The
traditional Jewish story of
Hanukkah states that we
celebrate Hanakkah because a
miracle occurred when the
menorah in the Temple was
rekindled following the victory
of Judah Maccabee over the
Greeks.
The main source for the origins
of the festival of Hanakkah is
the Second Book of Maccabees,
which was written not long after
the events which it describes.
It states that after driving out
the Greeks from the Temple area
in Jerusalem in 164 BCE, Judah
Maccabee and his followers
reconsecrated the Temple to the
Jewish religion. They did so on
the 25th day of the month of
Kislev, which was the same day
on which the Greeks had
previously profaned the Temple.
It was further decided at that
time that each year thereafter
the reconsecration of the Temple
should be celebrated for eight
days starting on the 25th of
Kislev. The Second Book of
Maccabees implies that the
reason why it was decided to
celebrate Hanukkah for eight
days is that Judah Maccabee and
his followers had been unable to
properly celebrate the festival
of Succot - which also lasts for
eight days - that fall because
they were hiding out in the
wilderness from the Greeks.
At some point during the ensuing
years, a custom developed of
lighting oil lamps for each of
the eight days of Hanakkah. The
legend of the "miracle of
the lights" can also be
seen as a natural outgrowth of
the custom of lighting oil lamps
on each of the eight nights of
Hanakkah. This custom shows that
from the start the rekindling of
the menorah in the Temple was a
central element in the popular
conception of the meaning of
Hanakkah.
The word "Hanakkah" in
Hebrew means
"inauguration" or
"dedication" and can
refer to something so prosaic as
a house warming ceremony. It is
evident that in the popular
imagination, the rekindling of
the menorah in the Temple was
the key component in the
"inauguration" of
Jewish ceremonies there. This
association was preserved in the
linguistic usage in the Diaspora
according to which the oil or
candle holder used for the
lights of Hanakkah was also
called a "menorah". A
"menorah" in modern
Hebrew can be any sort of lamp,
but in a religious context the
term refers specifically to the
seven branched candelabrum used
in the Temple. In modern Hebrew
the oil or candle holder used
for Hanakkah is not called a
"menorah" but rather a
"hanakkah". Calling it
a "menorah" emphasizes
the association with the menorah
of the Temple, which is clearly
the central symbol of Hanakkah
from both a religious and a
historic perspective.
The
Jewish people have reason to
take pride in the festival of
Hanakkah. The light of freedom
which was lit by Judah Maccabee
and his followers in the Temple
in Jerusalem over 2000 years ago
has cast its glow over the
entire world. The Caesars are no
more, the Kaisers and Czars have
also bitten the dust, but the
Jewish people remains. In the
land of Israel we have a Jewish
state even more enlightened and
progressive than that of the
Maccabees. Let us therefore
continue to light the light of
freedom, pay homage to the brave
Maccabees and celebrate in joy
and gladness the achievements of
those who have gone before us.
