became part of the Seleucid Empire (Syria). When Antiochus IV Epiphanes became King he imposed his beliefs and culture on the Empire; with the support of Hellenized Jews. He banned the weekly Sabbath, replaced the high priest with a Hellenized Jew (who bribed him for the position), stopped the temple sacrifices and outlawed circumcision (the mark of the covenant that the Jews had with God). Mothers who had their sons circumcised were killed along with their babies. He ordered Bibles burned. He set up a pagan statue in the temple and had a pig slaughtered there in sacrifice to it. Many Jews fled into the wilderness and lived in caves, many became martyrs of their faith.

The orthodox Jews formed a resistance, led by a priestly family “the Maccabees” they became freedom fighters. After 3 years of guerrilla warfare against the oppressor they won! Considering how outnumbered and outclassed they were it is a great miracle, and they were to maintain an independent Judea for a Century.

After liberating the Temple, they cleansed it the best they could and had it re-dedicated but when they came to light the great Menorah with the sacred oil they found they only had one day’s worth of sacred oil left intact. The Menorah is meant to burn continuously and be an eternal flame as God is the eternal light of the world. It would take 8 days to produce more sacred oil but they went ahead and lit the Menorah with the little they had, after the first day the Menorah kept burning, shedding its light for the next 8 days until they had enough to refill it. They knew because of this miracle, that even though God was silent, (there were no more prophets) he was still with them.

All this is remembered and celebrated as Hanukkah every year. For orthodox Jews, it is about bringing back the temple practice and fulfilling religious duty. For more reformed and secular Jews, it is a joyous festival of lights. For Christians, Jesus may have been conceived during Hanukkah, as an adult he attended the Hanukkah celebration and announced in the temple, “I am the light of the world; whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light which gives life.”