Hanukkah

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Hanukkah

HANUKKAH ("Dedication"). Festival celebrated for eight days commencing on 25 Kislev, commemorating the victory of the traditionalist Maccabees over the Hellenistic Syrians who attempted to eradicate the Hebrew religion as part of their plan to hellenize their entire kingdom. The main events associated with Hanukkah took place between 165 and 163 BCE, although the Maccabees continued a military struggle with the Syrians for many years until the Hebrews of Eretz Israel had gained de facto independence. There are no restrictions on work or other activities. The Greeks took various steps to achieve their goal, among them the desecration of the TEMPLE in Jerusalem. I Maccabees (4.36- 59) reports that the altar had been defiled, the Syrian ruler, Antiochus Epiphanes, having commanded that sacrifices to pagan gods be offered on it. After a three-year struggle, the Maccabees under Judah Maccabee conquered Jerusalem, and demolished and rebuilt the defiled altar. They also produced new vessels for the Temple service, including a candelabrum, an altar for incense, a table, and curtains. According to a talmudic tradition, a small quantity of consecrated oil, for use in the MENORAH, was found within the Temple precincts (Shab. 21b). Although it was only enough to burn for one day, the oil lasted for eight days, and the festival was established for this length of time to commemorate the miracle. The Books of Maccabees do not record this tradition. In the Second Book of the Maccabees, it is noted that the eight-day festival was instituted by Judah upon his rededicating the Temple, according to the precedent of SOLOMON's eight-day dedication of the First Temple. The main observance of Hanukkah is the kindling of the festival lamp (hanukkiyyah) each night of the holiday. This practice gave the festival the additional name of Hag ha-Urim, "the festival of lights."

The Talmud explains the lighting as publicizing the miracle (pirsume nissa; Shab. 23b) and in ancient times the lamp was put in the doorway or even in the street outside the house for this purpose. The lighting takes place immediately after dark except on Friday evenings, when it must be done before the kindling of the Sabbath lights, i.e., approximately half an hour before sunset. The candles are meant to burn for at least one half hour and must be kindled in a conspicuous place. They may be lit any time during the night as long as someone other than the lighter will see them. The practice of kindling the lights appears not to have been instituted until many years after the events which it commemorates. The accepted procedure for kindling the Hanukkah lights is to light one candle (or oil lamp) on the first night and one additional candle each night (going from left to right), until the last night when eight candles are lit.

An additional candle called the shammash ("serving light") is used to kindle the other lights. The practice is essentially a home ceremony, but candles are lit also in the synagogue. Children are usually given a gift of money (hanukkah gelt) for the festival. Hanukkah is expressed in the liturgy in a number of ways, the most important being the introduction of the AL HA-NISSIM prayer in the AMIDAH and GRACE AFTER MEALS. HALLEL is recited at the Morning Service, and there is a special READING OF THE LAW each day of the festival. A Hanukkah hymn, MA'OZ TSUR, written in the 13th century, is very popular in the home and synagogue, and is sung in Ashkenazi communities after the kindling of the lights. The Sephardi practice is to read Psalm 30. It has become customary to hold Hanukkah parties with songs and games, especially for children. The best-known of the Hanukkah games is the dreydel, a spinning top used for a kind of "put and take" game.

The dreydel is inscribed for this purpose on its four sides with the Hebrew letters, nun, gimmel, he, shin, an acrostic for the words nes gadol hayah sham ("a great miracle happened there"). Presumably because of the association with oil, it has become popular to eat latkes (potato pancakes) and sufganiyyot (doughnuts). In modern Israel Hanukkah has become an occasion when the theme of national courage is underlined, since it was this quality which gained the Hebrews of the Maccabean period their independence. In recognition of the heroism and battlefield prowess of the Maccabees, a torch is carried from their traditional burial site at Modi'in, located between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, to various points throughout the country. That’s the Hebrew background of Hanukkah. We know that as believers in Yeshua, there’s a much bigger picture to it. Yeshua was “conceived” on Hanukkah by the Ruach HaKodesh. They may be celebrating the light staying in the Temple, but we are celebrating the time “The Light” was getting ready to come into the world.