Hanukkah – The Festival of Lights – Discovering the Saints

And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter. And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon’s porch. – John 10:22-23

Occurring over 8 consecutive nights Hanukkah is a celebration of the time when a small band of devout Jews fought against the greatest power of the time in defense of their faith and the holy temple. It has powerful parallels for believers today who anticipate the time when they too may see the “abomination of desolation”. For followers of Christ this holiday is also important because if the Maccabees hadn’t rededicated the Temple, it is probable that Judaism would have died out and there would have been no righteous Jewish parents for Christ to be born to.

“In the second century BCE, the Holy Land was ruled by the Seleucids (Syrian-Greeks), who tried to force the people of Israel to accept Greek culture and beliefs instead of mitzvah observance and belief in G‑d. Against all odds, a small band of faithful but poorly armed Jews, led by Judah the Maccabee, defeated one of the mightiest armies on earth, drove the Greeks from the land, reclaimed the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and rededicated it to the service of G‑d.

When they sought to light the Temple’s Menorah (the seven-branched candelabrum), they found only a single cruse of olive oil that had escaped contamination by the Greeks. Miraculously, they lit the menorah and the one-day supply of oil lasted for eight days, until new oil could be prepared under conditions of ritual purity. To commemorate and publicize these miracles, the sages instituted the festival of Chanukah.” – from Chabad.org

The “feast of dedication” mentioned in John’s gospel is Hannukah.

“Jewish sources have not left us a record of how the people celebrated Hanukkah in the Temple, but one may assume that the priests kindled the great Sukkot lamps in the Court of the Women for each night of the festival. (Hanukkah was considered a second Sukkot.) The synagogue liturgy prescribes the daily recitation of the Hallel (Psalms 113–118), so one may assume that the Levitical choir offered up those glad festival songs for each of the eight days as well. Naturally, the priests must have conducted other festivities and offered special thanksgiving sacrifices for the occasion.” – from ffoz.org