Happy Chanukkah

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 23:04:58 +0100

Today is the first day of Chunakkah also known as the festival of lights. It is an 8 day holiday beginning on the 25th of Kislev (The 9th month on the Jewish Calendar). This is the story of Chunakkah :

It started during the reign of Alexander the Great and Egypt, Syria and Israel. More than a century later his successor Antiochus IV was in control, He began to oppress the Jews severely, placing a Hellenistic priest in the temple, massacring Jews, prohibiting the practice of the Jewish religion, and desecrating the Temple by requiring the sacrifice of pigs (a non-kosher animal) on the altar. Two groups opposed Antiochus: a basically nationalistic group led by Mattathias the Hasmonean and his son Judah Maccabee, and a religious traditionalist group known as the Chasidim, the forerunners of the Pharisees. They joined forces in a revolt against both the assimilation of the Hellenistic Jews and oppression by the Seleucid Greek government. The revolution succeeded and the Temple was rededicated.
According to tradition as recorded in the Talmud, at the time of the rededication, there was very little oil left that had not been defiled by the Greeks. Oil was needed for the menorah in the Temple, which was supposed to burn throughout the night every night. There was only enough oil to burn for one day, yet miraculously, it burned for eight days, the time needed to prepare a fresh supply of oil for the menorah. An eight day festival was declared to commemorate this miracle. Note that the holiday commemorates the miracle of the oil, not the military victory, Jews do not glorify war. So that is the story.

12-of-december-2009

Happy Chanukkah