Rabbi Rifat Sonsino, Ph.D.
The history behind Hanukah is, briefly, this:
In the second cent. BCE, Antiochus IV, the Syrian king,
set out to conquer Egypt. While he was fighting there, Jason, deposed from his
position as the Jewish High Priest in Jerusalem, left the Ammonites with whom
he had taken refuge, and attacked Menelaus, his brother in Jerusalem, in order
to regain the High Priesthood. A civil war broke out between the two, and Jason
successfully entered Jerusalem. King Antiochus was furious. On his way back
from Egypt, the king attacked Jerusalem, imposed restrictions on Judea, and
eventually desecrated the Temple. In reaction, a priest by the name of
Mattathias, and his sons (called the Maccabees), fought against the Syrians,
and were able to clean and rededicate the temple of Jerusalem to the worship of
one God in the year 165 BCE. This rededication is called Hanukah (“dedication”
in Hebrew).
The
festival lasted 8 days, not because of the so-called “miracle of the oil,”
(miracles don’t happen) but because it was considered a delayed
Sukkot
(“Tabernacles”)
which is 7 days-long, plus Atzeret, a one day festival (See, II Mac.
4:59;
Lev.23: 33-36, 39).
Happy Hanukah
to all who celebrate it.
For more information, read my article,
“Was Hanukah Really a Miracle?” in my book, Did Moses Really Have Horns; And
Other Myths About Jews and Judaism, pp. 155-164)
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