Judaism
Hanukkah: The festival of lights
· 5 min read
Hanukkah commemorates the victory of the Maccabees over the Greeks and the miracle of the oil that burned for eight days. Eight nights of lights, joy, and gratitude.
Hanukkah
The story
In 167 BCE, the Greek king Antiochus IV prohibited the Torah and desecrated the Temple. The Maccabees (Mattathias and his sons) rebelled and within three years recovered Jerusalem.
The miracle of the oil
When rededicating the Temple, they found only pure oil for one day. Miraculously, it burned for eight days.
Customs
- Lighting the chanukiah (9-branched candelabrum).
- Reciting Al HaNissim.
- Eating sufganiyot (jelly donuts) and latkes.
- Giving Hanukkah gelt (coins).
Reading: Talmud Bavli Shabbat 21b. Book of Maccabees (Apocrypha). Shulchan Aruch OC 670-684.
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