whats up with Hannukah?

Question

i know the story behind the holiday and it seems kinda wierd to celebrate a holiday just because some candles burned for a few days more than usual. Can anyone tell me what else there is to this holiday other than that.

Answer 1

Oy Vey!

Many Jewish holidays commemorate events invested with historical and religious meaning. Hanukkah means "dedication," and it commemorates the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem after its desecration by foreign forces. The celebration also reaffirms the continuing struggle to live by God's commandments and to lead Jewish lives.

Hanukkah is celebrated for eight days and nights, starting on the 25th of Kislev on the Hebrew calendar (which is November-December on the Gregorian calendar). In Hebrew, the word "Hanukkah" means "dedication."

The story of Chanukah begins in the reign of Alexander the Great. Alexander conquered Syria, Egypt and Palestine, but allowed the lands under his control to continue observing their own religions and retain a certain degree of autonomy. Under this relatively benevolent rule, many Jews assimilated much of Hellenistic culture, adopting the language, the customs, the dress, etc., in much the same way that Jews in America today blend into the secular American society.

More than a century later, a successor of Alexander, Antiochus IV was in control of the region. In 168 B.C.E., Antiochus, seized and dedicated the Jews' holy Temple to the worship of Zeus. Antiochus tried to take away the Jews' religious freedom by outlawing Jewish rituals and ordering the Jews to worship Greek gods. He outlawed circumcision, placed Greek idols in every Jewish town, sacrificed unclean animals in the temple in Jerusalem, forced all the Jews to worship him as their god and those who didn't convert were put to death

A rebellion against Antiochus was started by an old Jewish priest, Mattathias in 167 BCE. The fighting began in Modiin, a village not far from Jerusalem. A Greek officer and soldiers assembled the villagers, asking them to bow to an idol and eat the flesh of a pig, activities forbidden to Jews. The officer asked Mattathias, a Jewish High Priest, to take part in the ceremony. He refused, and another villager stepped forward and offered to do it instead. Mattathias became outraged, took out his sword and killed the man, then killed the officer. His five sons and the other villagers then attacked and killed the soldiers. Mattathias' family went into hiding in the nearby mountains, where many other Jews who wanted to fight the Greeks joined them. They attacked the Greek soldiers whenever possible.

About a year after the rebellion started, Mattathias died. Before his death, he put his brave son Judah Maccabee in charge of the growing army. Because of his great fighting ability, Judah was nicknamed Maccabeus, "The Hammer." After three years of fighting, the Jews defeated the Greek army, despite having fewer men and weapons.

Judah Maccabee and his soldiers went to the holy Temple, and were saddened that many things were missing or broken, including the golden menorah. They cleaned and repaired the Temple, and when they were finished, they decided to have a big dedication ceremony. For the celebration, the Maccabees wanted to light the menorah the candelabrum symbolizing the eternal covenant between God and the Jewish people and the continuity of tradition through the generations. They looked everywhere for oil, and found a small flask that contained only enough oil to light the menorah for one day, and it would have taken eight days to make more oil. The legend of the miracle at Hanukkah says that the one day supply of oil burned for eight days and nights until more oil could be made.

Today Jews celebrate Hanukkah for eight days by lighting candles in a menorah every night, thus commemorating the eight-day miracle.

Answer 2

It seems the true original purpose for the Hanukiah and the Menorah Candles is forgotten my most people. Notice that the number of Candles are 9 and 7 respectively. These numbers, 9 & 7 are no accident or coincidence, they represent something very specific, but it has been in some regards forgotten.
These "holidays" or rituals were meant to be a rememberance of specific ancient people. Long story short is this, from the time of Adam to the time of Noah, there were 9 "leaders" more specifically/correctly called Cherubs! From the time of the Beginning of man (Adam) to the time of the Great Floods (Noah), 7 of these leaders of men had perished, prior to the floods, these 7 men were of course interred together in one place, and in this place was kept candles lit eternally, night and day. To let these candles go out was considered a sin at the time.
The names of these "leaders" can be found in Genesis, (i.e., And Adam begat Seth, Seth begat Enos, etc......., Methusalah and Lamech found in this list had not been leaders of the people, all the others were). Noah and Enoch were the only two who still survived at the time of the floods, these were the pre-diluvial times. If you check this list of names in Genesis, remove the names of Methusalah and Lamech, then add the name of *Abel, and now, count the number of the names, including Adam, 7 and 9, :O).
I could explain further, but this should at least give you the general idea, :O).

*Abel was the first to recieve training to become the next leader of the people, since Cain had refused this role. Cain in effect and by his actions created the first ever separation of Church and State.

Note: This was the "Holy" or sometimes referred to as the "Royal" blood line.......and you also might note the "Order of Melchidizek" and see how it is relative.

Answer 3

Hannukkah celebrates that the Macabees fought off antocius and then after they won upon returning to the crumbled and broken down temple a mirical happened and oil that was only suppose to last for 1 day burned for 8 it is a time to be thankful.

Answer 4

There are some excellent answers below--but no one has pointed out the Chanukah and Christmas have absolutely nothing in common. Not even the time of year. Based on the biblical records, Jesus was born in the spring. It's about brightening up the darkest time of year--think about what winter would be like without festivals like Christmas and Chanukah! Chanukah is a festival to brighten the winter and celebrate victory and miracles.

Answer 5

Your question is more insightful than these "answers" let on.

It's really an insignificant holiday on the Jewish calendar blown out of all proportion by its proximity to Christmas, and an honest Jew would admit that instead of having a knee-jerk reaction of being offended.

Answer 6

Are you serious? This is entirely indecent and rude. Hannukah is the Jewish celebration of their freedom and beleifs. It represents the eight days when they had enough oil to start their new lives without oppresion. Are you Christian? Would you say celebrating the birth of some old guy is worth all the fuss?

Answer 7

Isn't it kind of wierd to bring a tree inside of your house or to hang stockings up your wall or set up figurines, reinacting the birth of Jesus? In your opinion no. In my opinion no. They are customs that we have grown to love and understand from our upbringing. There is so much more to Hannukah than burning candles and getting presents for eight nights.

Answer 8

the point is that the candles burnt for eight days instead of one because of G-d. the holiday symbolizes the eternal presence and protection of the jews by G-d. G-d helped the jewish rebels overcome impossible fighting odds, G-d helped us regain our temple and our right to practice our religion, and G-d kept the candles burning to show that he is always with us.

Answer 9

Yes, the real miracle was that a small band of guerilla fighters won a mijlitary victory over the much larger army of Seleucids, thereby savind the Jewish people from destruction.

Answer 10

Mindy -
It is time to expand your mind and learn.
And I'll keep it a short lesson.

The holiday is about religious freedom.

Antiochus IV and the Seleucid Empire wanted the Maccabees to abandon their religious beliefs and worship false gods.


The rest is basically verbiage to round out the story.
See link for additional info.

Now - be you Jewish, Christian or non-believer, you can thank the Jews for standing up for religious freedom.