On the 25th day of the Hebrew calender month of Kislev, it has been the tradition for several thousand years to celebrate a holiday called Chanukah. This festival commemorates the liberation of what would become Israel from the occupation of Seleucid forces under King Antiochus IV. Many people grow up with the fable about the oil in the Temple lamps during the rededication of the Temple after the war. Legend says that one day's worth of oil miraculously lasted eight days, but it is false to say that the holiday is meant to celebrate this supposed miracle. Jews today recognize that story as being a metaphor for hope and perseverance in difficult times. So, if Chanukah isn't about the miracle, why do we celebrate it?
The real essence of Chanukah is the lesson of holding to one's beliefs regardless of external pressures. Many times throughout history, Jews have been persecuted for their culture and their faith. More than once, we have been pressed to convert to other religions. One such event was the occupation of the Levant region by Antiochus IV and his armies, who mandated the conversation of all those living in Judea to Hellenistic Greek traditions. So, who is Antiochus?
When Alexander the Great died in 323 BCE, he left a massive empire. Having spent most of his life pursuing war, Alexander's closest political allies were his generals. When the time came to hand power to another, Alexander's son had yet to be born. Alexander's generals, known in this period as the Diadochi, spent many years afterward vying for control over the fragments of the Macedonian Empire. During a long period of in-fighting that involved murders both on and off the battlefield, the line of Antiochus took segments of Asia. Due to the endless wars between competing Greek forces, many local cultures grew strong enough to pursue independence, among them were Carthage, Rome and an upstart group of rebels in Judea under a devout leader named Judah Maccabee, whose name translates as "Hammer".
The Maccabee rebels represented a fairly small portion of the Judean people. They were, in a sense, political and religious extremists intent on maintaining the traditions associated with the Temple of Jerusalem. Using guerrilla tactics to wear down the Seleucid armies (which were already stretched thin from other, larger wars), the Maccabee movement wrested control of the region from the Greeks. After the war, they rededicated the Temple, which is where the festival gets its name. "Chanukah" relates to the root word "Chanakh" meaning "To dedicate" in the sense of religious sanctification.
Since that time, the liberation of Judea has been celebrated by Jews all over the world. Because the lighting of special candelabra called Menorah (pl. Minorot) was a feature of the rededication of the Temple, the most important Chanukah tradition is the lighting of the Chanukiah, a special 9-branched Menorah. The ninth branch, called the Shamash (protector) represents God, while the other eight branches represent the eight days of the festival. Eight is a very important number in Judaism, but that's another lesson.
Chanukah 2008 runs from the evening of Sunday, December 21st to the following Sunday, December 28th. Happy Holidays. Join us here at Judeo Talk this Wednesday for a special Chanukah edition of our Hebrew lesson.