TEXT: John 10:22-23 (KJV)
Hanukkah not listed in the seven "feasts of the lord" in Leviticus 23
Jesus was seen at this feast in John 10:22-23 - standing on Solomon's porch - "And it was winter"
Hanukkah is called the feast of dedication and the feast of lights
It celebrates the rededication of the temple in 165 BC by the Maccabees after it desecration by the Syrians
It's called the Feast of Lights because it is marked by the successive kindling of eight lights
Hanukkah commemorates the Maccabean (Hasmonean) victories over the forecs of the Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175-164 BCE) and the rededication of the Temple on Kislev 25, 164 BCE
Led by Mattathias and his son Judas Maccabaeus (died c. 161 BCE), the Maccabees were the first Jews who fought to defend their religious beliefs rather than their lives.
Antiochus had invaded Judaea, tried to Hellenize the Jews, and desecrated the second temple in Jerusalem
Following the Jewish victory in a three-year struggle against Antiochus, Judas ordered the cleansing and restoration of the temple
After it was purified, a new altar was installed and dedicated on Kislev 25. Judas then p reclaimed that the dedication of the restored temple should be celebrated every year for eight days beginning on that date.
In II Maccabees the celebration is compared to the festival of Sukkoth (the Feast of Tabernacles or Feast of Booths), which the Jews were unable to celebrate because of the invasion of Antiochus.
Hanukkah, therefor, emerged as a celebration of the dedication, as the word itself suggest.
The first night there was not enough oil to light the menorah in the holy place
The miracle is that small amount of oil burned for eight nights!
Typifies Christ as the temple cleaners AND the light of the word!
The cleansing of the temple narrative tells of Jesus expelling the merchants and the money changers from the Temple
In this account, Jesus and his disciples travel to Jerusalem for Passover, where Jesus expels the merchants and consumers from the temple, accusing them of turning it into "a den of thieves"
Jesus will cleanse the Temple a second time when he delivers Israel from another antiochus Epiphanes - The Antichrist!
The Celebration
The hanukkah observance is also characterized by the daily reading of Scripture, recitation of some of the Psalms, aln
The liturgy includes Hallel, public readings from the Torah, and the 'al ha-nissim ("for the miracles") prayer
Along with the daily prayers, thanks are offered to god for delivering the strong into the hands of the weak and the evil into the hands of the good.
The word Hanukkah in Hebrew also means "education,"
Potato pancakes (Latkes), doughnuts (sufganiyot), and other treats fried in oil, which recall the miracle of the oil, are popular
Children receive presents and gifts of money (Hanukkah gelt), which is cometimes distributed in the form of chocolate coins wrapped in gold foil.
Card playing is common, and children play a game with a four-sided top called a dreidel (Hebrew sevivon).
On each side of the top is a Hebrew letter, which forms the initials of the words in the phrase nes gadol haya sham, meaning "a great miracle happened there."
In modern Israel the letters of the dreidel were changed to reflect the translation "a great miracle happened here"
In countries where Christmas rituals are widespread, some echoes of those rituals appear in Hanukkah celebrations.
Some families, for example, exchange gifts or decorate their homes.
A highlight of the eight-day festival is an annual relay from Modi'in to Jerusalem. Runners carry burning torches through the streets, beginning in Modi'in. The runners continue until the final torchbearer arrives at the Western Wall, which is the last remnant of the Temple
The torchbearer hands the torch to the chief rabbi who uses it to light the first chandle of a giant menorah.
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