Happy Hannakuh!
Hanukkah is the most historically documented of the
Jewish holidays. There are early sources for the story in the
First and Second Books of the Maccabees and in the works of Josephus.
Somewhat later accounts appear in the Talmud and other rabbinic
literature.
There is even a medieval work called
Megillat Antiochus--The Scroll of Antiochus--which is modeled
after the biblical Book of Esther. The problem is that in none
of these accounts is the story found as outlined above and as
it is popularly known. This version seems to be an offshoot of
itself.
The Story Itself:
In the fourth century B.C., Alexander
the Great with his Greek armies conquered the Near East territories,
including Israel. After his death, his empire split apart. The
land of Israel, after a period of struggle, came under the control
of the Seleucid dynasty, which ruled the region of Syria. In the
year 167 B.C., the king Antiochus Epiphanes decided to force all
the people he ruled to hellenize. The practice of Jewish rituals
such as the Sabbath and circumcision was outlawed. The worship
of Greek gods and the sacrifice of pigs replaced the traditional
worship in the temple. Some Jews eagerly flocked to the gymnasium,
symbol of the Greek emphasis on the beauty and strength of the
body, others resisted Hellenism and died as martyrs. As to which
side was smarter, who knows? Survival brings out the most imteresting
concepts in humans.
One day the Greeks came to the village
of Modi'in and set up an altar. They commanded the Jews to bring
a pig as a sacrifice to show obedience to Antiochus's decree.
Mattathias, an old priest, was so enraged when he saw a Jew about
to do so that he killed him. He and his five sons then fought
the Greek detachment, retreated to the mountains, and began a
guerrilla war against the Greeks and their Jewish allies. Before
he died of old age, Mattathias passed on the leadership to his
son Judah the Maccabee. Judah led his forces against a series
of armies sent by Antiochus, and through superior strategy and
bravery he defeated them all. Finally, he and his followers liberated
Jerusalem and reclaimed the temple from its defilement by the
Greeks. They could find only one small cruse of oil, enough to
last one day, but when they lit the temple menorah with it, a
miracle occurred and the menorah burned for eight days. Since
then Hanukkah is celebrated to remember the Maccabees and their
successful fight for independence, and most of all, the miracle
of the oil.
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