Rabbi's Musings

Chanukah, also known as the Festival of Lights, is an eight-day Jewish holiday that commemorates the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem during the second century BCE. This rededication followed the victory of the Jewish Maccabees over the oppressive Seleucid Empire, which had sought to suppress Jewish religious practices. Chanukah is a celebration of resilience, faith, and the miracle of the menorah.

The historical roots of Chanukah begin with the Jewish revolt against Antiochus IV Epiphanes, a Seleucid king who banned Jewish worship and desecrated the Temple by installing idols and sacrificing pigs on its altar. Under the leadership of Judah Maccabee, the Jewish forces reclaimed the Temple and cleansed it of these impurities. According to tradition, they sought to rekindle the Temple’s menorah, a sacred lamp symbolizing divine presence. However, only a single day’s supply of consecrated oil remained. Miraculously, the menorah burned for eight days, providing time to prepare new, purified oil. This event became the basis for Chanukah’s central observance.

Beyond the historical information, it is important to remember that Chanukah occurs during the darkest time of the night in the northern hemisphere. As a spiritual story of light in the darkness, choosing a dark time is crucial to the effectiveness of the message. Because Judaism follows the lunar calendar, Chanukah can be at the tail end of Thanksgiving one year and the time of Christmas another year (see: this month!). However, one thing stays the same: Chanukah occurs when the moon is at its smallest. This means a very dark sky.

The ultimate message of Chanukah is this: despite the darkness, God’s light shines through. Our job is to find the light and share it with others. As a very old Chanukah song declares: We have come to banish the dark.