Hanukkah (Chanukah) this year is celebrated December 1 – 9.
Hanukkah marks the rededication of the Second Temple after its desecration by Antiochus IV Epiphanes, King of Syria. When the Maccabees won in the battle against the Seleucid Empire there was only enough consecrated olive oil to fuel the eternal flame in the Temple for one day. But miraculously, the oil burned for eight days. During this time they could press, prepare and consecrate fresh olive oil.
For those who do not have the ‘complete’ Bible, the only Biblical reference to Hanukkah is in the Gospel of John, where Jesus celebrates the ‘Feast of the Dedication’. And there is a reference in Hebrews 11 to those who died in the Maccabean rebellion (“There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection”).
Fortunately, the “Apocrypha” is available in many bookstores so those without the books of the Maccabees can read the account for themselves.
Happy Hanukkah!
Thanks, Jim. The Bible is also online. Eg. NRSV or NAB etc.