The Origins of Hanukkah

Merry Christmas everyone! December 8 marks the first day of Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of lights. Most know that this involves lighting a menorah, but what are the origins of this festival? The last episode of Bible Backdrop for 2023 goes into the story and other details about Hanukkah. Why is it celebrated? How do Jews today celebrate? Why is it important?

If you are enjoying Bible Backdrop, please leave a 5-star rating and review. You can also send a question to the e-mail address listed in the episode. Have a Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year!

Transcript

The man watched his children while sitting on his couch. They were excited about tonight, but the man could find no joy. Not with the events the past few weeks. First came the political rhetoric...then the overt threats...then the gangs of people on the sidewalk. And now this...windows smashed, businesses closed, new laws focused on removing any Jewish activity in government or society. Some friends and neighbors had left...gone to other countries. But the man decided to stay with his family. This was their home and he didn’t want to leave. Now he wondered if that was bravado or folly.

A hand touched his shoulder and he looked up to see his wife staring down at him. She knew what he was thinking about and the weight of those thoughts bore down on him. Hopefully, for one moment, they could forget the world and enjoy being together. 

A voice broke through their thoughts as their daughter asked if it was time yet. The man looked out and it did appear that the sun had dipped below the horizon. Yes, it was time. He walked over to the menorah and told his children about how the Temple had been desecrated...how the Jews stood up to a tyrant and threw their enemies out of the holy land…then the time came to rededicate the Temple and how a miracle happened. After finishing the story, he lit the first candle in the menorah. The family watched it burn bright and then his wife had a surprise. She pulled out two small packets...one for each child. They each opened it to find a small piece of chocolate. Both children squealed with delight but quickly turned to groans when their mother said they had to wait until after dinner to eat them. As his wife and children moved to the table, the man stared at the single candle burning and hoped that things would change for the better. That maybe next year, they could celebrate Hannukah, the Festival of Lights, in peace.

Hello again everyone and welcome to the next episode of Bible Backdrop. I’m going to take a small diversion as I planned on talking about Pentecost, but this being the season that it is, I thought an episode on Hanukkah would be more appropriate.

The origins of Hanukkah date back to the Seleucid kingdom. If you remember from the episode on Pharisees and Saduccees, the Seleucid kingdom was in charge of Israel after the death of Alexander the Great. Alexander spread Hellenistic, or Greek, culture across his empire but he also allowed for religious freedom. So, in Israel, the Jews could keep practicing their religion as had been established in the Torah. Even so, Greek culture started to infuse itself into Judaism and many stood against it creeping into their lives. Then along came Antiochus Epiphanes. You remember him, right? I talked about him in that same episode. Antiochus believed that a solely Greek culture would pleaes his gods and allow for him to have the military conquests that he found elusive. As a result, everyone in his kingdom was forced to undergo a change to strict Hellenism...or suffer the consequences. Some Jews in Israel went along with this and encouraged others to do so; but many others resisted. Jews were no longer allowed to observe Shabbat, conduct circumcisions, or observe their dietary laws. Scrolls of the law were burned and Jewish worship was forbidden. Rather than submit, many died at the hands of Antiochus and his lieutenants.

The ultimate act, though, was the desecration of the Temple. After marching into Jerusalem, Antiochus set up a statue of Zeus in the Temple and sacrificed a pig on the altar. This rendered the Temple unfit for the worship of Yahweh until such time as it could be cleansed.

To make sure people followed the new rules, Antiochus sent people out through the countryside to confirm that the changes were taking hold. And here is where things get interesting. One day, these men found themselves in the village of Modiin around Judea. A priest by the name of Mattityahu lived there. When Antiochus’ men showed up, they built an offer and demanded that the priest offer sacrifices to the Greek gods. He refused, but a Hellenistic Jew offered his services. Bad idea. Mattityahu and his sons fell upon the man and killed him. Then they did the same to Antiochus’ men. They killed many of them and chased the rest away.

Now, it was on…

Knowing Antiochus was going to respond harshly, Mattityahu and his sons fled into the hill country around Judea. Similar to when David fled Saul in 1 Samuel and warriors joined his band, people began to join this group. Knowing they couldn’t stand toe to toe with Greek armies, this group used guerilla warfare to attack enemy detachments and outposts and destroy the altars built by Antiochus.

Before his death, Mattityahu urged his sons to continue the fight. For waging war, he said their leader should be Judah the Strong who was also called “Maccabee.” Scholars believe it is a word composed from the Hebrew phrase meaning “Who is like You, O God.” I know if I try to repeat the phrase, I’ll end up making a mess of it, so I won’t attempt it here. 

Antiochus got tired of this annoyance and sent his general Apolonius to destroy the Maccabees, as Judah’s followers became known. This force was defeated as was a second expedition. Then Antiochus sent an army of 40,000 men under the command of two generals, Nicanor and Gorgiash. Judah and his followers assembled an army in Mitzpah, where the prophet Samuel had offered prayers to God many years before. They then waged a series of guerilla type battles to wear down the enemy army. As they succeeded, more people joined the Maccabees. Within the year, they fought all the way to Jerusalem and conquered it, then moved on to the Temple Mount. Finally, they took the Acra Citadel and with it, the Temple Mount. The destroyed the statue of Zeus and started the process of rededicating the Temple. And here is where we get the Festival of Lights. 

As the story goes, they did not want to cut corners to rededicate the Temple. They searched all over the Temple for oil they could use for the menorah...oil that had not been defiled and used for pagan purposes. Finally, they found one jar that had been sealed and labeled by the last true high priest. This jar would last for one day, but it would take 8 days to make more oil. And here is where the miracle happened. No more oil was to be found, but the one jar of oil lasted 8 days until more oil could be made. As a result, the next year, the high priest instituted Hanukkah as a holiday.

To commemorate the oil lasting for 8 days, Hanukkah lasts 8 nights. Like most festivals and traditions, this one has changed over a number of years. Most households have their own menorah and instead of using oil, they use candles...lighting a different one each night until all 8 are lit. Ideally, the candles should burn for at least half an hour. Families then sing the song Maoz Tzur or “Rock of Ages.” This song tells the history of the Jews including the Exodus from Egypt, the story of Purim, and the story of the Maccabean revolt. One thing that sets it apart from other holidays is the public celebration. Many people display their menorah’s in their most visible window. 

Another tradition is playing the dreidel, a four-sided spinning top used for playful gambling. Foods served during the holiday include chocolate coins called gelt, potato pancakes called latke, and special donuts whose names I won’t even try to pronounce. 

Since Hanukkah is not a biblical holiday, you won’t hear many of the common prayers you may hear at other holidays. However, the Hallel is often recited. From our previous episodes on the Feast of Passover and the Feast of Booths, we know that this is a collection of hymns celebrating Israels rescue by God from the hands of the Egyptians. Finally, excerpts from the Torah are read, typically short passages from the Book of Numbers.

On that note, we will light our final candle and celebrate the end of 2023. This will be my last episode for the year and I will be back in early January to discuss the final Jewish feast of Pentecost. Thank you again for listening to Bible Backdrop and I hope you enjoyed learning more about the backstory on Hanukkah. If you would like to get in touch with the show, you can e-mail me at BibleBackdrop@gmail.com. Word of mouth is still the best way for this show to get around, so please tell a friend and have them subscribe. A good introduction to the show this time of year would be the Christmas episodes. These are still available on biblebackdrop.buzzsprout.com. You can download episodes about Herod, the Magi, Bethlehem and the flight to Egypt. There’s even an episode about Joseph and another about Mary. With that, I hope you and your loved ones have a blessed Christmas season and a wonderful New Year!