Photo: Oxford Dictionaries
Thousands of years ago, the land of Israel fell under the Greek rule during the Hellenic Era. The Greek ways began to influence Jewish culture and attempted to destroy Jewish pride and Jewish identity. The Greeks instituted the Greek gymnasium, desecrated the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, and did not allow the Jews to keep kosher and other important commandments. Many Jews began to wear the latest Greek fashions, cut their hair in the Greek style, and began using the Greek language. A minority of Jews held onto their faith, and many of them gave up their lives for refusing to join the Greek way of life. A man named Matityahu and his five sons banded together in the Judean Hills, creating the Maccabean army that eventually defeated the Greeks. The wars lasted many years, and on Chanukah we celebrate how the army of relatively few Jews defeated the Greek’s large, strong and well-equipped troops.
The Jews won the war and they joyfully returned to the Holy Temple. The Greeks had left a huge mess but the Jews worked quickly, cleaning and putting everything back together. When they finally finished, they wanted to light the special Candelabra known as the Menorah. Unfortunately, the Greeks had destroyed every sealed jar of olive oil that indicated the purity of the contents. The Hellenists didn’t care if the Jews had olive oil – but they made sure the oil was impure by breaking the seals on each jar. The Jews looked everywhere for unbroken seals of oil, but they were unsuccessful. Finally, just when they were about to give up, one tiny jar of oil was found. However, it only contained enough oil to last for one day. The Jews were still thrilled with their find and lit the menorah in the Temple anyway. They were completely shocked when they saw that the oil in the Menorah lasted for eight days instead of just one! Eight days gave them time to produce more of the purest olive oil to keep the flames going. The annual holiday of Chanukah lasts for eight days in commemoration of this beautiful miracle that allowed the Jews to serve God in the purest manner.
One of the heroes of Chanukah was a woman named Yehudit. She was the daughter of the High Priest and found a way to assassinate one of the major Greek generals, Holofernes. She told him that she had valuable information for him that would allow the Greeks to defeat the Jews. Holofernes began to put his trust in her and she was free to come and go as she pleased. But after several days, he became impatient. She told him the Jews were desperate for food and drink and would not last above a day or two. Holofernes threw a private celebration for Yehudit but she had a little plan of her own. She wined and dined him with salty cheese and strong wine and when he fell asleep, she cut off his head, placed it in her bag, and calmly walked out of his camp. When she reached the gates of her town, she showed the elders what she had done. The immediately launched a surprise attack on the Greek encampment, and when they ran to their general’s tent and found his headless body, the Greek army fled in terror.
Because the miracle occurred with oil, it’s customary to eat jelly donuts and potato pancakes that are both fried in oil. The heroic actions of Yehudit also inspire people to eat dairy in commemoration of the salty cheese she gave the Greek general. Car menorahs are popular, and many cities have a car parade with all the menorahs flashing as they drive by. A big element of the holiday is to publicize the miracle of the olive oil, so public menorah lightings and car parades are good ways for Jews get the word out about the holiday. Many people choose to light their menorahs in front of a window so that passersby will see it.
Pictures from Food Network. Find their recipe for latkes here and their recipe for jelly doughnuts here.
For more information on Chanukah, visit Chabad.org.
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