By Shelomo Alfassa

More than 2100 years ago, Greeks dwelling in Syria under the direction of Antiochus V, attempted to wipe out the Jewish religion, language and culture in the Land of Israel. This was during a period when a great number of the world's Jews were living under Greek rule, a time when many of them began to embrace the Greek culture and its Hellenistic 'secular' way of life.

In 168 BCE Antiochus V stormed into the Beit HaMikdash (Temple) in Jerusalem and there placed a statue of Zeus in it. He slaughtered pigs on the altar and scattered blood on the walls of the holy building. During this period, the Torah was banned by the Greeks and any scrolls which were found were shredded and burned. Pagan altars were erected with statues of the Greek gods and goddesses in towns throughout the holy land, and Greek soldiers forced Jews to make offerings, to eat forbidden foods, and to engage in other immoral acts. Maimonides, the great 12th century Jewish scholar elaborates:

During the period of the Second Temple, the Greek kings issued harsh decrees against Israel. They caused the Jews great anguish. They outlawed their religion, forbid them to engage in the study of Torah, laid hands upon their money and their families, entered the sanctuary and ravaged it, and defiled all that had been ritually pure. Month after month, the Greeks dealt brutally with the religiously observant Jews they came across. They completely halted all Jewish worship in the Temple. They killed everyone who was caught observing Shabbat, Rosh Hodesh, or who sought kasher food. In accordance with a decree by Antiochus V, they put to death the women who had circumcised their children, hanging the newborn babies around their necks; they also put to death their families as well as those who had circumcised them. Some Jews fled from the cities to the hills of Judea, forming themselves into bands of guerrilla fighters. They were faithful to Judaism and would not assimilate into Greek culture and idolatry.

The fighting began north of Jerusalem when a Greek officer with his soldiers commanded the citizens of the town of Modi'in to bow to an idol and eat the flesh of a pig. The officer asked Mattathias HaKohen (the Jewish High Priest), to take part in this event. He refused, and another villager stepped forward and offered to do it instead. Mattathias became outraged, took out his sword and killed the man, then killed the Greek officer. His five sons and the other villagers then attacked and killed the Greek soldiers. Mattathias' family went into hiding in the nearby mountains, where many other Jews who wanted to fight against the Greeks joined them. They attacked the Greek soldiers whenever possible. About a year after the rebellion started, Mattathias died. Before his death, he put his son Yehuda in charge of the growing militia. After three long years of fighting, the Jews defeated the Greek army, despite having fewer men and weapons. The war went on for years. Eventually, Yehuda and his fellow "Maccabees" captured Jerusalem, expelled the Hellenists and triumphed over the enemy.

After some time, the Jews were able to return to the Temple, remove and purify the building of idols and other profane items. The rabbis of the Talmud, not wanting to include "war" as a positive atribute in the Gemara, included very little mention of the Maccabees. Instead, the "miracle" of the oil was developed. It goes as follows...in the Temple ,the Jews located only one small jar of oil which was still sealed and therefore good to relight the Menorah. They were determined to light the Temple menorah even with that small amount of oil--enough only for one day. Yet, to everyone’s amazement, the menorah burned continuously for eight days until new oil had been pressed from fresh olives. The miracle was that a small amount of oil was able to sustain the lights, to illuminate the Temple for eight days.

To commemorate this miracle and the great victories of the Maccabees, we celebrate the festival of Hanukah. The word Hanukah means “rededication” and the Jewish people celebrate Hanukah to mark the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem.