The top photo is my menorah, the bottom photo shows Éva after lighting the simple menorah that is enjoying its third generation in our family.

Photo by John Free (our son-in-law).

As we celebrate Chanukah and anticipate Christmas, I’m also reading and hope to get some reviews up soon. Stay tuned!

First, just a little explanation of the English spelling of the holiday. You have probably seen both of these spellings: Chanukah and Hanukkah. The reason is due to differing transliterations for the Hebrew letters in the word: Chet-Nun-Waw-Kaf-Hey חנוכה. The Hebrew word means “dedication” or “consecration.”

The holiday commemorates the eight days that the one-day-supply of consecrated oil burned in the Temple until more consecrated oil was available. This miracle of the light is re-enacted by lighting candles each night for the eight days of Chanukah. A special candelabra/menorah which holds 9 candles is used (this is different than the 7-branch menorah). One candle (the Shamash) is used to light the other candles. So, on the first night there are actually two candles burning, on the second night, three candles burn, etc. The candles are lit and allowed to burn until they are completely consumed.

Rather than give you details of how the holiday is celebrated (which you can easily find with a quick Google search), I want to tell you why we celebrate it as a family. We’re not Jewish. But our Christian heritage is rooted in the Hebrew bible and the journeys told in Scripture. It’s not that we have to celebrate the holiday. Rather, it is an opportunity to choose to celebrate a miracle that demonstrates the power of God and his care for his people. We celebrate other holidays (Independence Day, Memorial Day, Thanksgiving Day… we even join with our neighborhood in celebrating Halloween). Why not also celebrate a holiday that specifically remembers and recounts a part of the history of the people of God? It is a great way to get into the history of Israel.

As we celebrate, I’ll post photos of some of our traditions (and maybe even a few recipes!).

Hanukkah is probably the Jewish holiday with which non-Jews are most familiar. While it is celebrated close to Christmas, it historically predates Christmas and is a very different celebration.

OK, so, we need to get some background reading for the history behind Chanukah/Hanukkah. For this, we’ll first look to 1 Maccabees. The book is considered Deuterocanonical scripture by the Catholic and Orthodox churches, while the Protestant tradition and modern-day Judaism hold it as an Apocryphal book. In any case, the events recounted are corroborated by other historical records. This book was originally written in Hebrew–we know this because of the Hebrew idioms that are translated in the text, although we don’t have any original manuscripts still in existence. What we do have are Greek manuscripts and translations. So, let’s look at an English translation (if you want Greek, let me know).

Hanukkah celebrates the victory of the Maccabees over the Syrian-Greek rulers of Jerusalem and (most importantly) the subsequent re-dedication of the Temple in 165 B.C.E. We’re going to follow the story of Judas Maccabeus, who (along with his father and brothers) led the resistance against the Hellenization of the Jews. The story climaxes at the desecration of the Temple by Antiochus IV Epiphanes when he offered to Zeus sacrifices which were abominations according to Jewish law. Ready?

I’m going to link to the New American Bible, NAB, since it is available online.
Introduction to the Book
1. Introduction: Hellenism in Asia Minor (1 Macc 1:1-9)
2. The Maccabean Revolt (1 Macc 1:10-2:70)
3. Leadership of Judas Maccabeus (1 Macc 3:1-9:22)

If you are “hooked” you can continue reading the rest of the book:
4. Leadership of Jonathan (1 Macc 9:23-12:54)
5. Simon, High Priest and Ethnarch (1 Macc 13:1-16:24)