The festival is observed by the kindling of the lights of a
unique candelabrum, the
nine-branched menorah (also called a Chanukiah/Hanukiah), one
additional light on each night of the holiday, progressing to eight on the
final night. The typical menorah consists of eight branches with an additional
visually distinct branch. The extra light, with which the others are lit, is
called a shamash (Hebrew: שמש, "attendant") and is given a
distinct location, usually above or below the rest.[1] Other Hanukkah festivities include playing dreidel and eating oil-based foods such as doughnuts
and latkes. Since the
1970s, the worldwide Chabad Hasidic movement has initiated public menorah
lightings in open public places in many countries.[2]
The name "Hanukkah" derives from the Hebrew verb
"חנך", meaning "to dedicate". On
Hanukkah, the Maccabean Jews regained control of Jerusalem and rededicated the
Temple.[3][4] Many homiletical explanations
have been given for the name:[5]
·
The name can be broken
down into חנו
כ"ה, "[they] rested
[on the] twenty-fifth", referring to the fact that the Jews ceased
fighting on the 25th day of Kislev, the day on which the holiday begins.[6]
·
חנוכה (Hanukkah) is also the Hebrew acronym for ח נרות והלכה כבית הלל — "Eight candles, and the halakha is like the
House of Hillel". This is a reference to the disagreement between two
rabbinical schools of thought — the House of Hillel and the House of Shammai — on the proper order in which to light
the Hanukkah flames. Shammai opined that eight candles should be lit on the
first night, seven on the second night, and so on down to one on the last night
(because the miracle was greatest on the first day). Hillel argued in favor of
starting with one candle and lighting an additional one every night, up to
eight on the eighth night (because the miracle grew in greatness each
day). Jewish law adopted the position of Hillel.[7]
·
When the Second Temple in Jerusalem was looted and services
stopped, Judaism was outlawed. In 167 BC Antiochus ordered an altar to Zeus erected in the Temple. He banned brit milah (circumcision) and ordered pigs to be
sacrificed at the altar of the temple .[23]
·
Antiochus's actions
provoked a large-scale revolt. Mattathias (Mattityahu),
a Jewish priest, and his five sons Jochanan, Simeon, Eleazar, Jonathan, and Judah led a rebellion against Antiochus
starting with Mattathias killing first a Jew who wanted to comply with
Antiochus's order to sacrifice to Zeus and then a Greek official who was to
enforce the government's behest (1 Mac. 2, 24-25[24]). Judah became known as Yehuda HaMakabi
("Judah the Hammer"). By 166 BC Mattathias had died, and Judah took
his place as leader. By 165 BC the Jewish revolt against the Seleucid monarchy
was successful. The Temple was liberated and rededicated. The festival of
Hanukkah was instituted to celebrate this event.[25] Judah ordered the Temple to be cleansed,
a new altar to be built in place of the polluted one and new holy vessels to be
made. According to the Talmud, unadulterated and undefiled pure olive oil with
the seal of the kohen gadol (high priest) was needed for
the menorah in the Temple, which was required to burn throughout the night
every night. The story goes that one flask was found with only enough oil to
burn for one day, yet it burned for eight days, the time needed to prepare a
fresh supply of kosher oil for the menorah. An eight-day
festival was declared by the Jewish sages to commemorate this miracle.
·
The version of the
story in 1 Maccabees states that an eight-day celebration of songs and
sacrifices was proclaimed upon re-dedication of the altar, and makes no
specific mention of the miracle of the oil.[26]
·
Some modern scholars
argue that the king was intervening in an internal civil war between the Maccabean Jews and the Hellenized Jews in Jerusalem.[27][28][29][30]
·
These competed
violently over who would be the High Priest, with traditionalists with
Hebrew/Aramaic names like Onias contesting with Hellenizing High Priests with Greek
names like Jason and Menelaus.[31] In particular Jason's Hellenistic
reforms would prove to be a decisive factor leading to eventual conflict within
the ranks of Judaism.[32] Other authors point to possible
socioeconomic reasons in addition to the religious reasons behind the civil
war.[33]
·
What began in many
respects as a civil war escalated when the Hellenistic kingdom of Syria sided
with the Hellenizing Jews in their conflict with the traditionalists.[34] As the conflict escalated, Antiochus
took the side of the Hellenizers by prohibiting the religious practices the
traditionalists had rallied around. This may explain why the king, in a total
departure from Seleucid practice in all other places and times, banned a
traditional religion.[35]
·
The miracle of the oil
is widely regarded as a legend and its authenticity has been questioned since
the Middle Ages.[36] However, by virtue of the famous
question Rabbi Yosef Karo posed concerning why Hanukah is
celebrated for eight days when the miracle was only for seven days (since there
was enough oil for one day), it was clear that he believed it was a historical
event, and this belief has been adopted by most of Orthodox Judaism, in as much
as Rabbi Karo's Shulchan Aruch is a main Code of Jewish
Law.
