CHANUKAH - THE WHOLE STORY

The Chanukah story began over 2,000 years ago. After the death of Alexander the Great, conqueror of the world and friend of the Jews, his kingdom was divided among his generals. The Land of Israel - the Kingdom of Judea - became the protectorate of Syria, under the reign of King Antiochus IV, a despotic tyrant. When Antiochus became king of the Syrian-Greeks during this period of the Second Temple, he desired to unify his kingdom through the medium of a common religion and culture. He tried to root out the individualism of the Jews by suppressing all the Jewish laws. The Greeks were not opposed to the Jews' studying Torah or maintaining their traditions, but insisted that they only study Torah as a work of literature and view their customs as quaint cultural practices, with no religious or moral significance.

Antiochus bore down on his Jewish subjects; his men went from town to town and from village to village to force the inhabitants to worship pagan gods. His stubbornness and cruelty earned him the nickname "Antiochus the Madman." He had his men break into the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, loot, plunder and defile it by filling it with pagan idols and sacrifices of swine. The pure olive oil designed for lighting the golden Menorah was defiled. Jews were forbidden to observe the commandments of circumcision, the New Moon and the Sabbath. Jewish women were violated. Jews who dared to remain loyal to their faith were brutally tortured and murdered.

Against this backdrop, Jewish resistance began to ebb and it seemed inevitable that the last remnants of resistance would soon be wiped out. Only one refuge area remained, and that was the hills of Judea with their caves. But even there, the Syrians pursued the faithful Jews, and many Jews died a martyr's death.

Then, one courageous old man named Mattityahu, a Kohen - a priest - from the Judean town of Modi'in near Lod, turned the tide by deciding to resist the Greek oppression. An idol had been set up in Modi'in, the townspeople were rounded up, and the Syrian-Greek governor introduced an "enlightened" Jew who would sacrifice a pig on the idol in recognition of the decree of Antiochus. Old Mattityahu stepped forward and slew the traitor.

With the ancient rallying cry, "Whoever is for God, let him come to me!," he called the people to rebellion. He gathered his sons around him, and fled to the hills of Judea. Only a small number of Jews responded at first - they were numb with fear and hopelessness - but Mattityahu's five sons led the way, and soon, all loyal and courageous Jews joined them. They formed legions and from time to time left their hiding places to fall upon enemy detachments and outposts, and to destroy the pagan altars that were built by order of King Antiochus.

Before his death, Mattityahu called his sons together and urged them to continue to fight in defense of God's Torah. In waging warfare, he said, their leader should be his second son, Yehuda (Judah) the Strong. Yehuda, from the Hasmonean House, was called "Maccabee," a word composed of the initial letters of the four Hebrew words Mi Kemocho Ba'Eilim Hashem (Who is like unto Thee, O God).

Miracles happen. King Antiochus sent his General Apolonius to wipe out Yehuda and his followers, the Maccabees. Outnumbered a hundred to one, Yehuda and his men won battles. Although King Antiochus sent out another expedition, it, too, was defeated. He then sent an army of more than 40,000 men. Yehuda and his brothers' response was to proclaim, "Let us fight unto death in defense of our souls and our Temple!" The people assembled in Mitzpah, where Samuel, the prophet of old, had offered prayers to God. After a series of battles, the war was won.

Now the Maccabees returned to Jerusalem to liberate it. They entered the Temple and cleared it of the idols placed there by the Syrian vandals. Yehuda and his followers built a new altar, which he dedicated on the twenty-fifth of the Hebrew month of Kislev. Since the golden Menorah had been stolen by the Syrians, the Maccabees made a replacement. When they wanted to light it, they found only a small cruse of pure olive oil bearing the seal of the High Priest Yochanan. It was sufficient to light only for one day. It would be eight days before they could manufacture more oil for the next lighting, but meanwhile, they lit what they had.

By a miracle of God, the Menorah continued to burn for eight days. That miracle proved that God had again taken His people under His protection. In memory of this, our sages appointed these eight days for annual celebration and for lighting candles or oil on eight consecutive nights.

Menorah: Hebrew name of the seven-branched candlestick originally made by the Biblical artisan Bezalel and placed in the sanctuary of the Tabernacle.