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This is the story of how a small band of Jewish renegades took on the Syrian-Greek army:
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The Hellenistic culture developed and promoted by the Greeks included great philosophers, Plato and Aristotle, a multitude of gods and goddesses and the worship of the physical.
At first, the Greeks were peaceful rulers, inviting the Jews to share with them their wisdom while introducing them to the culture of the physical being. However, in
199 B.C. the Greeks ruling from Egypt -- the Ptolemies -- were conquered by the Seleucids from Syria.
The Syrian-Greeks felt that the Jews should be totally assimilated into the Hellenistic culture, which they felt was more advanced than the primitive Jewish religion. The majority of the Jews maintained the heritage of their ancestors and remained faithful to the Torah.
Soon, the study of Torah became a capital crime. Many degrading acts were forced upon the Jews, the least of which included bowing to idols and sacrificing pigs. This campaign proceeded slowly, but by 168 B.C. the Holy Temple in Jerusalem had been desecrated by the placement of a statue of Zeus in the main plaza.
In the town of Modin, a man by the name of Mattityahu (commonly known as Mattithias) lived with his family and sons. He was from the family of Hasmoneans, one of the branches of the priesthood.
In 167 B.C., Mattityahu was told to sacrifice a pig to the Syrian-Greek gods. Of course he refused, and he was threatened with death. His sons stepped in and attacked the soldiers decimating the force. The family took refuge in the hills, and the group, led by Judah, a son of Mattityahu, began a revolt fighting as guerillas.
The odds were against the small group, but they prevailed.
The group became known as the Maccabees (hammers, in Hebrew). The odds were against the small group, but they prevailed -- and in 165 B.C.E., they succeeded in retaking the temple, which was their primary goal.
The Jews saw that the temple had been thoroughly rampaged and desecrated, but they immediately set to work repairing and cleaning the temple. On the side of the sanctuary stood the grand, golden Menorah, but there was no oil to light it. The Jews searched for an unopened jar of oil and finally found one small jar. Only one small jar-- it was not enough, and it would take a week to prepare more fresh oil.
They did not want to put off the rededication any longer, so they decided to light the Menorah and the miracle of Hanukkah occurred. Despite the small quantity of oil, the Menorah remained lit for the entire eight days announcing to the people that God's presence was once again residing in the Temple.
The day this happened was the 25th day of Kislev in the Hebrew calendar. (Months in the Hebrew calendar correspond to the cycle of the moon or 29 to 30 days. For this reason, holidays will occur on a different day of the Gregorian calendar each year.) This year, it occurred on Wednesday. Since all Jewish holidays begin at sundown of the day before, we lit the first candle on Tuesday and continue for eight nights until Tuesday.
The word Hanukkah means rededication, and that great happening and the miracle of the continued burning of the Menorah in the Temple, are what are celebrated during these eight days.
The eight-branched candelabra that we light is called a Chanukiah in recognition of the happenings it symbolizes. Since it is a joyous occasion, gifts are traditionally exchanged between family members. In today's world, and here in the U.S., the home is our Temple (in addition to the Synagogues), and so this holiday is primarily celebrated at home.
There is no formal service at the Synagogue, but our religious school will present a play during the holiday, and there will be a party afterwards. The traditional food served at the party is potato latkes (pancakes) along with apple sauce and/or sour cream. Latkes are served because they are cooked in oil, reminding us of the oil that burned for eight days.
Children may play a game with a spinning top with four sides called a "dreidel." The origin of this game comes from the time of the Syrian-Greek oppression when children were not allowed to study the Torah. If a group of children were studying and soldiers arrived, they would take out their dreidels and make believe they were only playing a game.
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