History of Hannukah

The story of Hannukah begins in Greek-occupied Israel in the year 169 BC when the King Antiochus entered the Temple of Solomon and despoiled all the holy vessels, including the sacred olive oils used to light the Menorah, or 7 branched solid gold candelabra which was kept permanently alight in the Temple. Decrees were issued forbidding Jewish practices such as Sabbath observance, Temple worship, circumcision, observance of the Jewish dietary laws (kashrut), and others. Pigs and other unclean animals were sacrificed in the Jewish Temple to pagan deities.. Even to profess that one was a Jew was punishable by death. Anyone who defied the edict of King Antiochus was tortured cruelly to death.

The Jewish high Priest, Mattisyahu and his sons, formed a band of guerrillas and fled to the hills, executing night raids on their tormentors. The die had been cast; the revolution had begun.

Mattisyahu, on his death bed, instructed his five sons, headed by Judah, to continue the fight against the occupation and suppression of their people. Judah Maccabee, one of the greatest freedom fighters in Jewish history, gathered an army, and with God's help, managed to defeat the enemy and recapture Jerusalem.

On re-entering the devastation that had been the Holy Temple, the victorious Jews were despondent to see its cruel despoiling. Searching amongst the broken bottles of oil, for any that might have remained sealed and therefore still useable, they at last found one small flagon of oil with its seal still intact. This was enough to burn for one day, and eight days were needed, in order to prepare more olive oil suitable for this purpose.

The miracle of Hannukah was that this tiny flagon of oil burned in the gold Menorah, for eight full days, enabling the new "kosher" oil to be prepared in the meantime.

Customs of Modern Hannukah

Since that day, Jews the world over have celebrated this miraculous and God-sent victory and freedom from opression, by lighting 8 branched Menorahs, adding an extra light each night for 8 nights. They place the Menorahs in the windows of their homes so that all who pass by can see and bear witness. It is customary for each family member to light their own Menorah, either using wax candles, often multicoloured, or, more traditionally, olive oil.

A joyous time, we give our children either gifts of money (chanukah gelt) or small presents. We play a family game called "dreidel" (spinning top), where a small four sided top is spun, each side having a different Hebrew letter on, and depending on which side the top falls, the player wins, loses, or remains the same.(NB: The reason behind this tradition, is that history tells us, that in the opressive times of Antiochus, when Torah study was forbidden, Jews studied it in secret, whipping out a spinning top or dreidel and hiding the books, if any enemy soldiers came to check). We might either play for small amounts of money, but more appropriately, just sweets, as gambling is not encouraged.

Traditional Hannukah foods are oil fried (for obvious reasons) and include doughnuts, and potato pancakes called "latkes".